Mike
02-04-2010, 04:45 PM
How to format FAT32 on a hard drive which is greater than 32GB
Later versions of Windows (whether it be Windows 7, Vista, XP or 2000) will only allow you to format a volume (hard drive) upto 32GB in FAT32 format (although there is no such limitation on reading from or writing to an already existing FAT32 volume greater then 32GB - you just can't create one). This is by design as Microsoft want users to use NTFS format for larger volumes as NTFS is a later format and gives more in the way of benefits (greater security options for files and folders, larger volume sizes, file sizes larger then 4GB, more efficient use of space, etc).
However you may run into situations where you need to format a hard drive in FAT32 format which is greater than 32GB in size.
To do this you will need to use something other than Windows 2000 and later
Possible Solutions:
Windows 98 and Windows ME
Windows 98 can format a volume in FAT32 up to 127GB in size. Beyond this you need to use Windows ME which can format larger volumes with a bit of tweaking.
So if you have an old PC with Windows 98 or ME on it you can use this. Or you can install Windows 98/ME into a virtual environment such as VirtualPC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/), VirtualBox (http://www.virtualbox.org/), etc.
To format a FAT32 volume in Windows 98/ME
- Click START > PROGRAMS > MS-DOS PROMPT
- Type fdisk and press ENTER
- You will be asked if you wish to enable large disc support. You must press Y and then ENTER
- You will have 5 options in the menu. Press 5 (Change current fixed disk drive) and press ENTER - do NOT skip this step!
- Select which drive is the one you wish to format in FAT32. It's important to select the correct one otherwise you might format the wrong one and lose data!
- Press ENTER once you have selected the hard disc.
- If the hard disc already has something on it select 3 (Delete partition or Logical DOS - Drive) and press ENTER, select the type of partition that was on the drive (select 4 for NTFS (i.e. standard windows format), but generally select 1) and press ENTER. Type the number of the partition to delete (normally 1) and press ENTER, enter the volume label (found on the screen) and press ENTER, press Y and press ENTER)
- Press 1 (Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive) and ENTER
- Press 1 (Create Primary DOS Partition)
- Make a cup of tea/coffee while the drive verifies
- Press Y and ENTER
- Drink the cup of tea/coffee while the drive verifies again
- Press ESC (ESCAPE) to exit FDISK
- Type exit and ENTER
- Restart Windows (click START > SHUTDOWN > RESTART) and wait for windows to restart
- Click START and COMPUTER. Look for the newly created drive letter. Double-click on it and it should warn you that the drive is not accessible. Click Cancel to get rid of the notice. Be very sure you get this error to ensure that you have picked the correct drive.
- Right-click on the drive and click FORMAT.
- Double check that at capacity is roughly correct
- Select FULL by clicking on it
- click START
- If the drive is over 127GB you may get an error advising that the drive cannot be formatted as it is the wrong size. Click OK to continue - don't worry as Windows will still format it OK.
- Watch some TV while the disc formats
Mac
If you own a Mac you can partition and format a drive in FAT32 quite easily by opening the disc utility, clicking on the drive in question, clicking ERASE over towards the upper/middle right, selecting MSDOS under Volume Format, clicking the ERASE button.
Linux
If you have Linux already installed -or- you have booted from a Linux Live CD (such as an Ubuntu one) then open a Terminal window and type:
sudo aptitude update and press ENTER. Follow the prompts.
sudo aptitude install gparted and press ENTER. Follow the prompts.
You can now use GParted, a free partitioning tool. It installs under the Administration menu (SYSTEM > ADMINISTRATION > GPARTED in Ubuntu).
- Open GParted (you will need to give your password)
- The currently selected is listed in the top right corner of the window. Click on it and click on the drive you wish to format. Be very sure to select the right one or unintended data loss will result!
- You will see one line appear in the window with 'unallocated' next to Partition and File System. If you don't then you have something stored on the disc. if you're happy to lose that data then right-click on the line, click on DELETE, click on the green tick towards the top of the windows and click on APPLY if you're happy to proceed.
- Right-click on 'unallocated' and click on NEW
- Click to the right of FILE SYSTEM
- Click on FAT32
- Click on ADD
- Click on the green tick towards the top of the window to apply the format.
- You'll get a warning about losing data. Click APPLY if you're happy to proceed
- When the format has completed click CLOSE
GpartEd Live CD
This is my favourite tool for partitioning and formatting other people's system (with their permission of course!). It is a bootable CD which has a copy of GpartEd on it.
You can download the ISO image for it from here: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
You can download Imgburn to burn the image to a CD or DVD from here: http://www.imgburn.com/
It works exactly like the GpartEd as mentioned above but without the need to install it and with the following boot settings:
When booting up select:
'GParted Live (Default settings)' from the main menu
'Don't touch keymap' from the Configuring Console-data menu
'33' or just press ENTER (for English) from the Language settings
'0' or just press ENTER for the graphics user interface (unless you like typing!)
When you try and create a partition in the above notes you might get a message advising you need to create a partition table. To do this click on DEVICE in the menu along the top, click on CREATE PARTITION TABLE, click on ADVANCED, click MSDOS in the list as the type and then click APPLY
Third Party Tools
There are many third party tools which you can pay for. However GpartEd is free! (see above).
Later versions of Windows (whether it be Windows 7, Vista, XP or 2000) will only allow you to format a volume (hard drive) upto 32GB in FAT32 format (although there is no such limitation on reading from or writing to an already existing FAT32 volume greater then 32GB - you just can't create one). This is by design as Microsoft want users to use NTFS format for larger volumes as NTFS is a later format and gives more in the way of benefits (greater security options for files and folders, larger volume sizes, file sizes larger then 4GB, more efficient use of space, etc).
However you may run into situations where you need to format a hard drive in FAT32 format which is greater than 32GB in size.
To do this you will need to use something other than Windows 2000 and later
Possible Solutions:
Windows 98 and Windows ME
Windows 98 can format a volume in FAT32 up to 127GB in size. Beyond this you need to use Windows ME which can format larger volumes with a bit of tweaking.
So if you have an old PC with Windows 98 or ME on it you can use this. Or you can install Windows 98/ME into a virtual environment such as VirtualPC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/), VirtualBox (http://www.virtualbox.org/), etc.
To format a FAT32 volume in Windows 98/ME
- Click START > PROGRAMS > MS-DOS PROMPT
- Type fdisk and press ENTER
- You will be asked if you wish to enable large disc support. You must press Y and then ENTER
- You will have 5 options in the menu. Press 5 (Change current fixed disk drive) and press ENTER - do NOT skip this step!
- Select which drive is the one you wish to format in FAT32. It's important to select the correct one otherwise you might format the wrong one and lose data!
- Press ENTER once you have selected the hard disc.
- If the hard disc already has something on it select 3 (Delete partition or Logical DOS - Drive) and press ENTER, select the type of partition that was on the drive (select 4 for NTFS (i.e. standard windows format), but generally select 1) and press ENTER. Type the number of the partition to delete (normally 1) and press ENTER, enter the volume label (found on the screen) and press ENTER, press Y and press ENTER)
- Press 1 (Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive) and ENTER
- Press 1 (Create Primary DOS Partition)
- Make a cup of tea/coffee while the drive verifies
- Press Y and ENTER
- Drink the cup of tea/coffee while the drive verifies again
- Press ESC (ESCAPE) to exit FDISK
- Type exit and ENTER
- Restart Windows (click START > SHUTDOWN > RESTART) and wait for windows to restart
- Click START and COMPUTER. Look for the newly created drive letter. Double-click on it and it should warn you that the drive is not accessible. Click Cancel to get rid of the notice. Be very sure you get this error to ensure that you have picked the correct drive.
- Right-click on the drive and click FORMAT.
- Double check that at capacity is roughly correct
- Select FULL by clicking on it
- click START
- If the drive is over 127GB you may get an error advising that the drive cannot be formatted as it is the wrong size. Click OK to continue - don't worry as Windows will still format it OK.
- Watch some TV while the disc formats
Mac
If you own a Mac you can partition and format a drive in FAT32 quite easily by opening the disc utility, clicking on the drive in question, clicking ERASE over towards the upper/middle right, selecting MSDOS under Volume Format, clicking the ERASE button.
Linux
If you have Linux already installed -or- you have booted from a Linux Live CD (such as an Ubuntu one) then open a Terminal window and type:
sudo aptitude update and press ENTER. Follow the prompts.
sudo aptitude install gparted and press ENTER. Follow the prompts.
You can now use GParted, a free partitioning tool. It installs under the Administration menu (SYSTEM > ADMINISTRATION > GPARTED in Ubuntu).
- Open GParted (you will need to give your password)
- The currently selected is listed in the top right corner of the window. Click on it and click on the drive you wish to format. Be very sure to select the right one or unintended data loss will result!
- You will see one line appear in the window with 'unallocated' next to Partition and File System. If you don't then you have something stored on the disc. if you're happy to lose that data then right-click on the line, click on DELETE, click on the green tick towards the top of the windows and click on APPLY if you're happy to proceed.
- Right-click on 'unallocated' and click on NEW
- Click to the right of FILE SYSTEM
- Click on FAT32
- Click on ADD
- Click on the green tick towards the top of the window to apply the format.
- You'll get a warning about losing data. Click APPLY if you're happy to proceed
- When the format has completed click CLOSE
GpartEd Live CD
This is my favourite tool for partitioning and formatting other people's system (with their permission of course!). It is a bootable CD which has a copy of GpartEd on it.
You can download the ISO image for it from here: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
You can download Imgburn to burn the image to a CD or DVD from here: http://www.imgburn.com/
It works exactly like the GpartEd as mentioned above but without the need to install it and with the following boot settings:
When booting up select:
'GParted Live (Default settings)' from the main menu
'Don't touch keymap' from the Configuring Console-data menu
'33' or just press ENTER (for English) from the Language settings
'0' or just press ENTER for the graphics user interface (unless you like typing!)
When you try and create a partition in the above notes you might get a message advising you need to create a partition table. To do this click on DEVICE in the menu along the top, click on CREATE PARTITION TABLE, click on ADVANCED, click MSDOS in the list as the type and then click APPLY
Third Party Tools
There are many third party tools which you can pay for. However GpartEd is free! (see above).