"SteveH" <SteveH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4E6F971E-6229-4D94-A336-F2C48CBEE476@microsoft.com...
> Hello
>
> A friend of mine has a Win XP laptop and recently bought an external
> hard-drive which is Windows and Apple compatible. He wants to store Apple
> compatible music files on the external drive and to be able to listen to
> those files on his laptop.
>
> The laptop does not appear to 'see' the external hard drive, so he was
> advised to format the laptop hard drive so that while he has Win XP in a
> NTFS-formatted partition, he ought to have FAT32 for his Apple files/external
> drive on another. Whether this initial advice was correct or not I am unsure,
> but it seems a lot of trouble just to listen to Amy Whitehouse.
>
> However, if I go to Computer Management and then Disk Management to do this,
> it does not offer an option - only NTFS is available from the one-item drop
> down menu.
>
> I am not sure if he has tried to format the hard drive previously and that
> this has made NTFS the only item available in the drop down menu.
>
> Is there anything he can do to resolve his problem?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Steve


The reason why you're not being given the option to format the drive FAT32 is
probably due to the fact Windows XP cannot format a volume greater than 32GB
FAT32. XP can read a FAT32 drive which is greater than 32GB, it just can't
format one. Your options are to partition the external hard drive so each
partition is less than 32GB or connect the drive to a computer running Windows
98 or Windows ME and format it FAT32. Win98/ME does not have the 32GB limitation
for FAT32 drive formatting.

Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q314463

Another issue that comes with having a FAT32 drive is that none of the files can
be greater than 4GB. While that shouldn't be a problem with music files, it may
come into play if your friend planned to also store video files or files created
by a backup/imaging program.

Good luck

Nepatsfan