hard disk

[Leodis]

whats the difference between FAT32 and NTFS??

Its simple fat32 is overweight and the other one is Not The F****** Same.

[Gizmo]

if i spoke spanish i'd have said that too!!


ok, it's for music and video!

basically keep the big stuff there rather than jamming up my ickle laptop... and take it to friends and nick all their music!!

If you want enhanced security and features go for NTFS
If you wanna have other Systems gaining access [ie networking Non Windows XP systems together] then you'll have to go FAT32 as the NTFS disk will not be seen

[AndyLala]

Anyone want to talk about manipulating the cluster sizes to optimise disk access...?

[BUSHWHACKER]

Oh defragment to ya!

[jotto]

Anyone want to talk about manipulating the cluster sizes to optimise disk access...?

OOOOHH yes please

[Chillitt]

evry time some one starts on about raid settings it sounds like stanley unwin to me..

[hellmett]

Re

The ONLY difference that you need be concerned about is this:-

NTFS will allow you to use files with sizes larger the 2GB, ISO images of DVD's are usually about 4.7GB+.

FAT32 or FAT does not support large files >2GB!

Any other differences are technical and you need not be concerned about them.

RAID is not an option on external drives.

Make sure you plug it into a USB 2.0 NOT a USB 1.1 port or you will be waiting FOREVER to transfer anything.

You can, if you need to, partition the drive into 2 partitions and format 1 as FAT32 and the other as NTFS!

As Windows98 and Windows95 are now defunct and not supported anymore using a FAT32 drive is a complete and utter waste of time.

Problems solved!

Later!

Gary

[da SLUG man]

groovy!

i have the option of firewire or USB2 on it


is it best to keep just windows itself on the internal HD?... just thought it might run quicker if i did.

[hellmett]

groovy!

i have the option of firewire or USB2 on it


is it best to keep just windows itself on the internal HD?... just thought it might run quicker if i did.

You can only use the external drive for saving stuff on!

Windows MUST be installed to the IDE Drive in the PC!

USB 2.0 is fast but it is nowhere near the speed of an internal drive!

Later!

Gary

[da SLUG man]

ok, it came today... bigger than i expected... brother in law had one that fitted in his pocket... this is almost as big as my computer!!... but it's got disco lights!!!


bit of a swiz though... the box says 320gb, but it's only 298gb....
but it is 320,000,000,000 bytes (give or take!) is that normal??

also, when empty there's 74Mb already used up... is that just down to the space taken by sections and stuff??


on the plus side, the 1gb RAM is great!... no more 10 minute boot times!... best upgrade ever!!

[Dave_bax]

ok, it came today... bigger than i expected... brother in law had one that fitted in his pocket... this is almost as big as my computer!!... but it's got disco lights!!!

bit of a swiz though... the box says 320gb, but it's only 298gb....
but it is 320,000,000,000 bytes (give or take!) is that normal??
This is OK it is to do with 1028 bytes to a mb if i remember correctly, so 320,000,000,000 bytes is actually 298gb.

also, when empty there's 74Mb already used up... is that just down to the space taken by sections and stuff??
Again this is normal, a portion of the drive has to store information on how the disk is split into clusters etc.

on the plus side, the 1gb RAM is great!... no more 10 minute boot times!... best upgrade ever!!

FAT32 / NTFS
As everyone else has already said if you wish share files with MAC'S go for FAT32 otherwise use NTFS as this utalises the disk space better by using smaller clusters.

Hope that helps.

[da SLUG man]

excellent!... all sorted!

i've saved everything in order onto the external drive and re-installed windows... cheers to whoever it was for the copy of windows! (can't remember cos i deleted all my mail now!!)


all running dead fast and like brand new... just gotta sort 30gb of music and 100gb of wedding videos into some managable files!!

[MattF]

bit of a swiz though... the box says 320gb, but it's only 298gb....
but it is 320,000,000,000 bytes (give or take!) is that normal??

Yes.


Matt