[ps burley]

looking to use a extenal HDD thats NTFS with ATVFlash, I believe I need to format to FAT 32 but I cant in windows. How do I do this (novice).
Also I thought max file size on FAT32 was 4gb...thats not enough for a DVD move? HELP PLEASE

[Madrichie]

Hi

I think you can use Swissknife


CompuApps, Inc. - Download Swissknife

[ps burley]

thanks but tried that and its not compatable with WIN 7 looks like only XP..HELP

[skinnymalinky]

Partion Magic will do it and works with windows 7 as i'm using it myself.

[ps burley]

couls i use swisnife on a windows XP machine then use with my windows 7 mnachine after formatted to FAT32

[next010]

FAT32 should show as a format choice on external USB drives in Windows 7 format tool. It defaults to exFAT but the drop down box should have FAT32.

You can use this program to format FAT32 hard drives under windows.

However given the limitation of FAT32 you may want to look as using the Apple HFS+ file system instead which is supported by the ATV. To format a drive with HFS+ under Windows and read the drive you need to use MacDrive.

If you dont need to access the USB hard drive again from Windows you can use the free Gparted tool to format it with HFS+.

[ps burley]

thanks for that reply...i thought i had to use fat32 withatvflash. i note the software you mention has to be purchased, most of my dvd's have vob files less than th 4gb max under fat32 but some are larger...not sure if its worth me laying out money. also from time to time i will want to connect the ext hdd to my widows 7 pc to update,,,,,so this is important to me...whats my best option?? as i say i am new to this....

[broona]

I use HP's USB Format Tool, available here - HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - v2.1.8 Download - EXTREME Overclocking, works perfectly on every drive I've tried it on.

[next010]

Originally Posted by ps burley

thanks for that reply...i thought i had to use fat32 withatvflash. i note the software you mention has to be purchased, most of my dvd's have vob files less than th 4gb max under fat32 but some are larger...not sure if its worth me laying out money. also from time to time i will want to connect the ext hdd to my widows 7 pc to update,,,,,so this is important to me...whats my best option?? as i say i am new to this....

Option 1: Hack the ATV to play VIDEO_TS DVD folders so none of the files are over 4GB so you can format the hard drive with FAT32, aTVflash should enable VIDEO_TS playback.

Option 2: Convert the DVD's into H.264 MP4 using Handbrake and its Apple TV profile, you can use FAT32.

Option 3: Purchase the the MacDrive application (try the demo version) if it formats the hard drive with HFS+ properly and the ATV can read it then you can rip the movies in whatever format you like that are supported by the ATV with no size restrictions.