Maximum fat32 file size and how to deal with it

File systems, like everything related to the IT field, are constantly and dynamically developing. Who would have thought in 1996 that the maximum fat32 file size would be considered inadequate after 5-6 years? And limiting the size of the fat32 file is by no means the only drawback of this file system compared to other, more advanced brethren.

Traditionally fat32 is compared with the NTFS file system - also the brainchild of Microsoft. Among the advantages of this file system is practically unlimited maximum file size (theoretical limit is 2 exabytes), support for compression of files and folders, stability to operating system failures, small size of one cluster and so on. But there is one significant drawback - so popular now USB flash drives and in write mode, and in read / copy mode, they work faster with the obsolete fat32 file system. For example, flash drives Corsair Voyager GT in fat32 that are very popular among enthusiasts show a speed in the recording mode at the level of 17-19 MB / s, and in NTFS - "only" 12-13 MB / s. Significant difference, right? And from the volume of a flash drive this proportion does not depend, i.e. The user receives a loss in speed for both a 4 GB drive and 16 GB.

Obviously, many users for this reason may have a problem: how to write a large file fat32 (by the word big meaning a file that exceeds the maximum size of the file fat32) on a USB flash drive? The option here is only one - you need to split it, divide the file into several parts. But there are a lot of ways to do this, and which one is better to use depends on the file type, and on the user's skill.

One of the simplest ways is to use the WinRAR archiver. Already from the first version, this archiver could work with so-called multi-volume archives, i.e. Archives, which in fact represent parts of one large archive. I think even an inexperienced user will be easy to understand the necessary settings. Just in the window that opens when you create a new archive in the corresponding input field, specify the size of one volume (in bytes) slightly smaller than the maximum file size of fat32 (for example, 4,000,000,000) and - voila, the archiver will create the necessary number of volumes of the new archive . If you specify a minimum compression level, then the archiving process will not take much longer than normal copying. Extraction of a file from a multi-volume archive will occur in the same way as always when unzipping.

Another way to split files into smaller parts is to use specialized utilities. There are a lot of such utilities (Split Files, HJSplit, Piranja, etc.). Among them, a large number of free programs. The only and most significant disadvantage of this approach is the necessity of having the same utility on the computer on which you will merge the parts into a single whole. Exceptions to this rule are found, but rarely. So it is necessary, most likely, to carry with itself on a flash drive either a distribution kit or a portable version of this program.

As a variant of the previous method, you can use the Total Commander file manager. This program is very popular and there are many computers. In the "Files" menu, select "Split files", in the dialog that opens, specify the required size in bytes, or select one of the frequently used options, and ready. On the computer on which you want to recreate the source file, you must select the "Collect files" menu item, while holding the cursor on the first part, and after a short time get the source file.

More advanced users can use specialized audio and video converters to split a large multimedia file. In this process, many of its subtleties. The main thing for a beginner to remember is that with the accuracy of a byte, the size of the received files can not be established, which means that in calculations it is necessary to use a file size of 5-10 percent less than the maximum file size of fat32.