LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2 User Manual - page 30

LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2 | USB 3.0 User Manual

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Windows

FAT32: 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 FAT32.

FAT32 is supported by Windows 7 and Windows 8 but the volume size is limited to 32GB and the individual file

size is limited to 4GB.

Technical info: FAT32 can reduce the performance of your LaCie product.

NTFS: This acronym stands for New Technology File System, and it is the native file system for Windows 7 and

Windows 8. NTFS offers several features that are not available with FAT32: file compression, encryption,

permissions, auditing, and mirroring drives. The minimum supported volume size for NTFS is 10MB with a

maximum of 2TB when initialized in the MBR format. For greater flexibility, use the GPT format with NTFS to

remove limits on file and partition sizes. Volumes created in NTFS are native read and write for Windows 7 and

Windows 8. Mac OS X 10.5 or higher can read and write to the NTFS partitions with the help of third-party

drivers.

See the table below for a comparison of NTFS and FAT32.

Windows File System Formats

Use NTFS if:

…you will be using the storage device only with Windows 7 and Windows 8. NTFS performance is significantly

better than FAT32. This file system is also compatible in read-only mode with Mac OS 10.3 and higher.

Use FAT32 if:

…you will be using your storage device with both Windows and Mac computers. Maximum single file size is

limited to 4GB and performance if far from optimal.