FAT/NTS Question at DVinfo.net

Barry Rivadue · March 13th, 2005, 01:57 PM

I have an external hard drive, and I heard somewhere that such a drive can be reset from FAT 123 (or whatever it is) to NTS. Does any of this make sense? Thanks.

Glenn Chan · March 13th, 2005, 02:06 PM

Yes.

On a PC, you can re-format it with the disk management tool.

winXP:
It's under administrative tools --> computer management --> disk management. (sorry I forgot where administrative tools is... it might be under control panel.)

Advantages of FAT (in the context of external drives for editing):
read/write on macs; NTFS is read only on Macs

Advantages of NTFS:
no 2GB/4GB file size limit I hour of DV is ~13GB, 2GB of DV is about 9:26 (that figure is not exact)

Barry Rivadue · March 13th, 2005, 06:02 PM

Thanks; I tried to "convert" formats but I was asked to identify the "volume label" of the drive I want to convert. What's this volume label?

Glenn Chan · March 13th, 2005, 07:01 PM

Are you using Windows XP to re-format the drive? (via disk management)

If not, what method/program are you using to re-format it?

2- If you don't know already, re-formatting a drive will erase the data off it.

Barry Rivadue · March 14th, 2005, 07:57 AM

That's what I'm wary of. I have XP. I'm actually getting a third external drive, so I guess I'll reformat that one from the start.

Bob Costa · March 14th, 2005, 10:15 AM

NTFS is much better disk format, better at data recovery, file size advantages, better security. You should always format your disks that way if you buy new ones. But formatting does erase any info already on it.

March 13th, 2005, 01:57 PM	#1
Barry Rivadue Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 508	FAT/NTS Question I have an external hard drive, and I heard somewhere that such a drive can be reset from FAT 123 (or whatever it is) to NTS. Does any of this make sense? Thanks.

March 13th, 2005, 02:06 PM	#2
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Yes. On a PC, you can re-format it with the disk management tool. winXP: It's under administrative tools --> computer management --> disk management. (sorry I forgot where administrative tools is... it might be under control panel.) Advantages of FAT (in the context of external drives for editing): read/write on macs; NTFS is read only on Macs Advantages of NTFS: no 2GB/4GB file size limit I hour of DV is ~13GB, 2GB of DV is about 9:26 (that figure is not exact)

March 13th, 2005, 06:02 PM	#3
Barry Rivadue Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 508	Thanks; I tried to "convert" formats but I was asked to identify the "volume label" of the drive I want to convert. What's this volume label?

March 13th, 2005, 07:01 PM	#4
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Are you using Windows XP to re-format the drive? (via disk management) If not, what method/program are you using to re-format it? 2- If you don't know already, re-formatting a drive will erase the data off it.

March 14th, 2005, 07:57 AM	#5
Barry Rivadue Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 508	That's what I'm wary of. I have XP. I'm actually getting a third external drive, so I guess I'll reformat that one from the start.

March 14th, 2005, 10:15 AM	#6
Bob Costa Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Venice, FL Posts: 850	NTFS is much better disk format, better at data recovery, file size advantages, better security. You should always format your disks that way if you buy new ones. But formatting does erase any info already on it.