FAT32 to other format

Hi all.
Wondering if anyone can help me out.
Let me set the scene. I have a macbook pro with an external 1TB drive. I use the external drive for my itunes library. It is formatted to FAT32 so that i can use it with MAC and Windows. I have been trying to download some HD movies and hit the 4GB max file size that comes with FAT32.
Is there a way that i can change the file format on this drive WITHOUT losing any of my data?
I have too much on there now to move to another drive if i have to re format. Also, if it is possible, will any programs that 'point' to that drive no longer recognize it?
What would be the best format to choose? As i understand it NTFS cant be used to read/write on both mac and windows.
Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated! Apologies for the noobish posting, all the above is based on google searches!

Thanks in advance!

Dave

should be in a windows command prompt (admin)

convert x: /fs:ntfs

add a /v for plenty of info and /x if you need it to dismount anything thats using the drive at the moment

a reply to: waveydavey

no, but a new 1tb drive is fairly cheap.
lin k to amazon

originally posted by: Maxatoria
should be in a windows command prompt (admin)

convert x: /fs:ntfs

add a /v for plenty of info and /x if you need it to dismount anything thats using the drive at the moment

Is there NTFS driver in Mac OS? If not here is a way: Create 50MB partition formated as FAT32. Store EXT3/4 driver for any OS on this partition. On the rest of phys media create partition formated as EXT3.

I don't believe NTFS works in Mac. Try uses exFAT instead of FAT32. Now I haven't tested this, it's just from some google searches I've done.

Plug the drive into your Windows computer and copy the contents to a folder on your desktop. Then right-click the drive in My Computer and click "format". In the format menu click the file system drop-down box and click "exFAT" and then click "Start" to format the drive to exFAT. Then copy your files back from your desktop over to your external drive.

exFAT can be used by both Windows and Mac OS X 10.6.5 or later. It allows for huge file sizes, and was made with the idea of HD video on removable drives in mind, going by the Wikipedia article on it.

Make sure you do the format on your Windows PC. I have read some articles that state that while you can format exFAT on Mac, the Mac OS likes to use large block sizes that Windows doesn't like to use. Windows will format using a smaller block size that should work fine on both.

exFAT does not work on game consoles, like the Ps3. Keep that in mind.

a reply to: waveydavey

You can defrag your FAT32 and create another ntfs partition on the same drive (as an option).

MacOS X is based on FreeBSD. Any *NIX variation can read-write to ntfs including MacOS but you need to manually configure your fstab (file system table) which if you have never done can be a PITA (command line interface).

Here is a link to CNET explaining how to do this. So there is your other option: convert the entire drive over to ntfs and edit your Mac's fstab to mount the drive.

Good luck! Keep us up to date to tell us what you decided on doing!

[ETA: One more thing! Defrag the partition first! Before you decide on converting it over at the very least defrag it. If you can, back it up.]

Be aware. If you concert there is no going back. Ever. And id it fails at any point in the conversion....have a good backup

a reply to: waveydavey

I really really hate to be the b iach on this thread

But think of it like this

Brand new decent laptop is 500 bucks

Hp variety, for your needs good enough

Instead of screwing around, why not get a part time job or even just sell something you don't need

And get yourself a real thing for 500 buck and you'll be ok for another 2-3 years

4-5 years if you push it

Ok now go ahead and hate me for giving you real long term solution to all this obsolete hardware you have

a reply to: waveydavey

I do believe that there is an NTFS option for a Mac (most of my USB drives usually get converted before I put any data on them though). All of my drives are NTFS, so at the least I know El Capitan can read data from them.

However, the hard part is that you want to convert - I don't know of a command that will convert and still leave your files intact. What I like to do is make a temp folder on whichever computer has the most space, copy all the files, format the disk, and then recopy everything back on. Probably not what you are looking for, but it's the most straight-forward approach.

If I still had my...um...Dell-shaped Mac, I could have tested this out for you. But gladly Linux Mint 18 now lives on there.

-fossilera

a reply to: DannyBoy555

Whats that all about? Did i mention money anywhere? I don't need a part time job thanks, my full time job brings in more than enough for my needs, yeah i could just go buy something else but its a bit wasteful don't you think? I have everything i need here.
I asked a legitimate question and i asked it because I don't have any relevant experience in this area.
Your response was pretty childish don't you think?

To everyone else that posted here, thanks for your constructive ideas and advice.