FAT 32 Formatter

[lloydkayak]

I would like to reformat my External Hard drive from NTFS to FAT 32 so that I could use it in conjunction with my Xbox.

What utility program is the best to use to achieve this and can it damage the hard disk in any way? I know I tried swiss knife or something before and the hard drive stopped being picked up by pc's - I had that hard drive replaced under warranty, it might have just been coincidence with a malfunctioning hard drive

 

[LazyLion]

You cannot downgrade from NTFS to FAT32 directly. The safest way is to actually delete the entire partition and re-create it using The Disk Management tool in Control Panel. Windows won't give you the option to format a partition to FAT32 if the partition is larger than a certain size. I suggest you use this tool rather....

http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm

 

[Lament]

http://www.partition-tool.com/download.htm
its free and works like a charm

 

[DJNgoma]

HP Disk Storage Format Tool

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/HP-USB-Disk-Storage-Format-Tool.shtml

 

[HavocXphere]

Are you aware of the limitations that this would bring with it? Specifically the 4gb file limit?

 

[lloydkayak]

Can deleting partitions and formatting between NTFS and FAT 32 phyiscally damage a Hard Disk? A salesman at matrix warehouse tried to tell me this when I took the previous disk in to be replaced and I told him that was bulls*** - I am aware of the limitations but want to use the HDD in conjunction with my Xbox. Seems to be a way to convert your files to get around the limit, I stand to be corrected

 

[LazyLion]

Can deleting partitions and formatting between NTFS and FAT 32 phyiscally damage a Hard Disk? A salesman at matrix warehouse tried to tell me this when I took the previous disk in to be replaced and I told him that was bulls*** - I am aware of the limitations but want to use the HDD in conjunction with my Xbox. Seems to be a way to convert your files to get around the limit, I stand to be corrected

No, it cannot physically damage your hard disk. But I would not do it more than necessary since there is always a risk that something can go wrong. But I have often switched between partition sizes and formatting types on the same disk with no problem at all. The disks are designed to handle multiple formats.

 

[DJNgoma]

Are you aware of the limitations that this would bring with it? Specifically the 4gb file limit?

That's why most of my drives aren't FAT32, good luck if you try and back up your xbox games on that.