Must I Reformat from FAT to NTFS to Store Video Files???

Gra · Post by **Gra** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 3:38 pm

Hi Guys
I've finally got around to buying an external hard disc (a LaCie 500GB) to archive my video files. That's because I just have one unpartioned disc (320GB) on the PC and it has stopped defragging most of my AVI files (and when I raised this problem last year I was advised to move and archive them onto an external drive).

I'm just about to install the external drive and have noticed it is FAT 32 format yet my PC's drive is NTFS. Will this cause a problem with my AVI files???

I hope it wont be a problem but if you guys say it is a problem I see from the (very limited) instructions that I can reformat to NTFS. If I must do this, does anyone have a link or any guidance in layman terms on how to reformat???

Any advice on FAT/ NTFS will be gratefully recieved.

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:53 pm

I would advise converting to NTFS, otherwise your files will be size-limited.

Whether a partition is formatted with NTFS or converted using the convert command, NTFS is the better choice of file system. For more information about Convert.exe, after completing Setup, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then press ENTER. In the command window, type help convert and then press ENTER.

Gorf · Post by **Gorf** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:45 pm

The filesize limit for FAT32 is 4GB - which is about 18 minutes of DV. If any of your files are bigger than this, you won't be able to move them to the external drive.

However, if you do convert to NTFS, you won't be able to attach it to machines running Win98 or earlier (possibly WinME too).

Gra · Post by **Gra** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Thanks guys for your advice. It was v. helpful and I've now reformatted to NTFS (which wasn't as complicated as I had feared using the file management facility in XP). Fingers-crossed the back-up frees things up now on my main drive and I can now defrag properly again.

Thanks again Devil & Gorf.

htchien · Post by **htchien** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:57 pm

You do not need to reformat the hard disk to get NTFS, just type convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs in the Command Prompt under Windows XP.

For more information, check http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodte ... rtfat.mspx

Hope this helps.

H.T.

Gra · Post by **Gra** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:05 pm

Hi. After moving my files onto the archive disc it runs through the defrag with only one problem. It cannot defrag an AVI file of just 5mb in a folder called MSP8 Preview Files.

I looked at the file and it is a one second clip from one of my own videos. What actually is the purpose of this Preview folder and files and can I just delete it or are there files in there that I must keep???

Gorf · Post by **Gorf** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:06 am

Yep - just delete it. MSP Preview files is where any sections of your video that need to be rendered are stored. You should keep an eye on its contents, as it usually increases in size the more projects you do. You don't lose anything if you keep it as empty as possible, it's just that projects you've worked on already may take longer as they will render sections again.

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:07 pm

htchien wrote:You do not need to reformat the hard disk to get NTFS, just type convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs in the Command Prompt under Windows XP.

For more information, check http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodte ... rtfat.mspx

Hope this helps.

H.T.

If you use this system of converting to NTFS, read this page first to stop creating other problems.

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm