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Does it matter,NTFS or FAT32

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ayabrea38 | 17:35 Fri 10th Aug 2012 | Technology
8 Answers
I am looking at external hard drives and there seems to be someone selling on Amazon that is selling both FAT 32 and NTFS.Am I right in thinking it does not matter which I buy as I can format it myself to whichever?Even could I partition it and have half and half.
It is to put a shadow copy of my pc on,paranoia has me thinking my luck is going to run out soon,so finally getting round to it.
I was tempted to go down the cheaper USB route,but I don't think it would be as reliable.Any thoughts......
Thanks
Aya
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It really doesn't matter that much unless you want to store files over 4GB in size on the drive (it's a bit more complicated than that.... but to the average user that's the main issue)
And yes, you can simply reformat any drive in NTFS or FAT32 if you want to, you can also easily convert a FAT32 drive to NTFS without losing anything on the drive if needed.
Question Author
Thank you Mr Fickens Sir.
The other main issue the average user will find when it comes to NTFS vs FAT32 is compatibility..

Everything will work with a FAT32 drive (xbox's, PS3's car stereos with a USB input.... and so on) the only thing that will generally work with a NTFS drive is a windows computer.
Question Author
NOW I find this out just after ordering an NTFS hard drive.Should be OK though because it will only be getting used for the pc.....I hope
Thanks again
Aya
I also believe Windows wont let you format a Fat32 drive larger than 32Gb.

I think you have to download a utility to let you format a disk of a larger size.
Question Author
At least I am prepared now,I do have a partition manager programe that helps format drives too,so I hope that is good enough.
I don't know,nothing,nothing is ever simple in my life.
Thanks All
Aya
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