PCI USB2 on XP Pro

[scarecrowdr]

Hi ALL.....Somewhere within this Forum I read that "PCI USB2" on XP Pro won't work without SP1.....Is that Correct!!....
If So...I have News for You......I have Just Installed a "PCI USB2" n I have Conected to it a New External Case with 120Gbt HD in it Plus a USB1 card reader, They BOTH WORK 100% without SP1....
Just Thought I would Let Ya Know.....

Just installed a NEC 2500a DVD Writer n it says "FAT32 Does Not Support Single Files 4Gbt" So that means I gota Take All my 30Gbt Music off of it n reFormat it as NTFS....Is That Correct or is there a WorkAround!!.......Reason for asking is Last time I tried NTFS I had Problems, so a Bit Reluctant to try it again.....Also Gona put some Videos/DVD on it, that's why it says the above^
ADVICE Needed Please.........Many THANKS....Dennis...

[Ridgerunr]

They may 'work',but may not be able to reach the transfer rate of USB 2. Only workaround for your music,would be to split it into folders 'not' larger than 4GB each. NTFS could care less about folder content size up to several 'terrabytes'. My suggestion would be to dump fat32 and go with NTFS...

[Sarrkazztic]

You can convert the partition to ntfs without moving the files....but for saftey sake....I would move them and format it ntfs.....too much there to risk messing something up

[SuperSparks]

If you want to use the Convert command then go to the Command Prompt (in All Programs>Accessories) and type "Convert X: /fs:ntfs" without the quotes and where X: is the drive letter of the drive you want to convert.

If the drive was formatted FAT32 using WinXP, Convert will be fine. If it was formatted from DOS or Win9x, then you'll end up with 512byte clusters, which won't be great for performance (default for NTFS is 4 KB).

[scarecrowdr]

As is Usual You are All There with the Answers...Thanks.....

OK SuperSparks, Drive was Formatted in XP Pro useing Maxtors Software...(PowerMax. i think)..
I recon it's time to Play safe, n Copy All Albums not yet Copied, thars about 50 i think! rest are copied already.....Then I Reformat to NTFS useing Maxtors software again......Or...Move my Photos off of the 80Gbt to the 120Gbt, Reformat that un as NTFS then put Photos back on there after, n use it for the Odd DVD Movie....

What's makeing me a bit Finiky about all this is last time things kept going Corrupt on me with NTFS....All My Hardware seems to Work Better in FAT32, Will my Card Reader still be Read within an NTFS hard disk....Card Reader is in FAT32.....Or is my BRAIN Ceesing to function again!!......Geting things mixed up!

So RidgeRunr, U saying that it wont reach its Max Speed without SP1....Mmmm! Not gona know that am I, seeing as I don't know how fast USB2 is....(don't quote me figers Please) lol.....
At the moment my music albums Open up Quite Fast...Looks faster than the PCI ATA100.....DO NOT Want SP1 in my System unless it's Absolutly Vital!!!!!!!!

Its on the USB2 with "Optimize for quick removal" (no need to use the safe removal icon)...Other Option is---"Optimize for Performance" (must use the Safely remove Hardware Icon)....
Which un is Best!!!.....
I am Still Learning all about PCs That's why I ask too many Questions, Slow Learner, but once learnt, never forgoten....(Now what was that u said!)...LOL.......Thanks to U lot I have Learnt How to Put a Full Tower together from Scratch, n Done it....
Thats enough from me for now...Over to U.....THANKS....

[SuperSparks]

If it was formatted using Maxblast then I think there's a good chance you'll get 512bytes clusters, so I think a format is the way to go. I can't think of any good reason why using NTFS should have given you those problems in the past. Certainly NTFS is generally considered to be far superior to FAT32, and ought to give less corruption as it's a journalling filesystem with built in self-recovery.

Whichever filesystem you use should have no bearing whatsoever on the cardreader.

And I wouldn't use the Maxtor software to reformat, go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management, right-click the drive and choose Format. That way you'll be certain that you get NTFS 5.1 which is what XP is supposed to use.

[Ridgerunr]

I don't use Maxtor drives,so not familiar with their installation tool(s). But I 'do' know that when you use Western Digitals drive installation tool,the first thing it asks is 'are you installing Windows XP?' If you say 'yes',you are told to quit the setup and use the XP disk. If your 'not' installing XP, it requires you to put a Win9x boot floppy in the drive. This pretty much says use the XP disk if you want NTFS. This is what I've done in the past and then designate what file system I want on what partition(s) during setup. As others have said, i would recommend backing 'all' your data up first. No matter 'how' much of a pain that is. Can save you much more 'pain' down the road...

[scarecrowdr]

Thank You SuperSparks n Ridgernr........Going to Format this Drive via SuperSparks way first...Goten use to useing Maxtors tool, that gives the option of Fat or NTSF...But as U said 512bytes clusters it would be that way.......
So tonight I shall Drag All my Photos off of the HD, Format to NTFS n Copy Half the Photos back on it to see how it goes for a day or two before putting the rest of em back on it.....
Will let U know if I get Probs or Not.....
I not got a Clue why i had Probs before....It just would not Behave in NTFS last time........Thanks....Catch ya l8er....Dennis...