LaCie LaCinema HD Connect Formatting External USB Hard Drives, Windows File System Formats

LaCinema HD Connect

User Manual

Reformatting the LaCinema HD Connect

page 52

8. Formatting External USB Hard Drives

Please read the following information on file system formats for Win- dows and Mac operating systems to determine if you need to refor- mat your external hard drive to work with LaCinema HD Connect.

If you would like to reformat the drive, follow the steps below for your operating system. The following chart will help you decide which file format is most appropriate for your use. Once you’ve chosen a file format, see sections 8.1. Formatting: Windows Users and 8.2. Formatting: Mac Users for instructions on reformatting.

Windows File System Formats

NTFS

NTFS is the ideal format if you will be using the drive only with Windows machines (performance will generally be greater when compared to FAT 32 without the file size restriction).

MS-DOS (FAT32)

MS-DOS (FAT32) is a good file format if you will be using your drive with both Windows and Macs. MS-DOS (FAT32) has a maximum single file size restriction of 4GB. This means you cannot transfer files larger than 4GB to the drive.

Mac File System Formats

HFS+ (non-journaled)

HFS+ is the ideal file format if you will be using the drive on Macs only; performance is generally superior to that offered by FAT 32 without the file size restriction.

MS-DOS (FAT32)

MS-DOS (FAT32) is a good file format if you will be using your drive with both Windows and Macs. MS-DOS (FAT32) has a maximum single file size restriction of 4GB. This means you cannot transfer files larger than 4GB to the drive.