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File System Formats

Windows Users:

Note: Windows XP 32-bit and Windows 2000 do not support volumes greater than 2TB. Windows XP x64, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows Vista Enterprise/Ultimate (32- and 64-bit versions) do, but in order to create volumes bigger than 2TB from these operating systems, you must convert the disk to GPT file system.
FAT 32
FAT is an acronym for File Allocation Table, which dates back to the beginnings of DOS programming. Originally, FAT was only 16 bits, but after the second release of Windows 95 it was upgraded to 32 bits, hence the name FAT 32. In theory, FAT 32 volume sizes can range from less than 1MB all the way to 2TB. It is the native file system of Windows 98 and Windows Me, and is supported by Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista. When FAT 32 is used with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista though, volume size is limited to 32GB (by the Windows partition utility, i.e. Disk Manager), and the individual file size is limited to 4GB.

Use FAT 32 (MS-DOS) if…...you will be using your drive with both Windows and Mac OS X 10.3 or sharing the drive between Windows 2000 and Windows XP or Windows Vista. Maximum single file size is 4GB.

NTFS
This acronym stands for New Technology Filing System, and it is the native file system for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista. NTFS offers several features that are not available with FAT 32; i.e. file compression, encryption, permissions, and auditing, as well as the ability to mirror drives and RAID 5 capabilities. The minimum supported volume size for NTFS is 10MB, with a maximum of 2TB when initialized in MBR format or without a limit when initialized in GPT format, with no limit to file size. Volumes created in NTFS can only be directly accessed (not through shares) by Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista without resorting to help from third-party products.

Use NTFS if…...you will be using the drive only with Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista (performance will generally be greater when compared to FAT 32). This file system is compatible in read only mode with Mac OS X 10.3 and higher. See technical note at left for information on the 2TB volume size limitation under Windows XP 32-bit and Windows 2000.

Mac OSX Users:

You may customize the drive by reformatting and/or partitioning the drive with separate file system formats. For optimal performance in Mac OS environments, format and partition the drive as one large Mac OS Extended volume.
Mac OS Extended (HFS+)
Mac OS Extended refers to the file system used by Mac OS X. HFS+ represents an optimization of the older HFS file system by using hard disk space more efficiently. With HFS+, you are no longer limited by block size.
MS-DOS File System (FAT 32)
This is the Microsoft file system, more typically known as FAT 32. This is the file system to use if you are going to be using your LaCie Hard Drive between Macs and Windows operating systems.

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