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    Vista says file to big for external hdd

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Tinderbox (UK), May 8, 2008.

  1. Tinderbox (UK)

    Tinderbox (UK) BAKED BEAN KING

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    Hi.

    I have an external 500gb HDD with according to vista 279GB free

    but when i try to copy a 4.35GB iso file to it vista says it`s will not fit.

    I have run scandisk on my exernal and it shows no errors.

    What is wrong.

    thanks

    John.
     
  2. Theros123

    Theros123 Web Designer & Developer

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    Maybe the file format the External Drive is in? Meaning that its in FAT32, which can only hold max 4.something gig files. Otherwise, it'll tell you that error which you got. I'm not sure how to get around it, but you could .zip/.rar the iso, and split it into two different files, or reformat the external harddrive using Vista/XP to a NTFS format which can hold bigger than 4.something gig files.

    Also, that iso wouldn't happen to be a game would it know? :p
     
  3. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    FAT32 has a 4.0GB file size limit. You probably need to reformat the external to NTFS.
     
  4. Tinderbox (UK)

    Tinderbox (UK) BAKED BEAN KING

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    Hi.

    Thanks for the help.

    You right it`s FAT32

    I have plenty of space on my internal HDD to store it, I just could not understand why it would not fit on my external

    Thanks

    John.