Files can't copy to USB's or external HDD's???!!!

bleung said:

hi guys

I got this really strange problem going on with my win 7 x64 Ultimate

when i wanna copy a iso image thats pretty large (3gigs+) my pc wont let me copy it
even though i have like double the file size that i wanna copy

hyperlink to screenshot
http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1260273548


anybody else got this problem? anybody able to fix this? seems like a bug to me, not sure though. I also sometimes get the message "you DESTINATION file is too big for the file you are copying!"~~~any solutions also?

Thanks alot guys

Chances are the drive is formatted with FAT32, which is limited to a maximum filesize of 4GB. The file you are copying is 7.42GB (as seen in your screenshot).

If the drive is a hard disk, you can convert it as follows:

1. Click the Start Orb, and type "cmd" (without quotes) in the search box
2. In the search results, right-click on CMD, then select "Run as Administrator"
3. type "convert J: /fs:ntfs /x" (without quotes), and press <ENTER>
4. Your problem of not being able to copy such large file should then be solved.

The above will work also for flash drives, but is NOT RECOMMENDED.

Question: Why is the drive formatted as FAT32 anyway?

Crimson1989 said:

I think it has to do with security/permission issues. FAT has almost no security, so it's very accesible. With NTFS you sometimes have to grant permissions. This probably doesn't make much sense, but imagine that you're running more than one operating system on a single computer, programs or data that need to be accessed by more than one operating system on that computer should be stored on a FAT32 volume.
The NTFS file system is generally not compatible with other operating systems installed on the same computer, nor is it available when you've booted a computer from a floppy disk.

But this information might be outdated.

That info was what I would say is right. Companies take the easy route and use FAT32 due to backwards compatable with older OS's Win98/ME or older OSX. The hard drive makers want to play it safe with the "Just plug it in and use it crowd." and older hardware.

Your volume label is WD Passport. Also, you can just reformat the drive as NTFS if you don't want to mess around with the convert command.