SD card reformat to FAT32

[gwhitmore]

Can anyone steer me to where I might find out how to reformat an SD card from FAT16 to FAT32?

[whitelyt]

Can anyone steer me to where I might find out how to reformat an SD card from FAT16 to FAT32?

Welcome to iPaqHQ!

Absolutely you can reformat a card to FAT32. You can do that using a USB card reader on your PC or you can do it directly on your PPC. If you want to do it on your PPC you can use either Pocket Mechanic, Storage Tools or FlashFormat. Each tool can be purchased from this site in our Software Shopping area. I use Pocket Mechanic and it works like clockwork.

[lorneking]

Welcome to iPaqHQ!

Absolutely you can reformat a card to FAT32. You can do that using a USB card reader on your PC or you can do it directly on your PPC. If you want to do it on your PPC you can use either Pocket Mechanic, Storage Tools or FlashFormat. Each tool can be purchased from this site in our Software Shopping area. I use Pocket Mechanic and it works like clockwork.

I use Pocket Mechanic too. Formats either FAT16 or FAT32, and allows you to select your sector size, so you can optimize it for what types of files you'll store.

I've also used FlashFormat, but I find that Pocket Mechanic works better because it gives you so many other tools along with the storage card format.

[NachoDog]

Can you guys explain why FAT32 is better than FAT16? I used to know back in the days of Win95, but I forgot. Also, what's a good cluster size for what kind of file?


Thanks a bunch!

[whitelyt]

Can you guys explain why FAT32 is better than FAT16? I used to know back in the days of Win95, but I forgot. Also, what's a good cluster size for what kind of file?


Thanks a bunch!

It's not really about FAT32 being better than FAT16 or vice versa. It is really all about how you use your storage card. FAT16 works better for larger, fewer files. So if you use your card for multimedia files for example (video, MP3s) it is better to use FAT16. FAT32 on the other hand works better for many smaller files. So if you use your card strictly for data storage and application files then FAT32 is better.

[lorneking]

It's not really about FAT32 being better than FAT16 or vice versa. It is really all about how you use your storage card. FAT16 works better for larger, fewer files. So if you use your card for multimedia files for example (video, MP3s) it is better to use FAT16. FAT32 on the other hand works better for many smaller files. So if you use your card strictly for data storage and application files then FAT32 is better.

whitelyt is dead on... I have 2 storage cards: a 1GB card that is used for storing movies and music (hence I have it formatted FAT16) and a 512MB card that I install games and extra applications on (and, guess what, it's formatted FAT32!) and it makes sure I have close-to-optimal performance depending on what I'm doing. Chances are if I'm listening to music or watching movies, I'm not playing a game or navigating GPS at the same time (that's just me) and vice versa. So I will only use one card or the other at any given time.

PocketMechanic actually gives you the option to choose what you are using the storage card for (multimedia, applications, storing back-ups, maps, etc.) and will format the storage card to the optimal format for you. That is one advantage I found of PocketMechanic over FlashFormat (because beyond what I just wrote in the previous paragraph, I'm dumb about FAT.)

I prefer NTFS anyway.

Actually, if you want to get really geeky, we can talk about WINFS.

I'll stop now. Seriously.