this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2024

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276

Microsoft boosts Windows’ FAT32 partition size limit after nearly three decades (www.engadget.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 223 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

This is badly written and ignorant article. Fat32 supports up to 16Tb partition size (depending on cluster size - 2Tb -16Tb).

Its microsoft's windows tools that arbitrarily only allow users to create 32Gb partitions, and it is this that is being changed. This is not a change to Fat32, this is a change to windows. 3rd party tools on Windows and other systems like Linux have long offered more options for partition size.

That its taken to 2024 for Microsoft to fix the command line tool (and still not fix the GUI tools) is ridiculous.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That's what I thought!

The real issue with Fat32 is the 4gb file size limit.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

About 10 years ago, my usb drive was Fat32 by default. I changed it to Ntfs due to Fat32's 4-GB cap. 1080p movies that were 4+ GB were getting more widespread then. I'm using Ntfs till now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Problem is NTFS isn't as widely supported across alternative operating systems.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Exfat if you wanna use your usb drive on Macos or Linux.

I have Windows so I'm OK with Ntfs.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago

From the department of temporary fixes, becoming a permanent solution. This guy made FAT32: https://youtu.be/bikbJPI-7Kg?si=orQCjxmnOPAhKIeu

[–] [email protected] 85 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I love how the arstechnica article words it like you will never need FAT32 and it's silly to consider it.

I had to download fat32format I don't know how many times because I needed to format an extra large SD Card or USB drive for some device. Microsoft really shafted exFAT's adoption with their licensing.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

FAT32 is also really simple to implement. Supporting exFAT may require a larger microcontroller with more memory, which results in a more expensive product.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

FAT32 is the java of file systems. Works everywhere, on anything. But everyone hates it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

Even my speaker can read fat32, but I never format any storage in that system

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I personally haven't had to touch it in over a decade, but I guess there's probably some uses for it still, yeah.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Personal computers and flagship phones? Yeah you can probably use exFAT.

Video game consoles and handhelds? Dashcams? Car entertainment centers? Cheap android devices? 100% going to be FAT32 partitioned with a Master Boot Record

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Low end motherboard BIOS flashing

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

I just flashed my mobo last night and it wanted a fat32 fs. It’s not low-end at all.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You think high end motherboards are going to flash from XFS?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

I've seen a few that can read ExFAT

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Yup, I had to download a program to format my 64Gb micro SD card for my 3ds last year.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

I needed it for a printer the other day!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago

Yep, many smart TVs still only accept FAT32 format. I have to split my HDR videos into multiple files to be able to watch them on TV — because of 4GiB size limit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Rufus is your friend

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Microsoft can suck my FAT32mm Micropenis

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think there was some kind of tool that let you extend it more. I had a 512gb drive on fat32 but it sucked so much I just reformated to ext4 and it performed much better

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, GUIFormat can do that. Fat32 has its limitations, but I pretty much always use it as the stuff I use micro SD cards in, require it

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago (31 children)

Finally, Microsoft caught up to Linux.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Microsoft caught up to Linux.

They cannot even read (let alone write) any of the FOSS file systems used in Linux.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

Thankfully. I wouldn't trust windows with a mounted foreign filesystem if I dual booted.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That’s an odd statement. I had an ext4 partition mounted on a Windows 11 machine just a week ago.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

Natively somehow, or via LFS? If you have LFS set up, explorer lets you use it to mount Linux disks

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Well, I was referring to Fat32. Probably shouldve stated that before lol. But yeah i absolutely agree.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

I don’t know how much it matters though? If I try it on my Windows XP machine I’ll still be stuck with the old limit right?

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