[Solved] How to format to FAT32 on Windows 7 and Vista

You might have been surprised when you tried to use an NTFS formatted drive with your PlayStation 3 or XBOX 360…

Long story short, these only work with FAT32 formatted drives.

The Issue

In Windows Vista and Windows 7 you can only select NTFS y exFAT when formatting a hard drive. I tried using exFAT but it was still not recognised by the PS3.

The Solution

Note: This solution also applies to Windows 8. Although I don’t know if Windows 8 allows formatting to FAT32 without 3rd party programs.

Well… there are several ways to go about this, but I’ll start with the easiest one in my opinion. Enter FAT32 Format. This is a portable app so we won’t need installation.

Here’s a direct download link just in case there’s an issue with the author’s website.

On the screenshot below we can see the interface for FAT32 Format. it’s really quite simple.

1. Pick the drive you want to format to FAT32.
2. Leave “Allocation unit size” on its default unless you know you need something else.
3. “Volume Label” Write a name for the drive. Any name will do.
4. Pick “Quick Format” to save some time.
5. Then finally click “Start”  and wait.

As I was saying before there are also some other ways to do it so here’s a list of them in case you need more than just this application.

• Use “Command Promt” and type:  “format /FS:FAT32 X:” where X: is the drive letter of the drive you want to format..
• Use a startup disk and use the same command.
• Use other 3rd party software like SwissKnife or Fat32Formatter which are very similar to FAT32 Format. 

Hopefully this helped you. Good Luck! By – By Lone Ranger.