1 Topic by almush (edited by almush 2008-07-22 16:40:00)

  • almush
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Topic: XP doesn't recognize FAT32 partition after using GParted. [SOLVED]

Hello,
I've installed ubuntu on my 4GB USB stick.
after everything went well i used (from the liveCD) gparted to resize the ext3 partition (to make it smaller) and created a new partition of 500MB as FAT32

now i have 2 partitions on the USB
1) ext3 (3.5GB)
2) FAT32 (0.5 GB)

the problem is that when i plug the usb stick while xp is running it doesn't read the 500MB (eventhough it's FAT32). when i double-click on the USB icon windows tells me the drive is not formatted. but when ubuntu runs it recognize that 500MB FAT32 partition.

What should i do? how can i make windows recognize the FAT32 parition ?!

Thanks in advance.

2 Reply by class413

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Re: XP doesn't recognize FAT32 partition after using GParted. [SOLVED]

xp can't understand ext3 filesystem, unless you install special drivers for this. 

About the fat32 partition, you have to check if xp detects the usb device as a "hard drive" or just as any external/removable storage device. Older usb sticks couldn't even be partitioned.

*** It is highly recommended to backup any important files before doing resize/move operations. ***

3 Reply by almush

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Re: XP doesn't recognize FAT32 partition after using GParted. [SOLVED]

first of all thank you for the attention and reply.

when i plug in the USB stick xp detects the usb device just as any external/removable storage device.. does a change of this detection may lead to the ability of XP to read that fat32 partition? and if yes.. how can i do that?

thanks again.

4 Reply by almush

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Re: XP doesn't recognize FAT32 partition after using GParted. [SOLVED]

I found a solution to this problem.
XP can't (by default) read more than one partition on a removable usb device.
therefore you need to "trick" XP and make the USB stick appear as a Local HD (Fixed Drive).
to know how to do that go to:
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html

and look for the topic "On flash drive only the first partition works"
good luck.

5 Reply by almush

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Re: XP doesn't recognize FAT32 partition after using GParted. [SOLVED]

[solved]

(how do i add it to the topic?) smile

6 Reply by class413

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Re: XP doesn't recognize FAT32 partition after using GParted. [SOLVED]

Thank you very much for your contribution. I am sure it will help many people!

You can edit the first topic of the thread to add [SOLVED] to the title.

*** It is highly recommended to backup any important files before doing resize/move operations. ***