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windows 8 format hard drive fat32


COKEDUDEUSF

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Does Windows 8 no longer give you the option to format your hard drive to fat32? I only see exfat and ntfs.

 

I tried computer, right click drive, format, only saw exfat and ntfs.

 

I tried windows + r, diskmgmt.msc, right click drive, format, only saw exfat and ntfs.

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For the record, it depends on the size of the volume.

Microsoft tools won't format anything bigger than  32 GB as FAT32 (even before Windows 8), that's why the Ridgecrop tool (and other similar ones) were made:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/140365/default-cluster-size-for-ntfs-fat-and-exfat

Please note how the article sports:

Quote

Applies to: Windows 10 Pro released in July 2015Windows 10 Enterprise released in July 2015Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)

and:

Quote

Last Updated: Apr 17, 2018

but in the actual contents only goes up to Windows 7/Server 2008 ... :whistle:

Whether it is "smart" to exceed the MS recommendation depends a lot on the specific usage of the volume.

See also:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/partFAT32-c.html

Possibly the stupid Windows 8 has removed the possibility also for smaller volumes, but I doubt it. :dubbio:

jaclaz

 

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On 7/19/2018 at 10:50 AM, jaclaz said:

Possibly the stupid Windows 8 has removed the possibility also for smaller volumes, but I doubt it. :dubbio:

It hasn't. But why bother with built-in tools for any kind of work with partitions when alternatives are much richer in functionality?

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3 hours ago, UCyborg said:

It hasn't. But why bother with built-in tools for any kind of work with partitions when alternatives are much richer in functionality?

Unfortunately on this specific topic, and notwithstanding the carelessness with which the good MS guys manage the information, they are not entirely wrong.

32 GB is an artificial limit, and was imposed when RAM availability actually meant something, but it is not a very good idea to go for  large FAT32 filesystems, unless there are very good reasons for them.

64 GB? Ok.

128 GB? Ok.

256 GB? Hmmm. :dubbio:

More than that? :unsure:

Naaah.

jaclaz

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OK, good point. You could also let the user select any option, but make an exclamation mark icon appear when less than optimal option is selected with an explanation why your selection might not be the best choice.

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11 hours ago, UCyborg said:

OK, good point. You could also let the user select any option, but make an exclamation mark icon appear when less than optimal option is selected with an explanation why your selection might not be the best choice.

Sure :), but that wouldn't be "MS style".

Sometimes I wonder if they have some internal competitions where employers/programmers that manage to (slightly) harass users/customers in the most subtle ways win a prize.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the "slightest&subtlest" prize is won every year by the people that write their documentation (or that mantain it) as it is invariably almost accurate while still vague or fragmented enough to lead to misinterpretation.

The guys that write the new error messages since 8 (you know the type "An error occurred" or "Something didn't work as expected") try every year to win but surely they are always disqualified for not having understood the "subtle" part in the title of the competition.

Programmers sometimes are friends of the documentation guys, a recent example (JFYI ;)):

https://www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=16852/

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/fc85630e-5684-4df6-ad2f-5a128de3deef/260-character-explorer-path-length-limit?forum=windowsgeneraldevelopmentissues

jaclaz

 

 

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