Windows 7 / Getting Started

Working with Removable Disks

Removable is the standard disk type associated with removable storage devices. Working with removable disks is similar to working with fixed disks. Removable storage devices can be formatted with exFAT, FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS. Both Windows Vista with SP1 or later and Windows Server 2008 support exFAT with removable storage devices as well.

The exFAT file system is the next generation file system in the FAT (FAT12/16, FAT32) family. Although retaining the ease-of-use advantages of FAT32, exFAT overcomes FAT32's 4-GB file size limit and FAT32's 32-GB partition size limit on Windows systems. exFAT also supports allocation unit sizes of up to 32,768 KB. exFAT is designed so that it can be used with and easily moved between any compliant operating system or device.

Note: Both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 support hot-pluggable media that use NTFS volumes. This new feature allows you to format USB fl ash devices and other similar media with NTFS.

Removable disks support network file and folder sharing. You configure sharing on removable disks in the same way as you configure standard file sharing. You can assign share permissions, configure caching options for offl ine file use, and limit the number of simultaneous users. You can share an entire removable disk as well as individual folders stored on the removable disk. You can also create multiple share instances.

Where removable disks differ from standard NTFS sharing is that there isn't necessarily an underlying security architecture. With exFAT, FAT, or FAT32, folders and files stored do not have any security permissions or features other than the basic read-only or hidden attribute flags that you can set.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Storage Management
  2. Essential Storage Technologies
  3. Improving Storage Management
  4. Booting from SANs and Using SANs with Clusters
  5. Configuring Multipath I/O
  6. Installing and Configuring File Services
  7. Configuring the File Services Role
  8. Configuring Storage
  9. Adding New Disks
  10. Using the MBR and GPT Partition Styles
  11. Using and Converting MBR and GPT Disks
  12. Using the Disk Storage Types
  13. Using and Converting Basic and Dynamic Disks
  14. Converting FAT or FAT32 to NTFS
  15. Working with Removable Disks
  16. Managing MBR Disk Partitions on Basic Disks
  17. Formatting a Partition, Logical Drive, or Volume
  18. Configuring Drive Letters
  19. Configuring Mount Points
  20. Extending Partitions
  21. Shrinking Partitions
  22. Managing GPT Disk Partitions on Basic Disks
  23. Primary Partitions
  24. Managing Volumes on Dynamic Disks
  25. Configuring RAID 0: Striping
  26. Moving Dynamic Disks
  27. Configuring RAID 1: Disk Mirroring
  28. Mirroring Boot and System Volumes
  29. Configuring RAID 5: Disk Striping with Parity
  30. Breaking or Removing a Mirrored Set
  31. Repairing a Mirrored System Volume
  32. Resolving Problems with RAID-5 Sets