[How to] Format a (USB) drive to FAT32, exFAT or NTFS for use on electronic equipment (TV, etc.)

in #format7 years ago

With using an external storage product (such as a television, etc.,) the client need to determine:

[1.] What drive format the TV supports (NTFS, FAT32, exFAT)? Once this is done, the drive needs to be formatted to that standard before use – see below on HOW TO

[2.] Other questions also include whether the television/electronic equipment supplies enough power on the USB port to drive an external Hard Disk Drive (as opposed to a flash/thumb drive)
[3.] Confirm whether the television/electronic equipment has a drive capacity limit which it can access on an external storage device
[4.] Confirm the audio/video file types the TV can play-back (avi., mpg., mp4., mkv., aiff., mp3., flac.)

As per [1.] above, your drive needs to be formatted to the correct standard for your television ( NTFS, FAT32, exFAT):

HOW TO:

(a.) How to format a drive to NTFS: https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=3865
(b.) Hot to format a drive to exFAT (and FAT32): https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=291
(c.) How to format a drive to FAT32: - GUIFormat32 3rd Party: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/guiformat.exe
or FAT32Formatter v.1.1: http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/

Regarding the file formats:

*FAT32 is very compatible - but the largest SINGLE FILE you can copy to it is 4GB. You will not be able to copy, say, a movie with a single file size larger than 4GB to the drive. Most players support FAT32.
Limitations of the FAT32 file system: https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=1287
*exFAT allows you to copy single files larger than 4GB; it is however not as compatible as FAT32, and not all players support it.

  • NTFS is file format which is fast, readable by most computers. It allows large single files; but, as is even less compatible than exFAT.

For more information on USB format types, see here:
https://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/how-to-format-usb-drive-using-using-fat-fat32-ntfs-exfat/

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