External HD memory problem

[The_OG_Nelta]

Sometimes I clearly have enough memory on my external, but it won't let me put large files on there.

Example, Toy story 1&2 = 15gigs

I have 506gigs free on external, and it won't let me put it on there. Any ideas?

[rosemarie]

Is it NTFS or FAT? FAT only supports up to 4gigs on each file I think.

[Minions]

Is it NTFS or FAT? FAT only supports up to 4gigs on each file I think.

This, either need to break up the files, or use NTFS

[The_OG_Nelta]

It's FAT How can I make it ntsf without erasing everything? or would I have to move everything somewhere else, and format it to NTSF?

[Seanr]

why was it fat to begin with lol

[The_OG_Nelta]

beats me, thats the way it came

[Crowort]

You can't convert the file system without lossing everything, unless you backup the data somewhere else.

[Obiron]

You can't convert the file system without lossing everything, unless you backup the data somewhere else.

Your best bet is to back it up somewhere, then convert to NTFS and format, then move it back. If that's not an option though, I believe it is actually possible to convert it (I know this works on your C drive, maybe someone who has tried on an external can confirm?) Use the command:

convert X: /fs:ntfs (where X = drive letter)
Read this for more information on the subject.

I've done this on active C drives before with no harm, but I've never tested on an external. And as the link says, it is not always successful, so there is some risk. Like I said though, if backing up is an option I would do that and format the drive as it is the preferable method.

[SephYuyX]

In short, more things support FAT than NTFS, even though it's fairly negligible this day and age. It's just an old standard.