Vista will not read flash drives using FAT

When the drives are inserted, Vista will
request to format the drive. If FAT is selected for the formatting, the
formatting will fail. If NTSF is selected, the formatting will succeed and
the device can be used. However, the removable FAt drives work fine when
inserted into a computer running XP.

Any ideas?

Ron;934052 Wrote:
> When the drives are inserted, Vista wil
> request to format the drive. If FAT is selected for the formatting, th
> formatting will fail. If NTSF is selected, the formatting will succee
> an
> the device can be used. However, the removable FAt drives work fin
> whe
> inserted into a computer running XP
>
> Any ideas

Correct! When buying an external hard drive as well as when going t
use a flash drive on Vista they usually see a factory Fat32 volume
External hard drives will also see a software installed once the driv
is detected by Windows and the auto run starts the installer

Unlike it's predessor XP Vista can not see Fat volumes on it's ow
while XP could be be installed on a Fat16 or Fat32 primary as well as o
an NTFS volume. XP was backward compatible especially for use with olde
Fat16 networks

The usual factory recommendations for Windows users is to reformat an
external drive or device to NTFS the current standard for all newe
versions since 2000

--
Night Hawk

"The usual factory recommendations for Windows users is to reformat ..."
Or use the "Convert" command so you don't have to recopy your data back onto
the drive.

"Night Hawk" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> Ron;934052 Wrote:
>> When the drives are inserted, Vista will
>> request to format the drive. If FAT is selected for the formatting, the
>> formatting will fail. If NTSF is selected, the formatting will succeed
>> and
>> the device can be used. However, the removable FAt drives work fine
>> when
>> inserted into a computer running XP.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>
> Correct! When buying an external hard drive as well as when going to
> use a flash drive on Vista they usually see a factory Fat32 volume.
> External hard drives will also see a software installed once the drive
> is detected by Windows and the auto run starts the installer.
>
> Unlike it's predessor XP Vista can not see Fat volumes on it's own
> while XP could be be installed on a Fat16 or Fat32 primary as well as on
> an NTFS volume. XP was backward compatible especially for use with older
> Fat16 networks.
>
> The usual factory recommendations for Windows users is to reformat any
> external drive or device to NTFS the current standard for all newer
> versions since 2000.
>
>
> --
> Night Hawk

Bender;934081 Wrote:
> "The usual factory recommendations for Windows users is to reformat ...
> Or use the "Convert" command so you don't have to recopy your data bac
> ont
> the drive
>
> "Night Hawk" <> wrote in messag
> news:...> > >
> >
> > > Ron;934052 Wrote:> > > > >
> > > >> When the drives are inserted, Vista wil
> > > >> request to format the drive. If FAT is selected for the formatting
> > > th
> > > >> formatting will fail. If NTSF is selected, the formatting wil
> > > succee
> > > >> an
> > > >> the device can be used. However, the removable FAt drives work fin
> > > >> whe
> > > >> inserted into a computer running XP
> > > >
> > > >> Any ideas?> > > >
> >
> > > Correct! When buying an external hard drive as well as when goin
> > t
> > > use a flash drive on Vista they usually see a factory Fat3
> > volume
> > > External hard drives will also see a software installed once th
> > driv
> > > is detected by Windows and the auto run starts the installer
> >
> > > Unlike it's predessor XP Vista can not see Fat volumes on it'
> > ow
> > > while XP could be be installed on a Fat16 or Fat32 primary a
> > well as o
> > > an NTFS volume. XP was backward compatible especially for us
> > with olde
> > > Fat16 networks
> >
> > > The usual factory recommendations for Windows users is t
> > reformat an
> > > external drive or device to NTFS the current standard for al
> > newe
> > > versions since 2000
> >
> >
> > > -
> > > Night Hawk > >

The idea of reformatting to NTFS is when adding the new drive on an
before you start seeing files copied to it. You would look at it tha
way as if you just bought a new internal hard drive but you discove
that someone already stuck a Fat volume on it while you use the NT fil
system

What would you do? Some would simply remove the factory partition an
replace that with a fresh NTFS volume ready for use once formatted
Windows will also detect and install the drive as a new logical withou
the need to run the installer often when removing the drive and pluggin
it back in rather then leaving plugged in at all times

That's especially useful when taking the drive along with you t
work/school and back home when files are being transferred betwee
different systems

--
Night Hawk

Yes, Vista will read Fat16 and Fat32 partitions
Although you may not be able to format them that way from Vista'
formatting tool

You can use other means to format a drive to FAT and Vista will rea
them just fine
I create FAT file systems all the time for Puppy Linux, BartPE, an
UBCD on a stick
I use the HP USB Format Utility 2.0.6 (which is the best of th
series)

If it is not, then there is an error with the partition, even if X
will read it just fine, Vista may not, and tell you there is an erro
with the partition, or prompt you to format it. You can try runnin
dskchk on it, or pull the files off on the XP machine and reformat it t
NTFS (which is the better option anyway for regular data file ussage

--
Tepid

I've tried to use the following command

format f: /FS:FAT3

but Vista still doesn't see the drive.

What else can I do to format my external HDD to fat32 using window
vista

--
zed0118

Open Computer Management.

In the Navigation pane of Computer Management (Local), under Storage,
click Disk Management.

Right-click the drive you want to format, and then click Format.

In the Format dialog box, under File System, select FAT32, click OK, and
then click OK again.


zed0118 wrote:
> I've tried to use the following command:
>
> format f: /FS:FAT32
>
> but Vista still doesn't see the drive.
>
> What else can I do to format my external HDD to fat32 using windows
> vista?
>
>

zed0118;962137 Wrote:
> I've tried to use the following command:
>
> format f: /FS:FAT32
>
> but Vista still doesn't see the drive.
>
> What else can I do to format my external HDD to fat32 using windows
> vista?

'NTFS.com NTFS File System. Data Recovery Software.'
(http://www.ntfs.com) shows which file systems are supported for the
different versions of Windows there. The MS information for conversion
is seen at 'Convert a hard disk or partition to NTFS format - Windows
Vista Help'
(http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...597d31033.mspx)

FILE SYSTEMS
Windows XP Professional supports the FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS file
systems. Because NTFS has all the basic capabilities of FAT16 and FAT32,
with the added advantage of advanced storage features such as
compression, improved security, and larger partitions and file sizes, it
is the recommended file system for Windows Vista.
Some features that are available when you choose NTFS:

- File encryption allows you to protect files and folders from
unauthorized access.
- Permissions can be set on individual files, as well as on folders.
- Disk quotas allow you to monitor and control the amount of disk
space used by individual users.
- Better scalability allows you to use large volumes. The maximum
volume size for NTFS is much greater than it is for FAT. Additionally,
NTFS performance does not degrade as volume size increases, as it does
in FAT systems.
- Recovery logging of disk activities helps restore information
quickly in the event of power failure or other system problems.
When you perform a clean installation of Windows Vista, it is
recommended that you use NTFS. If you upgrade computers that use NTFS as
the only file system, continue to use NTFS with Windows Vista.
'Microsoft Corporation'
(http://technet2.microsoft.com/Window...fdb4b1033.mspx)


--
Night Hawk

zed0118 <> wrote:

>
>I've tried to use the following command:
>
>format f: /FS:FAT32
>
>but Vista still doesn't see the drive.

There's something I don't understand here. If you can't see the drive,
how do you know it's drive "F"?

The first thing you have to do with a new drive is to install one or
more partitions. "Drive letters" are assigned to partitions, not
physical drives. Partitioning used to be done by FDISK, now you use
"Disk Management" within Vista. Once you've partitioned your disk, the
partitions will get drive letters (maybe after a reboot) and you'll be
able to see them. Now you can format the partitions, then they'll be
ready for use.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Tim Slattery;962939 Wrote:
> zed0118 <> wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> > >I've tried to use the following command:
> > >
> > >format f: /FS:FAT32
> > >
> > >but Vista still doesn't see the drive. > >
>
> There's something I don't understand here. If you can't see the
> drive,
> how do you know it's drive "F"?
>
> The first thing you have to do with a new drive is to install one or
> more partitions. "Drive letters" are assigned to partitions, not
> physical drives. Partitioning used to be done by FDISK, now you use
> "Disk Management" within Vista. Once you've partitioned your disk,
> the
> partitions will get drive letters (maybe after a reboot) and you'll
> be
> able to see them. Now you can format the partitions, then they'll be
> ready for use.
>
> --
> Tim Slattery
> MS MVP(Shell/User)
> Slattery_T@xxxxxx
> 'Windows XP/Vista Odds and Ends' (http://members.cox.net/slatteryt)

When adding a new external drive(usb, eSata, firewire, flash/pen) onto
a Vista system they come with a factory Fat32 volume with software for
use with Apple/Mac compatibility as well as with Windows. XP was
backward compatible with Fat16/32 since you can install the older
version onto a Fat primary while without the softwares included Vista
will detect but not access them without the softwares the manufacturer
provides since Vista natively supports NTFS 5.0.

The drive manufacturers recommend reformatting or converting the
factory partitions to NTFS 5 for those who strictly use Windows since
NTFS supports the larger volumes while Fat performs better on the small
500mb sizes. NTFS however is far more secure as far as data is
concerned. The software included simply allows Vista to assign a logical
drive letter for the Fat volume.


--
Night Hawk