Solved How to Format 5TB drive to fat 32


Scannerman said:
I was guessing that Hazel was referring to system images generated by standard Windows recovery software. Which I learned this year is absolute garbage if you use it after EOL. Anyway, it was prejudiced and premature of me to assume this to be the case.

I love this guy. I've been watching his stuff off and on for a couple of years now. A fellow Canadian, eh? ;-)
Click to expand...
My terminology may have added to the confusion :-) I still call it a system image whichever utility is used. However I do find it confusing these days that utilities like EaseUs call them backups rather than images - and which is why I made a mistake overwriting one "image" with a later one. I just want a full image of entire computer with everything on, rather than incremental backups. I know there are advantages to incremental backups but I just want to keep things simple. A full image and a place to store documents separately.

Scannerman said:
You should have no trouble at all doing file backups on NTFS. Of course I'm assuming you're using Win 11.
Click to expand...
Yes it's on Windows 11 :-) Would the same apply to Windows 10? My other laptop is on W10. Yes I have learned this today - that you can copy and paste files to and from an NTFS external hard drive and have tried it out. My brain was stuck in a historic mode that it needed to be Fat32 or ex Fat, to save documents, photos etc. But that is only if you want to use the drive for compatibility with other operating systems.

I like the idea of the NTFS (you don't lose properties of the files when copying apart from anything else) but I still find it hard to get past old habits and keeping compatibility.

Anyway I have learned something new :-).

A question though. Was this the case when using Windows 7 as well? That you could save documents to an external NTFS drive? I think the difference back then was - I didn't have an external usb drive and used memory cards and sticks to back up documents onto.
 

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Hazel123 said:
My terminology may have added to the confusion :-) I still call it a system image whichever utility is used. However I do find it confusing these days that utilities like EaseUs call them backups rather than images - and which is why I made a mistake overwriting one "image" with a later one. I just want a full image of entire computer with everyting on, rather than incremental backups. I know there are advantages to incremental backups but I just want to keep things simple. A full image and a place to store documents separately.


Yes it's on Windows 11 :-) Would the same apply to Windows 10? My other laptop is on W10. Yes I have learned this today - that you can copy and paste files to and from an NTFS external hard drive and have tried it out. My brain was stuck in a historic mode that it needed to be Fat32 or ex Fat, to save documents, photos etc. But that is only if you want to use the drive for compatibility with other operating systems.

I like the idea of the NTFS (you don't lose properties of the files when copying apart from anything else) but I still find it hard to get past old habits and keeping compatibility.

Anyway I have learned something new :-)
Click to expand...
NTFS is fantastic. You'll have no trouble with this file system as far as file systems go on Win 10 or 11 (or even 8.1 for that matter). I've been using it for the last ten years. Fat and ex Fat are still used in special applications such as flashing a BIOS but for regular use you're best off with NTFS.
 

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Drive types consist of the following: Various mechanical hard drives bearing the brand names, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. Various NVMe drives bearing the brand names Kingston, Intel, Silicon Power, Crucial, Western Digital, and Team Group. Various SATA SSDs bearing various different brand names.

RAID arrays included:

LSI RAID 10 (WD Velociraptors) 1115.72 GB
LSI RAID 10 (WD SSDS) 463.80 GB

INTEL RAID 0 (KINGSTON HYPER X) System 447.14 GB
INTEL RAID 1 TOSHIBA ENTERPRIZE class Data 2794.52 GB
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MisterEd said:
Blame Me: The Windows 11 Disk Formatter
Click to expand...
That was very interesting :-) So when Fat 32 was designed, it was when storage was very small. He seems to be reading from an autocue, looking at his eyes, rather than looking at "you" through the camera. And talks incredibly fast!
 

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Scannerman said:
NTFS is fantastic. You'll have no trouble with this file system as far as file systems go on Win 10 or 11 (or even 8.1 for that matter). I've been using it for the last ten years. Fat and ex Fat are still used in special applications such as flashing a BIOS but for regular use you're best off with NTFS.
Click to expand...
Thanks. So what are the cons of NTFS for document storage as well as the pros? Anything I should be aware of? I know the pros and cons of Fat 32. I'm wary of ex fat.
 

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    Originally came installed with a 500gb H10 Optane ssd

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Hazel123 said:
Thanks. So what are the cons of NTFS for document storage as well as the pros? Anything I should be aware of? I know the pros and cons of Fat 32. I'm wary of ex fat.
Click to expand...
For operating systems using the newer UEFI BIOS your drive should be in GPT format and NTFS file system. Older units using legacy BIOS use MBR. Operating systems using PCs of that vintage are all at EOL so unless you're using one of those it shouldn't be a concern.
 

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Ports X, Y, and Z are reserved for USB access and removable drives.

Drive types consist of the following: Various mechanical hard drives bearing the brand names, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. Various NVMe drives bearing the brand names Kingston, Intel, Silicon Power, Crucial, Western Digital, and Team Group. Various SATA SSDs bearing various different brand names.

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LSI RAID 10 (WD Velociraptors) 1115.72 GB
LSI RAID 10 (WD SSDS) 463.80 GB

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INTEL RAID 1 TOSHIBA ENTERPRIZE class Data 2794.52 GB
INTEL RAID 1 SEAGATE HYBRID 931.51 GB
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Noctua is my favorite and I use it in my main. I also own various other coolers.
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KASPERSKY (no apologies)
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Gave Dell touch screen with Windows 11 to daughter and got me an OTVOC. Being a PC builder I own many desktop PCs as well. I am a father of five providing PCs, laptops, and tablets for all my family, most of which I have modified, rebuilt, or simply built from scratch. I do not own a cell phone, never have, never will.
I do still have a couple of legacy ones using MBR. In fact I still find it hard to adjust to things not being MBR! Have always had really quite old computers until recently.
 

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Hazel123 said:
I do still have a couple of legacy ones using MBR. In fact I still find it hard to adjust to things not being MBR! Have always had really quite old computers until recently.
Click to expand...
Aaah.. Another multiple PC user! :-) Well, now you know which is for which. Even with external backup drives those old PCs should still work okay with NTFS on the backup. Perhaps you noticed that the limit for MBR on backup drives is 2TB? I thought it was 4TB but I was mistaken.
 

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DIY, ASUS, and DELL
CPU
Intel i7 6900K and i9-7960X / AMD 3800X (8 core)
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ASUS X99E-WS USB 3.1 and ASUS X299 SAGE
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128 GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM (B DIE)
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NVIDIA 1070 and RTX 3070
Sound Card
Crystal Sound (onboard)
Monitor(s) Displays
single Samsung 30" 4K and 8" aux monitor
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4K and something equally attrocious. I'll be working on this.
Hard Drives
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W

Ports X, Y, and Z are reserved for USB access and removable drives.

Drive types consist of the following: Various mechanical hard drives bearing the brand names, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. Various NVMe drives bearing the brand names Kingston, Intel, Silicon Power, Crucial, Western Digital, and Team Group. Various SATA SSDs bearing various different brand names.

RAID arrays included:

LSI RAID 10 (WD Velociraptors) 1115.72 GB
LSI RAID 10 (WD SSDS) 463.80 GB

INTEL RAID 0 (KINGSTON HYPER X) System 447.14 GB
INTEL RAID 1 TOSHIBA ENTERPRIZE class Data 2794.52 GB
INTEL RAID 1 SEAGATE HYBRID 931.51 GB
PSU
SEVERAL. I prefer my Corsair Platinum HX1000i but I also like EVGA power supplies
Case
ThermalTake Level 10 GT (among others)
Cooling
Noctua is my favorite and I use it in my main. I also own various other coolers.
Keyboard
all kinds.
Mouse
all kinds
Internet Speed
360 mbps - 1 gbps (depending)
Browser
FIREFOX
Antivirus
KASPERSKY (no apologies)
Other Info
Gave Dell touch screen with Windows 11 to daughter and got me an OTVOC. Being a PC builder I own many desktop PCs as well. I am a father of five providing PCs, laptops, and tablets for all my family, most of which I have modified, rebuilt, or simply built from scratch. I do not own a cell phone, never have, never will.
Thanks yes I did notice. Have never had anything bigger than a 2TB drive until now.
 

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    Originally came installed with a 500gb H10 Optane ssd

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    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
Scannerman said:
I was guessing that Hazel was referring to system images generated by standard Windows recovery software. Which I learned this year is absolute garbage if you use it after EOL.
Click to expand...
TBH it was already absolute garbage even if you used it before EOL (probably the main reason it got deprecated - too much work to re-write it from scratch). :lmao:

I used to use it a lot, and learned a lot about its 'endearing' little quirks and idiosyncrasies. One of the main ones was that for its WindowsImageBackup folder and anything it contained it was a case of look but DO NOT TOUCH! Doing so risked making any image it contained unrestorable. However, it was quite safe to make your own folder elsewhere on the partition and use that for your own data.
 

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I now have to tell my brain to unlearn something I had learned about 14 years ago - that you need fat 32 to save document files, photos etc. And you only need NTFS for images. Not sure where I learned that but it was a long time ago!
 

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    Windows 11 Home 25H2Core i5-1035G132gb
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    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 14-ce3606sa
    CPU
    Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
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    Samsung 870 evo sata ssd
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    Could be better
    Internet Speed
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    Other Info
    Originally came installed with a 500gb H10 Optane ssd

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeIntel Core i5-1035G116gb
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
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    HP Pavilion ce3606sa
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    16gb
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    Hynix Gold P31 2TB
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    Defender
Bree said:
TBH it was already absolute garbage even if you used it before EOL (probably the main reason it got deprecated - too much work to re-write it from scratch). :lmao:

I used to use it a lot, and learned a lot about its 'endearing' little quirks and idiosyncrasies. One of the main ones was that for its WindowsImageBackup folder and anything it contained it was a case of look but DO NOT TOUCH! Doing so risked making any image it contained unrestorable. However, it was quite safe to make your own folder elsewhere on the partition and use that for your own data.
Click to expand...
Yup. Learned my lesson the hard way. Never again. lol
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

WIN 11, WIN 10, WIN 8.1, WIN 7 U, WIN 7 PRO, ...Intel i7 6900K and i9-7960X / AMD 3800X (8 core)128 GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM (B DIE)NVIDIA 1070 and RTX 3070
OS
WIN 11, WIN 10, WIN 8.1, WIN 7 U, WIN 7 PRO, WIN 7 HOME (32 Bit), LINUX MINT
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
DIY, ASUS, and DELL
CPU
Intel i7 6900K and i9-7960X / AMD 3800X (8 core)
Motherboard
ASUS X99E-WS USB 3.1 and ASUS X299 SAGE
Memory
128 GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM (B DIE)
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA 1070 and RTX 3070
Sound Card
Crystal Sound (onboard)
Monitor(s) Displays
single Samsung 30" 4K and 8" aux monitor
Screen Resolution
4K and something equally attrocious. I'll be working on this.
Hard Drives
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W

Ports X, Y, and Z are reserved for USB access and removable drives.

Drive types consist of the following: Various mechanical hard drives bearing the brand names, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. Various NVMe drives bearing the brand names Kingston, Intel, Silicon Power, Crucial, Western Digital, and Team Group. Various SATA SSDs bearing various different brand names.

RAID arrays included:

LSI RAID 10 (WD Velociraptors) 1115.72 GB
LSI RAID 10 (WD SSDS) 463.80 GB

INTEL RAID 0 (KINGSTON HYPER X) System 447.14 GB
INTEL RAID 1 TOSHIBA ENTERPRIZE class Data 2794.52 GB
INTEL RAID 1 SEAGATE HYBRID 931.51 GB
PSU
SEVERAL. I prefer my Corsair Platinum HX1000i but I also like EVGA power supplies
Case
ThermalTake Level 10 GT (among others)
Cooling
Noctua is my favorite and I use it in my main. I also own various other coolers.
Keyboard
all kinds.
Mouse
all kinds
Internet Speed
360 mbps - 1 gbps (depending)
Browser
FIREFOX
Antivirus
KASPERSKY (no apologies)
Other Info
Gave Dell touch screen with Windows 11 to daughter and got me an OTVOC. Being a PC builder I own many desktop PCs as well. I am a father of five providing PCs, laptops, and tablets for all my family, most of which I have modified, rebuilt, or simply built from scratch. I do not own a cell phone, never have, never will.
Bree said:
TBH it was already absolute garbage even if you used it before EOL (probably the main reason it got deprecated - too much work to re-write it from scratch). :lmao:

I used to use it a lot, and learned a lot about its 'endearing' little quirks and idiosyncrasies. One of the main ones was that for its WindowsImageBackup folder and anything it contained it was a case of look but DO NOT TOUCH! Doing so risked making any image it contained unrestorable. However, it was quite safe to make your own folder elsewhere on the partition and use that for your own data.
Click to expand...
Yet for some people that was maybe an advantage? If they just wanted an image to restore some time.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Home 25H2Core i5-1035G132gb
    OS
    Windows 11 Home 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 14-ce3606sa
    CPU
    Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    32gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 870 evo sata ssd
    Cooling
    Could be better
    Internet Speed
    50 mbps Starlink
    Browser
    Firefox
    Other Info
    Originally came installed with a 500gb H10 Optane ssd

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeIntel Core i5-1035G116gb
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion ce3606sa
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    16gb
    Hard Drives
    Hynix Gold P31 2TB
    Internet Speed
    200mbps Starlink
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
Hazel123 said:
Thanks yes I did notice. Have never had anything bigger than a 2TB drive until now.
Click to expand...
LOL. I have a pile of 8TB drives, but that's not big enough now. I'm about to make the jump to a bunch of 20 TB drives :-)

Just wanted to address one concern that you mentioned which was the worry that you might need access to data on other non-Windows systems. Bear in mind that you can always simply copy files from an NTFS volume to a drive with another format. You can do that locally, or over the network. But these days, there are even add-ons for non-Windows systems that allow them to read NTFS formatted drives.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)Intel i7-14650HX32 GBNo GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
    OS
    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acemagic
    CPU
    Intel i7-14650HX
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Varies as machine will often be moved to locations with different monitors
    Screen Resolution
    Varies
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    120W Power Brick
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)Intel i7-1255U16 GBIntel Iris Xe Graphics
    Operating System
    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
Thanks. Ok - so one other worry you might be able to help with. Encrypted files. If I copy files from one laptop (which tells me the files are encrypted via bitlocker and I would lose encryption in fat 32 for example). And those files are still encrypted in NTFS - would that drive still be able to open files on a different Windows PC? Eg an older one.
 
Last edited:

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Home 25H2Core i5-1035G132gb
    OS
    Windows 11 Home 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 14-ce3606sa
    CPU
    Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    32gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 870 evo sata ssd
    Cooling
    Could be better
    Internet Speed
    50 mbps Starlink
    Browser
    Firefox
    Other Info
    Originally came installed with a 500gb H10 Optane ssd

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeIntel Core i5-1035G116gb
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion ce3606sa
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    16gb
    Hard Drives
    Hynix Gold P31 2TB
    Internet Speed
    200mbps Starlink
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
Just to add - I have definitely not set up bitlocker on this laptop and don't have a password. But when copying files from the laptop to a fat 32 drive it says - you will lose bitlocker encryption. Or is that just a standard message just in case you have bitlocker?

Main question is, if files from one Windows laptop are saved on an external NTFS drive - would there ever be any issues opening them on another Windows laptop due to various permissions etc?

I can see NTFS is more secure and less corruptible but still thinking about compatibility.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Home 25H2Core i5-1035G132gb
    OS
    Windows 11 Home 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 14-ce3606sa
    CPU
    Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    32gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 870 evo sata ssd
    Cooling
    Could be better
    Internet Speed
    50 mbps Starlink
    Browser
    Firefox
    Other Info
    Originally came installed with a 500gb H10 Optane ssd

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeIntel Core i5-1035G116gb
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion ce3606sa
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    16gb
    Hard Drives
    Hynix Gold P31 2TB
    Internet Speed
    200mbps Starlink
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
Well I've tested it out on three computers and no issues copying or opening files on them so I'll keep it on NTFS and thanks for the information.

Just noticed however, that since my new install the other day, the clock was an hour wrong in the bios. I've reset it now but means I'll need to redo my last system image.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Home 25H2Core i5-1035G132gb
    OS
    Windows 11 Home 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 14-ce3606sa
    CPU
    Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    32gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 870 evo sata ssd
    Cooling
    Could be better
    Internet Speed
    50 mbps Starlink
    Browser
    Firefox
    Other Info
    Originally came installed with a 500gb H10 Optane ssd

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeIntel Core i5-1035G116gb
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion ce3606sa
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1035G1
    Memory
    16gb
    Hard Drives
    Hynix Gold P31 2TB
    Internet Speed
    200mbps Starlink
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
Scannerman said:
For operating systems using the newer UEFI BIOS your drive should be in GPT format and NTFS file system. Older units using legacy BIOS use MBR. Operating systems using PCs of that vintage are all at EOL so unless you're using one of those it shouldn't be a concern.
Click to expand...
You are confusing things.

MBR (legacy bios) and UEFI are how the drives are set up.

NTFS, fat32 etc are how individual partitions are formatted. This is independent of whether drive is setup as UEFI or legacy bios.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ16 GB solderedIntegrated Intel Iris XE
OS
Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS Zenbook 14
CPU
I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
Motherboard
Yep, Laptop has one.
Memory
16 GB soldered
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel Iris XE
Sound Card
Realtek built in
Monitor(s) Displays
laptop OLED screen
Screen Resolution
2880x1800 touchscreen
Hard Drives
1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
PSU
Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
Case
Yep, got one
Cooling
Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
Keyboard
Built in UK keybd
Mouse
Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
Internet Speed
900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
Hazel123 said:
Just to add - I have definitely not set up bitlocker on this laptop and don't have a password. But when copying files from the laptop to a fat 32 drive it says - you will lose bitlocker encryption. Or is that just a standard message just in case you have bitlocker?

Main question is, if files from one Windows laptop are saved on an external NTFS drive - would there ever be any issues opening them on another Windows laptop due to various permissions etc?

I can see NTFS is more secure and less corruptible but still thinking about compatibility.
Click to expand...
BitLocker decrypts files on the fly when you access them. So, say for example you have a Word document on an encrypted drive. You do nothing different than on an unencrypted drive. You simply double-click the document, and it opens in Word. Or you open Word and select File > Open, etc. The same holds true for copying files. When you copy data from an encrypted drive to a non-encrypted drive, BitLocker unencrypts the files as they are being copied.

Take this a step further - on the Operating System drive, all the OS files and indeed anything and everything being accessed on that drive is all decrypted on the fly. As far as the user is concerned, there is no difference.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)Intel i7-14650HX32 GBNo GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
    OS
    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acemagic
    CPU
    Intel i7-14650HX
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Varies as machine will often be moved to locations with different monitors
    Screen Resolution
    Varies
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    120W Power Brick
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)Intel i7-1255U16 GBIntel Iris Xe Graphics
    Operating System
    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
Hazel123 said:
I could just leave it as ex fat I guess. But it seems there are solutions above.
Click to expand...

Considering you'll be using that drive as internal storage (?) for backups, I would suggest using NTFS.

  • NTFS offers greater performance than exFat for INTERNAL storage.
  • exFat offers greater performance for EXTERNAL storage; primarily SSDs.
  • Using exFat with external storage - such as a USB drive - you get greater compatibility across different platforms: Windows, MacOS, Linux, etc.
I recall looking into this many years ago, so I decided to look again and the above information is what I found.

To verify accuracy with their claims, it's best to test them: How To Use CrystalDiskMark | What Do The Numbers Mean?
With exFat, run a DiskMark performance test. Then repeat with NTFS and compare the differences. If there's little to no difference, then the only other factor to help you choose would be security. Can the drive or files be encrypted or secured from unauthorized access?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 10 Pro for Workstations 22H2i732 GB, but not enough
OS
Windows 10 Pro for Workstations 22H2
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
HP EliteBook Studio
CPU
i7
Memory
32 GB, but not enough
Monitor(s) Displays
(3) 32" LG 4K
Screen Resolution
A lot :-)
Hard Drives
2TB NVMe's x2
Cooling
external fans
Keyboard
on my desk
Mouse
trapped
Internet Speed
mediocre
Browser
unbearable
Antivirus
good enough
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