How To Format A Hard Drive To FAT32 In Windows 7 or Vista (or in general)
Most OS's support NTFS, so why not just use that, unless you have any real need to use DOS6?
Most OS's support NTFS, so why not just use that, unless you have any real need to use DOS6?
Welcome to GD Josh! You are right that NTFS is the best format to use when possible. Sometimes though FAT32 is still needed to be the most widely compatible, and still yet sometimes it's the only option, like if you want to be able to plug your external USB drive or Thumb Drive
i have searched and searched and ..... well u get the picture. so many other sites have so many variations of this command or how to format a hard drive to FAT32 in Windows 7
.. i would be done by now. again thank you so much!!!!!
That was some good info. couldn't figure out the label but this helped alot. you rock
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use the /Q switch with the format command to perform a quick format (much quicker than waiting 5 hours for full format)
Thanks for the tips.
I was concerned no one seemed to comment why format a drive to fat32 if your using Windows 7
NTFS is also usable by modern Linux spins.
I needed fat 32 formatted external drive for an old network storage device which only reads fat32, but for Linux and Windows I would use NTFS generally when both Linux and Windows are to share a data drive.
Fat32 is too unreliable - from experience I've had a few file corruptions unfer Fat32 but none under NTFS
You're absolutely right, if whatever you're using the drive (or external media such as microSD cards) for is able to use it, go for NTFS, it's much better. Unfortunately FAT32 is still the most widely usable by other devices, like Tablets, Phones, and External DVD Players, and for those often times FAT32 is the only option, so if you're computer is Win 7
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But its really slow though, it been like 5 minutes and it says 0 percent
Are yo ustill trying to use format.com on hers? That's a VERY slow program. I agree with everyone else in this thread and recommend using Acronis Disk Director
. I'm a GeekSquad tech and that's what we use at work and out in the field at customers' houses and businesses, it's a wonderful program that I can't speak highly enough about, and VERY easy to understand and use.
Thier other program, True Image is also amazing for making backups.