Hardware Tweaks - Installation Windows XP on a 32GIG + FAT32 Hard drive

There is a way to trick Microsoft Windows XP into using FAT32 Partitions bigger then 32GB. I have been using a 60GB partition on Windows XP for over 4 months now and I have not had a single problem.

Here is how you do it.

  1. Get a Windows 98 boot disk
     
  2. Boot from boot disk and run Fdisk
     
  3. Partition the drive to what size you want up to 120GB
     
  4. Reboot the computer off of the Win98 boot disk
     
  5. Format the drive
     
  6. Boot the computer off of the Windows XP CD
     
  7. Proceed to install the Windows XP.
     
  8. When Windows XP ask you what partition to install to choose the disk you just formatted it will give you an several option dealing with NTFS don't pay them any mind and choose the last option which is to install Windows XP to current drive without making any changes.

    Windows XP will proceed to install normally and you will have Windows XP installed to a fully functional FAT32 Partition greater then 32GB. WinXP can use larger then 32GB partitions M$ intentionally limited the Fdisk portion Windows XP to push people to the Realm of NTFS.

 


Author:

Lex van der Horst

Date Added:

19-03-2004

Last Reviewed:

29-09-2004