Unable to copy some files to a local disk -- Windows
When files are unable to be copied to a disk, the cause is usually the formatting on the destination disk. Both Windows and Macintosh support a file format called "FAT32". While this is a good file system for compatibility between computers, it is unable to contain many file types. It's limitations are:
- Unstable at larger sizes, and very prone to corruption
- No security features, so anyone can access any file at any time
- Maximum file size of 4GB
- Can not contain files with \ / : * ? < > or |in the file name.
Because of this, most file transfer issues can be resolved by formatting the drive out of this format. To see if the drive is in FAT32, follow the procedure below for your OS.
Open an Explorer window. This can be done by opening My Computer (Computer on Windows Vista), or by right-clicking the start button, then choosing Explore.
In this case, the LaCie disk is the E: drive. It may differ in name and letter for your computer.
Once the disk is located, right-click it, and choose "Properties". This menu will appear:
If the entry next to File System says FAT32 (as pictured) The drive should be reformatted to the NTFS file system. Simply right click the disk again (as done before to choose "Properties"), except this time, choose "Format".
What is the situation you are facing?
