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Question
Tuesday, February 2, 2016 9:19 PM
Here is my command: format /FS:FAT32 /V:FAT32
Anyone see how to correct this adding a required parameter of a dash (-) ?
I will continue searching for examples. Haven't found any yet.
update: disregard. I called WD customer service and they had me do it using disk management. That is a better idea anyway.
update 2: The only 2 choices are NTFS and exFAT. Is exFAT compatible with FAT32?
All replies (7)
Tuesday, February 2, 2016 10:08 PM ✅Answered
For volume needs to be first I would say looking at the help for the format command
"Formats a disk for use with Windows.
FORMAT volume [/FS:file-system] [/V:label] [/Q] [/L[:state]] [/A:size] [/C] [/I:state] [/X] [/P:passes] [/S:state]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/F:size] [/P:passes]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors] [/P:passes]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/P:passes]
FORMAT volume [/Q]
volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
/FS:filesystem Specifies the type of the file system (FAT, FAT32, exFAT,
NTFS, UDF, ReFS).
/V:label Specifies the volume label.
/Q Performs a quick format. Note that this switch overrides /P.
/C NTFS only: Files created on the new volume will be compressed
by default.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary. All opened
handles to the volume would no longer be valid.
/R:revision UDF only: Forces the format to a specific UDF version
(1.02, 1.50, 2.00, 2.01, 2.50). The default
revision is 2.01.
/D UDF 2.50 only: Metadata will be duplicated.
/L[:state] NTFS Only: Overrides the default size of file record.
By default, a non-tiered volume will be formatted with small
size file records and a tiered volume will be formatted with
large size file records. /L and /L:enable forces format to
use large size file records and /L:disable forces format to
use small size file records.
/A:size Overrides the default allocation unit size. Default settings
are strongly recommended for general use.
ReFS supports 64K.
NTFS supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K.
FAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
(128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
FAT32 supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
(128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
exFAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
128K, 256K, 512K, 1M, 2M, 4M, 8M, 16M, 32M.
Note that the FAT and FAT32 files systems impose the
following restrictions on the number of clusters on a volume:
FAT: Number of clusters <= 65526
FAT32: 65526 < Number of clusters < 4177918
Format will immediately stop processing if it decides that
the above requirements cannot be met using the specified
cluster size.
NTFS compression is not supported for allocation unit sizes
above 4096.
/F:size Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (1.44)
/T:tracks Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N:sectors Specifies the number of sectors per track.
/P:count Zero every sector on the volume. After that, the volume
will be overwritten "count" times using a different
random number each time. If "count" is zero, no additional
overwrites are made after zeroing every sector. This switch
is ignored when /Q is specified.
/S:state Specifies support for short filenames (enable, disable)
Short names are disabled by default
/I:state ReFS only: Specifies whether integrity should be enabled on
the new volume. "state" is either "enable" or "disable"
Integrity is enabled on storage that supports data redundancy
by default.
/B[yteAddressable][:state]
NTFS and ReFS Only: Enable direct access storage (DAS) mode
for this volume. In direct access storage mode the volume is
byte addressable. In DAS mode, the volume is accessed via the
memory bus for most of the files boosting IO performance,
bypassing the storage stack. NOTE: File system mini fileters
won't see paging IOs for the files being accessed in DAS mode.
A volume can be formatted with byte addressable mode only if
the hardware supports.
State can specify "enable" or "disable"
So;
format G: /FS:FAT32 /V:FAT32A
from an admin command prompt, does that work?
Wednesday, February 3, 2016 5:52 PM ✅Answered
Why not use Diskpart to format the partition?
Wednesday, February 3, 2016 6:31 PM ✅Answered
How big is the drive? If the drive is over 32GB, FAT32 will not work. You have to use one of the other formats.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938432.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
Sean Liming - Book Author: Starter Guide SIM (WEI), Pro Guide to WE8S & WES 7, Pro Guide to POS for .NET - www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com
Thursday, February 4, 2016 4:17 PM ✅Answered
You can still create a 31GB partition on a larger disk for FAT32. The rest of the space is a waste however.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016 9:32 PM
Appears to me you are missing the Volume to format. So;
format E: /FS:FAT32
from an admin command prompt works for me to format my E: drive FAT32. Enter format /? for help.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016 10:01 PM
I attempted this statement.
format /FS:FAT32 /V:FAT32A G:
The result is "Enter current volume label for drive G:FAT32"
I typed in fat32. Then it says an incorrect volume label was entered for this drive.
WD support doesn't understand command prompt, and disk management doesn't understand FAT32, only offering NTFS and exFAT.
I attempted using my Vista computer also, but it says some sort of device driver needs to be installed and I could not get the driver from wdc.com
Tuesday, February 16, 2016 8:09 AM
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