NTFS and FAT32 are simply two different ways of storing and keeping 
track of the information on a hard drive.  The operating system handles 
it for you so you really don't need to worry too much about it.  XP will 
work fine with the USB drive having FAT32.  There are some limitations 
to FAT32, such as you cannot store larger than a 4 gigabyte file.  This 
might come up if you make a GHOST copy of an entire partition and then 
try to copy that file on to the external drive.  But, generally, if you 
are copying "regular" files directly to the external drive, you won't 
have a problem.
With that said, you *may* be able to format it NTFS and also have no 
problems.  After looking around, it seems that the Western Digital 
should be able to do it.  Some external drives don't allow the NTFS 
format though.  If you haven't put any data on it yet, I can't see any 
reason not to try <grin>

Tony Mayer



E B Lund wrote:
> I am running factory installed XP Home on my 20 month old eMachines 
> D2880. I partitioned the original hard drive into 3 partitions, C for 
> operating system, D for programs, E for data, although there is likely 
> some spillover between the three. These use NTFS file system per 
> original factory settings.
>
> I purchased a Western Digital USB 2.0 250 GB drive for the primary 
> purpose of backing up my partitioned drives. However, it is 
> preformatted with FAT32 file system. What to do?
>
> Let me make it clear, I have no clue what NTFS and FAT32 mean. And I 
> am open to remaining ignorant if there is no compelling reason for me 
> to know. So . . . . . . .
>
> Is there a problem having the two different file systems or should I 
> change one, presumably the USB drive?
>
> If I need to change the USB drive to NTFS, I am assuming it will be 
> pretty easy to follow XP help to change it, but any guidance would be 
> appreciated.
>
> Also, I was thinking that I would partition the USB drive with 
> partitions slightly smaller than my C, D and E drives and backing them 
> up individually. Any issues with that?
>
> If it matters, I am likely to be installing an internal drive soon 
> with Ghost to provide automatic backups and the external drive will be 
> to have a seperate backup that is not in the computer assuming it 
> blows up.  Also, I am not a power user. I use my computer a lot, but 
> it is for web surfing, email, and office functions, but not heavy 
> graphics or gaming.
>
> Thank you for your help.
>
> William Closure
>
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>

               The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering
                 our special coffee mugs and mouse pads
              with the PCBUILD logo...  at a great price!!!
             http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml