format

Hello I noticed that although I erased or deleted my external hard drive, it appeared to have too much used space. I formatted it as NTFS and I regained the space. I then I did the same with a couple of flashdrives and they were formattted as FAT 32. I clicked default so I can only conclude that the smaller drives are formatted as a diffrent type than the large ones. I hope this is correct, or is there a problem? Also, in backing my system up to this usb drive, the backup was 5-03-11 yet the validation was 5-04-11. How could this be? I noticed once a while ago my pc had skipped a day. Is this over clocking and a problem? Thank you

Hi Peter, It's normally best with a Windows machine to have the hard drive with NTFS. When formatting a flash drive I usually use Fat32….there are some advantages in having them as NTFS but the Fat32 is considerably more versatile….. if they work OK with Fat 32 I'd be inclined to leave them be. I don't know why you are getting different dates on your backup….. (unless you backed up just before midnight and the validation took place a few minutes later when it would show the next day!) or as you say sometimes the time/day is shown incorrectly……. Just to be sure all is Ok, check that your system clock time and date is set correctly and that is it set to regularly check with an Internet time site and adjust itself. (The system time is usually regulated by an inbuilt clock and these do not keep particularly accurate time) and are powered by a 3v cell that can (over time become discharged and need replacing…… however they are usually good for 4 years and often for considerably longer. Keep an eye on the time/date and if its keeps showing an incorrect time and the machine is under guarantee then it should be fixed by the guarantee company) or under consumer protection regulation in your jurisdiction (if relevant) If it's out of guarantee and you have no consumer protection redress then try a new battery they are only a pound or a dollar or so readily obtainable and easily fitted, to a desktop computer, (but not so easy on some laptop computers) You will need to take all personal safety and ESD (antistatic) precautions when opening up your machine. The battery type can be found from your motherboard/owners manual but is usually ( on modern machines) a CR2032 ( 3v Lithium) if you are not happy about opening up your machine then ask for a quote from your local competent computer technician…. it should be a cheap, quick job ( while you wait) and shouldn't cost much on a desktop computer. (more time and money on a laptop and NOT while you wait!.) Regards paws

I am glad to hear the drives are ok. I will keep an eye on the clocks as they(pcs) are both almost new so there should not be an age problem. Maybe a glitch or I made an error. Best to watch though. Thank you Peter p.s. Are you god with file sharing on 2 Win 7 pcs? If so, maybe if I start a new thread you could help. I am having trouble getting the idea and help is sparse. Videos and helps have not been enough.