Is it possible to create an exFAT partition on a NTFS external HD? I just wanna backup stuff from an old macbook, so I thought maybe I can just create a new exFAT partition instead of full reformatting (exHD is half full) Problem is win7 Disk Management's New Simple Volume Wizard only offers NTFS in the Format Partition step.
1 Answer
No.
Practically speaking NTFS is a file system, as is exFAT - its an either/or choice, not a layered one. Filesystem's sit on partitions, not raw disks (most of the time. I am aware of the exceptions, but they can be ignored here)
What you can do is shrink the NTFS filesystem and partition and then add a second partition which uses exFAT.
You don't have to use Windows (and indeed you should be sent to your room for running Windows 7 at all) to repartition disks - You might want to look at a USB based Linux system to boot off a pen drive and then run something like like KDE Partition manager (which supports exFAT) or the more common gparted (but settle for a fat32 partition.
You can alternatively use something that allows you to use NTFS in a Mac (https://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/#) or set up file sharing on your Windows box and copy the files to the NTFS disk on the Windows 7 box over the network.
-
OK thx. The thing is I already shrank the volume (2tb exHD) creating 100 gb of unallocated space. Then I wanted to create the exFAT partition. So is this what you are saying: yes, it is possible but not with win7 Disk Management tool? Is "shrinking a filesystem" the same as "shrinking a volume" Maybe this question is idiotic, but I am obviously not an engineer or techie. If yes and yes, is there any free tool out there to do what I am trying to do? I have dual boot win10 in my PC also. Thx again. Aug 20, 2020 at 9:05
-
I can't robustly answer your question because I spend my life on Linux systems, but yeah, when I said volume I meant partition. Google tells me "AOMI partition standard" will run on Windows and will allow you to exFAT format that partition.– davidgoAug 20, 2020 at 9:25