Should I use MS-DOS FAT?

If you absolutely, positively will only be working with Macs and no other system, ever: Use Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you need to transfer files larger than 4 GB between Macs and PCs: Use exFAT. In all other cases: Use MS-DOS (FAT), aka FAT32.

Is MS-DOS a FAT window?

An MBR partition scheme with a FAT32 (called MS-DOS (FAT) in Disk Utility) volume will allow both OS X (10.4 and up) and Windows (XP and up) to read and write with no additional drivers. NTFS is a better filesystem than fat32 and is well supported by many OSes.

Is MS-DOS FAT32 the same as FAT32?

MS-DOS and Windows are operating systems. You can run Linux on FAT32 too, and it’ll still be the same FAT32. MS-DOS support FAT32 by formating harddisk using ‘fdisk’ and then ‘format’.

How do I convert USB DOS to FAT?

How to Format a USB flash drive on a Mac to MS-DOS (FAT)

Insert a USB flash drive into your Mac.
Press Command ⌘ + Spacebar and then search for Disk Utility.
Select the USB flash drive you wish to format.
Select the Erase button and set Format: MS-DOS (FAT) and then Erase…

What’s the best format for external drive with Mac?

exFAT
If you want to format your external hard drive to work with Mac and Windows computers, you should use exFAT. With exFAT, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years.

What is the difference between exFAT and MS-DOS FAT?

MS-DOS (FAT): Choose this format if the size of the disk is 32 GB or less. ExFAT: Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 GB.

Does MS-DOS FAT32 work on Windows?

Windows can’t read or write HFS+ data natively. However, OS X and Windows both can read and write to a format called FAT32, which used to be used for Windows all the way back into the MS-DOS days. So your best bet for compatibility is FAT32.

Can MS-DOS read FAT32?

Yes, MS-DOS 6.22 can’t recognise FAT32 configured drives.

How do I format a hard drive to fat?

Formatting a USB Flash Drive Using FAT/FAT32/NTFS/exFAT

Step One: Plug in Your Device.
Step Two: Open “My Computer”
Step Three: Select Your Format.
Plug in your USB flash drive.
Go to “start” > “all accessories” > “command prompt”.
Type “format Z: /fs:FAT” for formatting to FAT*.

How do I know what format my external hard drive is Mac?

Open Disk Utility from your /Applications/Utilities folder. Select the hard drive in the column on the left (usually Macintosh HD). At the bottom, you will see Format.

How do I format FAT?

To format a USB stick to FAT with Mac OS:

Connect the USB Device to the computer.
Open Disk Utility.
Click to select the USB Device in the left panel.
Click to change to the Erase tab.
In the Volume Format: selection box, click MS-DOS File System.
Click Erase button.
At the confirmation dialog, click the Erase button.

Is the FAT format the same as MS DOS?

If you partition and format a drive in OS X Lion for use with both systems, Windows and OS X, OS X lists the format as MS-DOS (FAT) but it really formats the drive as FAT32.

How to format a USB drive with fat?

Here is how to format the USB drive with FAT with the Master Boot Record scheme. Step 1: Make sure that the USB drive is connected to your Mac computer. We suggest you back up data from it as we need to erase it to format it with FAT with the MBR scheme. Step 2: Open the Disk Utility using the search function.

Do you need fat to save Boot Camp drivers?

As the error says, the USB drive that you want to save Boot Camp drivers must be formatted with MS-DOS (FAT) with Master Boot Record (MBR) scheme. If you are also getting the same error message, fixing the error is fairly easy. Here is how to format the USB drive with FAT with the Master Boot Record scheme.

Is there a free FAT file for Windows XP?

A free exFAT download for Windows XP is available from Microsoft if it’s not installed. In some cases older machines and third party hardware can’t read the exFAT format, then you will need to format FAT in Windows instead, which it will give it a Master Boot Record for a Partition table.