External HDD formats?

[rob0976]

will the Western Digital Elements 500GB USB 2.0 Midnight Black Portable Hard Drive format to fat32

 

[evongugg]

Yes, you may need to delete the existing partition and repartition it to FAT32.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat32#FAT32

 

[Paperdoc]

Before you do that, check details on what is the maximum Partition size you can use for a FAT32 File System. In a few cases you have to make two smaller Partitions and Format them separately to stay within that limit.

 

[evongugg]

That problem exists if you try to do a new installation of XP.
Not with a data drive.

 

[Paperdoc]

evongugg prompted me to look it up myself on M$ Support. It does say there is a real size limit on FAT32 Partition size ONLY if they are created as part of the XP Install process. (So, it is recommended NOT to INSTALL to a FAT32-formatted Partition.) But when creating from a running version of Windows, the articles suggest FAT32 File System can be used on Partitions up to 2 TB, well beyond OP's concerns.