File is too big to move

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Level 1

11 points

File is too big to move

I have a video file which is 4GB and it's currently on my mac hard drive, but when I attempt to move it to my external hard drive which has 184GB free it won't let me and I have an error which says "The item can’t be copied because it is too large for the volume's format". I don't understand why it's too large when I have 184GB free so it should fit onto it fine.

Could someone explain how I could get rid of this message so I can move this file onto my external hard drive.

Many thanks

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Sep 11, 2011 3:29 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Sep 11, 2011 4:05 AM in response to Esellee

Sounds like your external drive is formatted as FAT32 which has a file size limitation.

It should of course have been formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in order to work with large cideo files.

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Answer 2

Esellee Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 11, 2011 4:08 AM in response to Klaus1

I see, how do I format it to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?

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Answer 3

Esellee Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 11, 2011 4:23 AM in response to Klaus1

Also, if I was to reformatt my external HD would it still work if I plugged it into my TV to play videos?

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Answer 4

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Sep 11, 2011 4:31 AM in response to Esellee

It will work as before only better!

You reformat in Disk Utility BUT PLEASE NOTE that everything on it will be deleted, so back it up first.

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Answer 5

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

Sep 12, 2011 7:56 PM in response to Klaus1

Klaus1 wrote:

Sounds like your external drive is formatted as FAT32 which has a file size limitation.

btw, it's 4gig for FAT32

Robert

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Answer 6

Feb 1, 2012 3:01 PM in response to Klaus1

Will a PC be able to read the new format?

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Answer 7

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Feb 1, 2012 3:02 PM in response to BushnellGardens

No.

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Answer 8

Feb 1, 2012 3:10 PM in response to Klaus1

Our Hard drive has 1 TB and is over 2 years old. Will reformatting it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) harm the drive since it is so old?

BTW, the current format: MS-DOS (FAT 32)

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Answer 9

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Feb 1, 2012 3:12 PM in response to BushnellGardens

No, no hard drive will be hurt in the reformatting!

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Answer 10

Feb 1, 2012 3:26 PM in response to Klaus1

Good to know. So, I'm backing up the data right now and, while waiting, are these good instructions to do the formating:

www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html

?

I found them on discussions.apple.com/message/10428673#10428673

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Answer 11

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Feb 1, 2012 3:33 PM in response to BushnellGardens

Yes, but note that he refers to Tiger and Leopard. You are running Lion so some things may be different.

To resize (or delete) an existing partition without losing data, you will need to use, for example, iPartition:

http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iPartition.php

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Answer 12

Feb 1, 2012 3:43 PM in response to Klaus1

Ok. Different, check.

To resize (or delete) an existing partition without losing data...

What if I want to lose all the data, since I am backing it up?

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Answer 13

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Feb 1, 2012 3:47 PM in response to BushnellGardens

Then just go right ahead and reformat, and that will do the job for you! 🙂

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Answer 14

Feb 1, 2012 3:52 PM in response to Klaus1

Ok. What is the difference between the two options Journaled and Case-sensitive, Journaled with the format Mac OS Extended? In regards to how I will know which one to chose.

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Answer 15

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Feb 1, 2012 3:58 PM in response to BushnellGardens

Go for Mac OS Extended Journaled.

Do not select Case Sensitive.

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