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Formatting an external 500GB HDD took almost >6 hours that I started like:

D:\>format /FS:fat32 F:
The type of the file system is EXFAT.
The new file system is FAT32.
Enter current volume label for drive F: musix

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK
DRIVE F: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)? y
Formatting 476810M

finally responded with the error:

The volume is too big for FAT32.

However according to MSFT there are no such limitations. (I used XP specs, while I am formatting in Win7, ok?) I am not formatting the drive during setup but on an installed version from the command prompt.

I want to use this disk with the maximum available capacity as en external HardDrive connected to an MDI interdface in my car to play music.

What are the proper settings for that and can I use/format the (almost) full 500GB?

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How large are your clusters? If your clusters are 32kb, then you max out at 8TB. If your clusters are 4 kb, I would assume you max out at 1TB, etc – soandos Jun 6 '11 at 6:43
I do not know ;) clustersize is not my cup of tea, I formatted using default settings, but should they be much larger? – Caspar Kleijne Jun 6 '11 at 6:49
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Windows XP can mount and support FAT32 volumes larger than 32 GB (subject to the other limits), but you cannot create a FAT32 volume larger than 32 GB by using the Format tool during Setup. If you need to format a volume that is larger than 32 GB, use the NTFS file system to format it. – soandos Jun 6 '11 at 6:50
Clusters cannot be bigger than 64kb in FAT32 – soandos Jun 6 '11 at 6:51
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Any reason for reformatting away from exFAT? exFAT is a viable alternative to FAT32 on Vista and Win7 for large drives and goes beyond the limitations of FAT32, just be aware that Windows XP requires a download from Microsoft and Linux support may be patchy. – Mokubai Jun 6 '11 at 7:39
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2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

You cannot format a FAT32 volume greater than 32Gig from XP or Win7 but you can mount and use a bigger one.

However you must use an alternate tool to format the volume.

There are limitations as to bootable drives on your greater than 32gig Fat32 drive

Partition Tool

Also read this guys page for more technical info.

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up vote 0 down vote

You can format your external hard drive in FAT32 using SwissKnife (freeware). It will let you bypass The volume is too big for FAT32 error.

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