Formatting a partition

Question

I recently split up my hard drive (On my Dimension 8400) into a number of partitions (to eventually support a dual-boot setup).

I allocated ~80 gb on my drive for a shared partition (between linux/windows), so I need the file system to be FAT32.

I'm not sure about the proper way to go about formatting a partition. I opened up my Windows disk manager, and selected the desired partition. However, when I click "Format..." I am only given the option of NTFS. There is a link at the end of this post which contains a screenshot of my drive layout, and the popup window I receive when I choose to format.

How can I format the drive to FAT32? I will be installing Ubuntu (Edgy), but have not done so yet, so I don't have access to GParted.

Thanks.

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/1466/helpxw3.png

jackshack · Answer

You will have a problem trying to format an 80 GB partition in FAT 32 with Windows XP; by design it is limited to formating 32 GB partitions in FAT 32. In order to get around this you would need to boot a Win Me CD and use that formatting program to format the partition. You might be able to make the boot disk using material from bootdisk.com, but I haven't tried it. You should also know that if you choose a real Win 98 SE CD for this purpose that the format program is limited to a display of 64 GB; if the partition is larger than that you get some strange number about equal to the actual size minus however many multiples of 64 GB can be contained in the partition. Despite the display, however, the whole partition should get formatted.

If you are using a RAID things may get more interesting. I'm not sure that Win Me or Win 98 SE will see your SATA drives assuming that is what you are using.

Message Edited by JackShack on 03-26-2007 01:50 PM

mombodog · Answer

or use this free utility  http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm   this will format FAT32 partitions up to 2048gb

Paii · Answer

mombodog: I installed that application, unfortunately I can't format the partition using it. When I select that specific partition using SwissKnife, it says "SwissKnife V3 has detected that this disk could contain Operating System files..." So I can't continue. I have already created all partitions, I just want to format one of them now. Are you sure SwissKnife can be used for this? The following link contains a screenshot of the app running for my system.

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/4996/swisshl7.png

JackShack: I don't have access to any of those CDs. I'll check bootdisk.com and see if there's any help there. Know anywhere else I might find such files?

mombodog · Answer

Sorry, I thought it could just do the format, seems silly it must partition and format.

Google H2format, this is a german utility that I have used and works.

1. It is a command line utility.

2. Will only work on unformatted partitions. nice safety feature.

Unzip the file to your C drive's root folder (right on the c drive and not in a folder)
From the Start menu select "Run..." and type in "cmd" then press Enter.
Your DOS prompt should read "C:\>". If not, type in "cd c:\" and Enter.
Then type in "H2Format H:" (Substitute your drive letter for H if it is different).
In a couple of seconds, it will format your drive to it's full capacity as a FAT32 drive.
Close out the Command Prompt window.

Message Edited by mombodog on 03-26-2007 05:35 PM

Paii · Answer

Wow, such an incredibly simple 'fix.' I've posted this on more than one forum, and it surprises me that nobody shares, or is aware of this method. A genuine thanks.

mombodog · Answer

Yes, I had the same problem a few years back, I was upgrading my DMP1 mp3 player in my truck and the new 40gig drive had to be formatted FAT32, I think I found it in the yahoo omnifi forums, hung on to it and have used it several times since, sorry it was not my first suggestion.

Storage, Drives & Media

Formatting a partition

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