Fat32 file size

[ajnappi]

I'm atempting to back uo my computers entire c: drive which is about 27 gig. I'm using xp's backup restore program and when the file gets to 4.5 gig I get a message fat32 won't allow a file size bigger then that. What can I do?

 

[WyomingKnott]

Re-format your backup drive as NTFS. Is the backup drive new, or is there stuff on it that you need? Is it an external drive? What model?

Basically, you either have to break up the backup into smaller pieces or use a filesystem that allows larger files.

 

[fzabkar]

WinRAR is just one utility that will allow you to split a file in two or more sections.

Alternatively, if the file compresses to a size that is under the FAT32 limit, then you won't need to split it.

 

[WyomingKnott]

fzabkar - problem is, WinRAR will split it after it is created, and it can't be created. Does the utility allow you to "pipe" the output of another process (the backup) through it and split the file before it is actually written to disk? That's something that I do in Unix os'es (what is the correct plural of OS, anyway?), but not in Windows.

Original poster: Still waiting to hear if the drive has data that you need or not; the answer will depend on that.

 

[4745454b]

You can convert a fat32 drive to NTFS. I've done it before. Its a convert, not a format.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881

 

[WyomingKnott]

+1 to 4745454b; that's definitely the way to go.

 

[fzabkar]

WyomingKnott, WinRAR will split the file in the process of compressing it, not afterwards. Been there, done that.