LaCie Biggest S2S
User Manual
page
Since the LaCie Biggest S2S comes preformatted
in HFS+, the Mac Operating system, yu will need to
reformat your drive in FAT 32 or NTFS. The following
information will hopefully make choosing one or the
other a little easier.
n
FAT 32
FAT is an acronym for File Allocation Table, which
dates back to the beginnings of DOS programming.
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, vol-
ume size is limited to 32GB (by the Windows partition
utility, i.e. Disk Manager), and the individual file size is
limited to 4GB.
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NTFS
This acronym stands for New Technology Filing
System, and it is the native file system for Windows NT,
Windows 2000 and XP. NTFS offers several features
that are not available with FAT 32; i.e. file compres-
sion, 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 created in NTFS can only be directly ac-
cessed (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
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Use FAT 32 if:
You want to access your data on any Operating Sys-
tem - FAT 32 is compatible with Windows 98 SE,
Me, 2000, XP, NT, Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS 10.x
(see the Important Info note in section 8.2.1.
Mac
Users
for more information).
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 FAT 32 to
NTFS, there is no going back. You can convert from
FAT 32 to NTFS, but not the other way around.
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Use NTFS if:
You want to optimize drive performance under Win-
dows 2000 or XP.
You want to encrypt files, assign permissions to files,
or want to audit files for access.
You will be formatting partitions larger than 32GB.
You need to store individual files that are larger than
4GB.
You need a filing system that can be mirrored or
structured like a RAID 5 configuration.
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8.2.2. Windows Users
Tech Tips
