LaCie SAFE Hard Drive
User Manual
page
Helpful Information
There are basically two file system formats for
Windows: FAT 32 and NTFS. The following in-
formation aims to make choosing one or the other
easier.
FAT 32
FAT is an acronym for
File Allocation Table
,
which dates back to the beginnings of DOS pro-
gramming. Originally, FAT was only 16 bits, but
after the second release of Windows 95 it was
upgraded to 32 bits, hence the name FAT 32. In
theory, FAT 32 volume sizes can range from less
than 1MB all the way to 2TB. It is the native file
system of Windows 98 and Windows Me, and is
supported by Windows 2000 and XP. When FAT
32 is used with Windows 2000 and XP, though,
volume size is limited to 32GB (by the Windows
partition utility, i.e. Disk Manager), and individual
file size transfers are limited to 4GB.
NTFS
This acronym stands for
New Technology
Filing System
, and it is the native file system for
Windows NT, Windows 2000 and XP. NTFS of-
fers several features that are not available with FAT
32; i.e. file compression, encryption, permissions,
and auditing, as well as the ability to mirror drives
and RAID 5 capabilities. The minimum supported
volume size for NTFS is 10MB, with a maximum
of 2TB, with no limit to file size. Volumes cre-
ated in NTFS can only be directly accessed (not
through shares) by Windows NT, Windows 2000
and XP, without resorting to help from third-party
products.
Guidelines for Choosing FAT 32 Or NTFS
Use FAT 32 if:
You want to access your data on any Operating
System—FAT 32 is compatible with Windows
2000, Windows XP, and Mac OS 10.x.
You will be dual booting with an Operating
System other than Windows NT or Windows
2000.
You may need the ability to dual boot down the
line. Once you have converted a volume from
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•
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7. Helpful Information
7.1. File System Formats
Your LaCie SAFE Hard Drive comes format-
ted with the FAT 32 file system format. This is the
only file system format that is accessible on both
PC and Mac platforms. LaCie drives are pre-for-
matted as FAT 32 volumes and can be used across
multiple platforms (for example, Windows 2000/
XP, and Mac OS X). If you only use your drive on
either a PC or a Mac, then you can reformat it in
NTFS for Windows 2000/XP users or HFS+ for
Mac users in order to optimize its use. For more on
file formats for Windows, see the Windows Users
section below. For more on file formats for Mac,
see the Windows Users section below.
For more on formatting your drive see section
7.2.
Formatting and Partitioning Your Drive
.
Windows Users
n
