LaCie Two Big eSATA & USB User Manual - page 27
LaCie Two Big eSATA & USB
User Manual
page
6.2.1. Windows Users
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Since the LaCie Two Big eSATA & USB comes
preformatted in HFS+, the Mac Operating system, you
will need to reformat your drive in FAT 32 or NTFS.
The following information will hopefully make choos-
ing one or the other a little easier.
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.
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
Use FAT 32 if:
You want to access your data on any Operating
System - 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
6.2.1.
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
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
Windows 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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