NTFS (New Technology File System) is a proprietary journaling file system introduced by Microsoft in 1993, and it's the default file system of the Windows NT family. When adding a new hard drive, you'll be asked to format it, and NTFS is often an option, alongside FAT32. However, there's a difference between the two file systems that's worth noting.
Their key differences mainly focus on the following factors:
1. FAT32 is an older file system, whereas NTFS is relatively newer.
2. FAT32 is simple while the NTFS structure is quite complicated;
3. NTFS has an advantage over FAT32 in terms of file and volume size, supporting much larger files and volumes, whereas FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4GB and a maximum partition size of 32GB.
4. FAT32 does not offer encryption and strong security features, whereas NTFS provides robust security and encryption capabilities.
5. NTFS performance is slightly better than FAT32 due to its fault tolerance feature, which allows for more efficient data handling and recovery in case of system crashes or file corruption.
6. The file transfer and access speed is faster in NTFS partitions compared to FAT32.
7. Converting NTFS to FAT is relatively simple, but the opposite process, converting FAT to NTFS, is more challenging.
Users may need to format their external hard drives to NTFS for various reasons. To do this on Windows 10/8/7, you can use built-in tools such as Disk Management, File Explorer, and Diskpart. These tools provide step-by-step instructions for formatting the external hard drive to NTFS.
Warning: Since the formatting process will erase all data on the external hard drive, please ensure you have a backup of all important files before proceeding.
1. Right click "My Computer/This PC" on the desktop, select "Manage" and then click on "Storage" followed by "Disk Management" to open Disk Management.
2. To format an external hard drive, right-click on it and select "Format…" from the drop-down menu.
3. Select NTFS in the file system box and perform a quick format.
4. Click "OK" to format the drive and wait until finished.
1. To format a drive, double click on "My Computer/This PC" to open File Explorer, then right click on the drive you need to format and select the "Format" option from the menu.
2. In the pop-out mini window, select "NTFS" under File System volume, check "Quick Format", and click "Start".
1. To open Command Prompt as an administrator, click the "Start" button, type "cmd" in the search box, right-click on the Command Prompt icon that appears, and select "Run as administrator".
2. Type the following commands in sequence and press Enter after each.
3. Then type "exit" to leave the Diskpart service.
Usually, the above 3 methods can help you format hard drive to NTFS successfully. However, sometimes they cannot format external hard drive to NTFS as expected like the below real user story:
Your LG external hard drive stopped working after unplugging it without safe eject. The computer recognizes it on the F drive, but Disk Management shows it as healthy, won't format, and lists the file system as RAW. To resolve this, you can try using a third-party formatting tool like EaseUS or MiniTool, or use the built-in Windows tool, Diskpart, to clean and reformat the drive. Be cautious when using these tools, as they can potentially erase all data on the drive. If you're not comfortable with these steps, consider consulting a professional for assistance.
When your external hard drive becomes RAW or write-protected due to a corrupted file system, Windows' built-in formatting methods can't complete the task normally.
If you're unable to format an external hard drive to NTFS, you can use a third-party partition manager like Qiling Disk Master Standard to force format it. This software can format RAW/corrupted/read-only external hard drives to NTFS, as well as other file systems like FAT32, exFAT, Ext2, Ext3, and Ext4. It can also resize, move, delete, merge, or copy partitions, and convert data disks between MBR and GPT without data loss.
1. Download, install and launch Qiling Disk Master Standard. Once launched, right-click the partition you need to format and choose "Format Partition" to convert it to the NTFS file system.
2. In the mini window, select "NTFS" from the file system dropdown menu and click "OK". You can also set a partition label to easily identify it from other partitions in the future, and adjust the cluster size if needed.
3. Click "Proceed" to start formatting process.
If your external hard drive has a FAT32 file system, you can format it to NTFS using Qiling Disk Master's "NTFS to FAT32 Converter". This tool allows you to convert between FAT32 and NTFS file systems directly, preserving your data on the partition.
Formatting an external hard drive to NTFS file system in Windows 10/8/7 can be easily achieved with the 4 effective methods mentioned. Additionally, Qiling Disk Master Standard is a versatile disk partition management tool for Windows users, making it a useful tool for managing disk partitions. (Note: I removed the "Worth to mention" phrase as it was not present in the original text)
If you want to enjoy more advanced features like migrating Windows drives between MBR and GPT disks, quick partitioning, recovering lost partitions, splitting large partitions, and extending NTFS system partitions without rebooting, you can upgrade to Qiling Disk Master Professional for personal use or Qiling Disk Master Server for Windows Server users.