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Something you didn't know about FAT32


jaclaz

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Seriously.

Check this:

https://web.archive.org/web/20090804025245/http://support.microsoft.com:80/kb/140365

against this:

https://web.archive.org/web/20090904210210/http://support.microsoft.com:80/kb/140365

Clearly in August 2009 the good MS guys added retroactively FAT32 support to Windows NT 3.51:w00t: and to NT 4.00, but in this latter OS limiting cluster size to 16 Kb :blink:  , (both OS can anyway use FAT32 filesystems smaller than 32 Mb :dubbio:, but no less than 16 Mb).

Also, you cannot have FAT32 on drives smaller than 512 Mb;

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/192322/description-of-default-cluster-sizes-for-fat32-file-system

jaclaz

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Oh but you can have FAT32 on drives smaller than 512 meg, if you know the secret switch commands. I was working at a computer shop when Windows 95 OSR2 was released. When we'd get enough parts leftover from upgrades I'd put together the best box I could, using whatever was handy for a hard drive large enough to hold a Windows install. I'd use the trick to force FDISK to set it up for FAT32 then do the install.

FDISK /FPRMT

Then when someone came in looking for a decent yet cheap computer, I could show them one ready to go, at X price. Would just have to order a bigger hard drive to get it ready. When the bigger drive would come in I just had to copy Windows over. Made it easier to move a lot of older but still useful hardware.

With any version of Windows 95 it was super simple to hook up another drive and copy everything without needing any 3rd party drive copying software. I remember the main thing was changing the swap file location to the root of C: so everything except that could be selected. Format and Sys the new drive. Copy everything in the root director over first, except the swap file and command.com. Then select everything else and copy it over.

Pretty sure that's how it went. I used to have a step by step guide I'd send to people asking what the best drive copying sofware was. Answer: Windows Explorer! 

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