Formatting a 1TB external Hard Drive to Fat 32? - Blu-ray Forum

soright903 · 12-29-2008, 04:36 PM

Hey guys, I am looking into an external hard drive to back up all my media on my pc. How and can I format a 1tb hard drive to Fat 32 so it can be read through the ps3? Do I even need to format it?

Thanks for any help!

BTS11 · 12-29-2008, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soright903

Hey guys, I am looking into an external hard drive to back up all my media on my pc. How and can I format a 1tb hard drive to Fat 32 so it can be read through the ps3? Do I even need to format it?

Thanks for any help!

if you buy a western digital mybook essentials 1TB drive, it's already formatted as FAT32.. If you buy another brand drive, most come with a utilities disc which will enable you to choose to re-format the drive to the disc format you want..

Cordre69 · 12-29-2008, 08:09 PM

http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/

That should help ya!

caliblue15 · 12-29-2008, 08:39 PM

just google swissknife.... it does it in seconds..

stringent · 12-30-2008, 10:53 AM

PS3 should add in backing up to a network drive or something by now, or be able to write to NTFS ... Silly Sony haven't added it in.

caliminius · 12-30-2008, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stringent

PS3 should add in backing up to a network drive or something by now, or be able to write to NTFS ... Silly Sony haven't added it in.

And as a Mac user, I think it should support HFS+ (and that one they could do for free I believe). I'm sure there are some Linux users out there who could cast their vote for yet another partition format. How many do you think Sony should support?

I'm okay with Sony not wanting to pay the licensing fees to Microsoft for NTFS support. FAT32 gets the job done and doesn't help their competitors.

caliblue15 · 12-30-2008, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stringent

PS3 should add in backing up to a network drive or something by now, or be able to write to NTFS ... Silly Sony haven't added it in.

The reason it uses Fat32 are why they don't use NTFS. First of all it works with every computer. Second of all it is much more reliable in Fat32 format than any of the other formats. And third is stated above, they don't have to pay licensing fees to anyone.

Cordre69 · 12-30-2008, 05:06 PM

FAT32 is the LEAST reliable format...actually.
But NTFS requires licensing, yes.

cathexist · 12-30-2008, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caliblue15

just google swissknife.... it does it in seconds..

yeah...that's what I used

rayoflight80 · 12-30-2008, 05:32 PM

hi cathexist,

Just wanted to know if the hard drive worked ok with your PS3? I am thinking of getting one and have been reading online about formatting it to FAT32 and stuff but no one is posting afterwards to say whether it worked or not, or if they had any problems. Thanks

zanderol24 · 12-30-2008, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caliblue15

The reason it uses Fat32 are why they don't use NTFS. First of all it works with every computer. Second of all it is much more reliable in Fat32 format than any of the other formats. And third is stated above, they don't have to pay licensing fees to anyone.

can your corroborate this. ntfs is by far far more reliable.

zanderol24 · 12-30-2008, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soright903

Hey guys, I am looking into an external hard drive to back up all my media on my pc. How and can I format a 1tb hard drive to Fat 32 so it can be read through the ps3? Do I even need to format it?

Thanks for any help!

plug this into your pc windows if it can read usb/firewire ( it defo should) and you can format to your desired format

dialog_gvf · 12-30-2008, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caliblue15

The reason it uses Fat32 are why they don't use NTFS. First of all it works with every computer. Second of all it is much more reliable in Fat32 format than any of the other formats. And third is stated above, they don't have to pay licensing fees to anyone.

NTFS is far, far, far more reliable.

It's also faster, more efficient, and more featured.

But FAT32 is license free, and so has become ubiquitous.

Gary

toef · 12-30-2008, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cordre69

FAT32 is the LEAST reliable format...actually.
But NTFS requires licensing, yes.

Yes. I have a Mac, and originally wanted to stick to their format (Mac OS Extended) because of the reliability issues with FAT32 (not to mention it's also slower). But after a while, I just wanted to have a single HDD that I could use on my Mac/PC/PS3, so I gave in, and just hope things stay safe.

caliblue15 · 12-30-2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zanderol24

can your corroborate this. ntfs is by far far more reliable.

Hmm, people seem to not see what I was getting at, yes the other formats are more reliable, but if you want a format that works with every computer, FAT32 is the easiest and most reliable format. (ie. mac vs pc).

reiella · 12-31-2008, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caliblue15

Hmm, people seem to not see what I was getting at, yes the other formats are more reliable, but if you want a format that works with every computer, FAT32 is the easiest and most reliable format. (ie. mac vs pc).

Different sort of reliable. It would be better to say more portable I think for your intent.

Reliability of FS, in my mind, refers to it's ability to avoid failure and recover from failures.

Seeking_Alpha · 12-31-2008, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayoflight80

hi cathexist,

Just wanted to know if the hard drive worked ok with your PS3? I am thinking of getting one and have been reading online about formatting it to FAT32 and stuff but no one is posting afterwards to say whether it worked or not, or if they had any problems. Thanks

It will work, just use "Compuapps Swissknife" from download.com

01-04-2009, 04:20 AM

Isn't there a 4gb size limit on the each file u can put on an Fats32 drive?

toef · 01-04-2009, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulieval

Isn't there a 4gb size limit on the each file u can put on an Fats32 drive?

Yes.

doctorD · 01-04-2009, 05:43 AM

Man I wish I had done a search a few days ago when I updated my PS3 hard drive. It would have saved me the time of trying to find a program to Format at Fat32 on Windows XP or Vista. I eventually remembered I had a copy of PartitionMagic 8 in my closet.

12-29-2008, 04:36 PM	#1
soright903 Senior Member Member since:May 2007 Location:New Jersey Trading Score:69	Formatting a 1TB external Hard Drive to Fat 32? Hey guys, I am looking into an external hard drive to back up all my media on my pc. How and can I format a 1tb hard drive to Fat 32 so it can be read through the ps3? Do I even need to format it? Thanks for any help!

12-30-2008, 05:32 PM	#10
rayoflight80 Junior Member Member since:Dec 2007 Blu-ray collection:329	did it work fine? hi cathexist, Just wanted to know if the hard drive worked ok with your PS3? I am thinking of getting one and have been reading online about formatting it to FAT32 and stuff but no one is posting afterwards to say whether it worked or not, or if they had any problems. Thanks

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12-29-2008, 08:09 PM	#3
Cordre69 Power Member Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Livermore, CA 4K collection:218 Blu-ray collection:1094 Trading Score:1	http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/ That should help ya!

12-29-2008, 08:39 PM	#4
caliblue15 Blu-ray Knight Member since:Dec 2007 Home Theater Gallery:12 Blu-ray collection:85 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:6	just google swissknife.... it does it in seconds..

12-30-2008, 10:53 AM	#5
stringent Senior Member Member since:Sep 2007 Location:UK	PS3 should add in backing up to a network drive or something by now, or be able to write to NTFS ... Silly Sony haven't added it in.

12-30-2008, 05:06 PM	#8
Cordre69 Power Member Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Livermore, CA 4K collection:218 Blu-ray collection:1094 Trading Score:1	FAT32 is the LEAST reliable format...actually. But NTFS requires licensing, yes.

01-04-2009, 04:20 AM	#18
paulieval Guest	Isn't there a 4gb size limit on the each file u can put on an Fats32 drive?

01-04-2009, 05:43 AM	#20
doctorD Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Jun 2007 Location:Redmond, WA Home Theater Gallery:47 4K collection:397 Blu-ray collection:1723 Blu-ray reviews: 12 Trading Score:1	Man I wish I had done a search a few days ago when I updated my PS3 hard drive. It would have saved me the time of trying to find a program to Format at Fat32 on Windows XP or Vista. I eventually remembered I had a copy of PartitionMagic 8 in my closet.

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