NTFS or FAT32 or whatever on your External Backup?

[nutsnbolts]

I'm attempting to run my entire Lightroom Images on my 500gb My Book drive. It is currently in FAT32 and I was wondering if I should format the entire thing to NTFS? I'm curious as to what you all have done if you even put any thought in this?

In addition, any of you run the catalogue on the actual external. I don't think you can do this but I just wanted to ask.

[cfcRebel]

This site mentions some pros and cons.
http://www.theeldergeek.com/ntfs_or_fat32_file_system.htm

I remember reading somewhere saying the maximum file size in FAT is 4Gb, some is even less, 2Gb. NTFS max file size is virtually same as the drive volume (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/ntfs/filesSize-c.html)(maybe less any space taken by MFT). So, i guess that means if you have a single 5Gb file in your computer running XP NTFS, and you want to copy it over to your My Book, it only works if My Book is using NTFS and not FAT32. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[nutsnbolts]

Yeah I pretty much know about that link. I'm wondering if anyone here put thought into this?

[rdsmith3]

I'm attempting to run my entire Lightroom Images on my 500gb My Book drive. It is currently in FAT32 and I was wondering if I should format the entire thing to NTFS? I'm curious as to what you all have done if you even put any thought in this?

In addition, any of you run the catalogue on the actual external. I don't think you can do this but I just wanted to ask.

I also have a Western Digital 500 gb my book. I remember when I was searching the internet for info on it, that it was recommended that it be formatted NTFS because some people encountered errors when it was formatted FAT. Sorry, I do not remember the web site where I saw this.

The link that is given above also says that NTFS formatted drives are more stable and reliable.


FAT32 drives are much more susceptible to disk errors.

[BraveUlysses]

There are no real reasons to not use NTFS.

[cdifoto]

Mine's not a WD MyBook but rather a WD drive in a Venus enclosure. It's NTFS and works fine considering it's USB2.0. My catalog is maintained on the internal drive so all it really needs the external for is previews and conversions, if my understanding of LR is correct.

[rammy]

Yeah I pretty much know about that link. I'm wondering if anyone here put thought into this?

The only real thought you need to put into it is Old Windows vs New Windows, Mac vs PC and media servers.

I you need to use on a Pre WinXP, you need to format it to FAT32. Also, Mac's will can read and write to FAT32, but can only read from NTFS formatted drives. Maybe the new OS will be able to read and write?

Also, media servers; Some will only work on NTFS. My Helios X5000 for example will only accept NTFS formatted external drives, or so they state.

File sizes should not be an issue if you keep your file systems the same.

Both my 500GB external drives are NTFS.

[nutsnbolts]

There is no doubt that they will work on both NTFS and FAT32. There are files systems old versus new. You can even convert FAT32 drives into NTFS if you want but not the other way around. With that said, I'm definitely going NTFS. I was just curious whether there are people out there that even put thought into this or they just bought their drives and was like ok, plug it in and start using it. Default from factory has FAT32 formatted and formatting to NTFS will take a good amount of time!

Nevertheless, people who has the MyBook, what did you do with the softwares that were pre-installed into the External Drive before going NTFS?

[rammy]

Default from factory has FAT32 formatted and formatting to NTFS will take a good amount of time!

Nevertheless, people who has the MyBook, what did you do with the softwares that were pre-installed into the External Drive before going NTFS?

You can quick format a FAT32 drive to NTFS. That is what I did with my two MyBook drives.

I also copied the setup files from the drives before formatting and they are western digital diagnostic software so not as if you really need them that much. Well I haven't used the LifeGuard since installing the two drives.

[nutsnbolts]

Here is one tip I found from another site non related to photography or anything but just for the use of the MyBook or any other external drives.

One tip: the MyBook external HDDs come preformatted in FAT32 format, for maximum compatibility (i.e., with Win9x systems). If you're using Win2K, XP or Vista, copy the folders that come preinstalled on the MyBook (the backup software, etc.) onto your internal HDD, then reformat the MyBook with NTFS. You'll experience much better performance -- particularly writes -- than with FAT32.