H2Format: Formatting large hard drives (>32GB) in FAT32

[Hain]

I finally found a Windows program that allows one to format very large hard drives. Windows has an artificial limitation of 32GB for the FAT32 file system. Any consumer knows this is not an actual limitation since new external hard drives, including 1TB drives, come as FAT32 for maximum compatibility. I have tried other applications, such as CompuApps SwissKnife, however they have a limitation of 500GB.

The program is h2format. The homepage is in German, as well as all the documentation, however it is fairly easy to use this program.

From TechLio:

1. Install the HD inside of the enclosure.
2. Hook it up to your USB 2.0(preferably) or USB 1.1 port.
3. If you are running Win2K or WinXP, the enclosure will be auto-detected and install the correct USB Mass Storage driver automatically. If you are using WinME or 98SE, you will have to install drivers off of the bundled install CD.
4. Right click the "My Computer" icon and select "Manage.."
5. Click on "Disk Management" in the left panel.
6. (Sorry, I am going from memory here... so the actual terms may differ slightly) Find your new drive in the right window and right click on it's bar, then choose "Create Partition".
7. Create one Primary Partition that is of the FAT32 flavor at it's maximum size. (DO NOT USE NTFS.. IT WILL NOT WORK)
8. A window will pop up asking you if you want to format it... Choose "Do not format at this time". The reason for this is that Win2K and WinXP will not let you format a FAT32 drive any larger than 32GB. If you are using Win98, you can simply format a FAT32 drive without any problems. My 2K & XP workaround for this problem took a bit of research.
9. Once the partition is created and it says "Healthy", Right click it and set it to be "Active".
10. Close out of the Computer Management Control panel.
11. Download H2Format (it is freeware).
12. Unzip the file and copy the H2Format.exe file to the root of your C drive.
13. From the Start menu select "Run..." and type in "cmd" then press Enter.
14. Your DOS prompt should read "C:\>". If not, type in "c:" and Enter.
15. Then type in "H2Format H:" (Substitute your drive letter for H if it is different).
16. In a couple of seconds, it will format your drive to it's full capacity as a FAT32 drive.

H2Format Homepage - H2format 1.6 Deutsch, Download im heise Software-Verzeichnis

H2Format Translated (by Google) - Google Translate

H2Format English Guide - TechoLiO - A plethora of all things technical

[kutulu]

Why would you want to?

[Martian]

People still use FAT32?

Dear god, why?

[Zweiblumen]

Compatability, since many devices and OSes do not support NTFS or have problems with NTFS.
Trivia: Even setup/install for Windows XP doesn't support NTFS natively.

Yours
ZB.

[powerclown]

Originally Posted by Zweiblumen

Compatability, since many devices and OSes do not support NTFS or have problems with NTFS.
Trivia: Even setup/install for Windows XP doesn't support NTFS natively.

Yours
ZB.

I use F32 on a few of my usb flash drives to transfer data between osx and vista. Seems to be the one format that both systems will still recognize.

[Hain]

Originally Posted by Martian

People still use FAT32? Dear god, why?

Definitely the compatibility. I have Ubuntu and Windows, so an external that can be read native by both is my select option. Also, the XBox 360 does not read from NTFS formatted drives. So when my buddy bought his 360 with the intention of having it dual as a media center with his brand spanking new 1TB HD which he thoughtlessly formatted to NTFS, it became useless for that application.

[catback]

Originally Posted by Zweiblumen

Compatability, since many devices and OSes do not support NTFS or have problems with NTFS.
Trivia: Even setup/install for Windows XP doesn't support NTFS natively.

Yours
ZB.

Whatcha talkin' 'bout willis....It always has for me.....NTFS has been around since the Windows NT days so I wouldn't see why XP's setup wouldn't support it---which it does support ntfs.

[Radio Monk33]

Yep, definitely a big bonus for those dual-booting...hmmm it seems legit. No likely chance of problems? I mean, I don't want to risk a 1TB partition..

[Zweiblumen]

Originally Posted by catback

Whatcha talkin' 'bout willis....It always has for me.....NTFS has been around since the Windows NT days so I wouldn't see why XP's setup wouldn't support it---which it does support ntfs.

You can verify this, do a clean install and you will discover that what the setup does is it creates partions on the destination drive, formats it in FAT32, copies the files over and the converts the filesystem from FAT32 to NTFS during one of the reboots. This can cause bit of headache in very specialized situations since partions that are converted from FAT32 to NTFS are not indentical to those that are formatted directly as NTFS.

Yours
Zweiblumen