Are there any applications out there that anyone knows about that will allow you to create FAT32 (re)partitions on external hard drives?  I have a 500GB LaCie Big Disk that I have already partitioned into two HFS+ partitions (one for mostly music and the other for backup) and I have left about 18GB of free space for a FAT32 storage/crossover from OS X partition for Windows Vista.  Unfortunately, the free space is in the "Apple_free" format, which I don't think can be read by Windows.  I have looked for an application that can do this, but have found none.  Do any exist?

here's a silly question, but I gotta ask... what are the advantages of making 2 separete partitions for music and backup? why not keep everything in one partition?

Linux my friend. Also I think you can do it with darwin. Just create the partitons then when you select them for the frist time it formats the partitions. Besides for vista you need a NTFS for a bootable system.

I know that the boot drive needs to be NTFS, but I'm going to partition the internal drive for that.  This would only be for storage and transfers from OS X to Windows.  As far as having separate partitions, it just keeps things a little cleaner, plus originally, the backup portion was to be for both my computer and my dad's.

So... If I boot using an Ubuntu live CD, I should be able to do this, correct?  I want to make it clear that this needs to be a REpartition, as I don't have the means to back up what's on the external drive.  So if Linux won't let me REpartition, it's no good.

you can really repartition with out formatting.

Sorry, I ment to say "you can't really repartition with out reformating".

It is possible. Not sure I trust it too much. Boot camp does it. Speedtools can do it too.

Hmmm... Here's an idea: can Partition Magic for Windows recognize "Apple_free" space and repartition to FAT32?  I can't seem to find out through online literature.

PM me if you can spare the full version of SpeedTools.  NOTE: I do NOT condone this action, but I will not refuse if you insist.  I accept no responsibility in this matter.  My apologies to the admins and moderators if this violoates my terms of use.

Hi all,
I hope this is the right place to come to for help. I am very new to Mac and am not all that pc intelligent either. Basically what I need help with is setting up some way of storing large video and audio in an external drive rather than my mac's hard drive, and preferably being able to access them on my home wireless network. My current setup is as such:
-One hp desktop pc connected to modem and dlink wireless router
-Also has printer set for sharing across wireless network
-One Macbook pro running Mac OS X, connects to networks solely through WiFi

Are there any external hard drives out there that can either be connected directly to my router through ethernet cable or by connecting via usb 2.0 to my desktop pc, and will be recognized and accessible by my laptop over the wireless network?

Any help would be tremendously appreciated.