New external HD, couple questions

TheRover · #1 01-13-2007, 12:56 PM

The instruction booklet that came with it says "to enable full read/write access from Windows, reformat the drive using the FAT32 system". It is NTFS.

Do I need to do this? What's the difference? If I need to do this, how?

I'll be using it to backup important stuff, store videos and play them. I might also use it for my massive MP3 collection .

My other external HD was FAT32 right out of the box...

Also, is it better to leave them on all the time, shut them off when not in use, or shut them off for long periods of time every now and then to cool off such as overnight?

kerowo · #2 01-13-2007, 09:28 PM

What kind of drive is it? You should be able to just plug it in and have it work. If you want to re-format it, which you shouldn't need to, it is at Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage. But really, if you plug it in and can read and write to/from it you're good.

TheRover · #3 01-13-2007, 11:05 PM

alright, thanks. that's what I thought, but the line in the instruction manual had me confused and I wanted to check with someone before I started moving stuff to it.

kerowo · #4 01-14-2007, 12:04 AM

Dude, you're never going to be a geek if you go around reading manuals before you just start plugging crap in.

hulk3rules · #5 01-14-2007, 03:35 AM

I am pretty sure you want NTFS. FAT32 is unable to handle files 1GB or larger

ispiked · #6 01-14-2007, 10:48 PM

I'd make sure it's NTFS before you put anything on it. To make sure it's NTFS, plug it in, go to My Computer, right click and choose "Properties". Make sure the "File system" is NTFS. If it's not, you can right click on the drive and choose "Format..." and format it to NTFS.

TheRover · #7 01-14-2007, 11:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Dude, you're never going to be a geek if you go around reading manuals before you just start plugging crap in.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol

others,

My other is FAT32, but works normally. /shrug

Yeah, it is NTFS.

I've been using it and everything is fine.

Thanks guys. Any suggestions on how much I should be leaving them on?

BiPolar_Nut · #8 01-15-2007, 02:08 AM

I believe the reason for suggesting FAT32 is to avoid tech support calls due to file permission related problems when swapping the drive from computer to computer. It's easier for them to just suggest using a filesystem w/ no permission control [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Edit: as for leaving them on, it depends on how well they're cooling the drive. If they are decent external enclosures w/ good airflow, you'd get the longest drive life leaving them on unless it was going to go a couple days w/o being used. If they're crappy cases that allow the drive itself to get too hot, then you'll get longer drive life by turning them off as much as possible.