Formatting FAT32 > 32Gb

[Shaun]

Hi

I have an external USB drive I need to use in both Windows XP and Mac
OS X. Since the only filesystem that both OSes can write to is FAT32
I want to format the drive as FAT32.

XP, of course, has a magical limit of 32Gb on formatting FAT32 drives,
and I do not have access to a Windows 98 machine.

Are there any external utilities I could use to format my 200Gb drive
as, say, 2x100Gb FAT32 partitions?

Regards

Shaun

 

[R. McCarty]

You can download Windows Boot Disks from the Web.
With a Windows 98 Floppy boot, you should be able to
Fdisk & Format as you like.
Just do a "Google" for 98 Boot Disk, you'll find at least
2-3 sites that specialize in them (Freeware).

 

[Bob Harris]

Partition Magic can format external disks > 32Gig as FAT32.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

I have an external USB drive I need to use in both Windows XP and Mac
OS X. Since the only filesystem that both OSes can write to is FAT32
I want to format the drive as FAT32.

XP, of course, has a magical limit of 32Gb on formatting FAT32 drives,
and I do not have access to a Windows 98 machine.

Are there any external utilities I could use to format my 200Gb drive
as, say, 2x100Gb FAT32 partitions?

Sure. You can use fdisk from a Windows 98 or Me machine. Most 98
or Me boot disks will have fdisk on them. If you don't have one,
you can borrow one from a friend or download one.

 

[Alex Nichol]

You can download Windows Boot Disks from the Web.
With a Windows 98 Floppy boot, you should be able to
Fdisk & Format as you like.
Just do a "Google" for 98 Boot Disk, you'll find at least
2-3 sites that specialize in them (Freeware).

That is likely to have a problem with the 48 bit LBA needed for a drive
of over 128 GB (137 billion). You need, in any case a BIOS that
supports 48 bit LBA as well as legacy USB. I am not sure if BING
supports the 48 bit LBA, but it does handle the USB through the BIOS, so
would be worth trying. BootIT NG, from http://www.BootitNG.com ($35
shareware - 30 day full functional trial)

With it, boot its floppy, cancel Install, entering Maintenance, click
Partition work. Select the drive and highlight Free space in the
center pane (this should show as about 190000 MB if it is handling 48
bit LBA); click Create to make a partition, choosing FAT 32 as type,
then Format to format it.

 

[R. McCarty]

That's a good point, I should also mention that some external
USB drives (BIOS legacy support) will only show up as their
Cache memory size when using a DOS boot. My Maxtor
5000LE shows up with a DOS boot, but PQMagic & other
tools only identify it as a 8.00 Meg drive, not the 80.0 it really
is. It seems kind of strange, since my Motherboard supports
48-Bit LBA, but Maxtor Tech support confirmed that you'll
see that condition using Legacy USB (FullSpeed) and a 9x
style boot disk.