Help With FAT32

[Rer]

Hey guys,

So I got a brand new external hard drive. It came formatted for Macs, so naturally I reformatted it to NTFS. I've left 200 gigs unformatted, hoping to assign it to a FAT32 format (that way I can easily move files between the Macs that my friends/school has and my PC).

Just one problem, the Windows Computer Manager isn't letting me select FAT32 as an option for the partition. So I tried to find a program to help me, google results lead me to 'SwissKnife'. Looks great, simple program, doing more google searches it appears to be legitimate.

Download it, and it won't run! I can see the .exe in my task manager going at it, but there's nothing for me to work with, no GUI, nothing in my taskbar, etc. Tried running it in XP Compatibility mode, same exact thing.

Scratch that, it runs, but its asking me to pay for it. This external cost $200.. let's avoid payments if possible.

So now I'm back to square one of trying to format this 200gb partition to FAT32. Any ideas? I have a friend at BSU who works in their tech support so I'll ask him shortly, but figured I would ask here too.

Thanks in advance!

[GrilledCheese28 (aka Aruth)]

I bet GPARTED could do that for you.

gparted.sourceforge.net/

[Talo]

Might also check around Tweakhound's site for resources. Check out his freeware Windows 7 build (he lists freeware software that he uses).

I'd also say Acronis Disk Director may have something that'll let you - but it probably costs.

[pandalishus]

Use your friend's Mac to format it. Use Disk Utility, and go ahead and format both to be FAT32. Then take it back your PC and format the first partition as NTFS. If you've already got data on the first partition, then just format the second on his Mac using FAT32. Works like a champ in my experience and requires no extra software.

Remember, FAT32 has a size limitation of 4Gb on any single file. If you're hoping to copy stuff like HD movies back and forth, FAT32 won't work.

[Rer]

Nah I'm not, just small time projects and movie files (that come under the 4gb limit)

[pandalishus]

OK. Then formatting it on his Mac will be the easiest option.