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7. Helpful Information
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LaCie SAFE mobile hard drive
User’s Manual
7. Helpful Information
7.1. File System Formats
Your LaCie SAFE mobile hard drive comes formatted with the FAT 32 file system format. This is the only file system format
that is accessible on both PC and Mac platforms. LaCie drives are pre-formatted as FAT 32 volumes and can be used across
multiple platforms (for example, Windows 2000/XP, and Mac OS X). If you only use your drive on either a PC or a Mac,
then you can reformat it in NTFS for Windows 2000/XP users or HFS+ for Mac users in order to optimize its use.
For more on file formats for Windows users see section 7.1.1. Windows Users.
For more on file formats for Mac user see section 7.1.2. Mac Users.
For more on formatting your drive see section 7.2. Formatting and Partitioning Your Drive.
7.1.1. Windows Users
There are basically two file system formats for Windows: FAT 32 and NTFS. The following information will hopefully make
choosing one or the other a little easier.
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 and XP. When FAT 32 is used with Windows 2000 and XP, 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.
NTFS
This acronym stands for New Technology Filing System, and it is the native file system for Windows NT, Windows 2000
and XP. 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, with no limit to file size. Volumes created in NTFS can only be directly accessed (not through
shares) by Windows NT, Windows 2000 and XP, without resorting to help from third-party products.
Guidelines for Choosing FAT 32 Or NTFS
Use FAT 32 if:
• You want to access your data on any Operating System—FAT 32 is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, and
Mac OS 10.x.
• You will be dual booting with an Operating System other than Windows NT or Windows 2000.
• You may need the ability to dual boot down the line. Once you have converted a volume from FAT 32 to NTFS, there is no
going back. You can convert from FAT 32 to NTFS, but not the other way around.