Format Your A/V Drives Using Ntfs - Matrox RT.X2 Installation Manual

8

Format your A/V drives using NTFS

Your A/V drives must be formatted using NTFS for use with Matrox RT.X2
because NTFS overcomes FAT32 file size limitations. When a hard drive is
formatted using FAT32, files saved to this drive cannot exceed 4 gigabytes in
size. This translates to approximately 20 minutes of DV/DVCAM video, which
poses a serious limitation to a nonlinear editing platform like your Matrox RT.X2
system.
With NTFS, you also have the option of creating a striped volume, which consists
of multiple hard drives formatted as a single partition. This allows you to work
with multiple drives as a single large drive, which offers more disk space and
enhances hard drive performance. NTFS also provides better audio and video
synchronization than FAT32 when you play back your clips.
If you already have Windows installed on your computer, you can check the
format of your drives. In Windows Explorer, right-click the drive letter (such as
D:), then choose Properties . Under General , check the format of your drive
next to File system .
If you need to format a drive using NTFS, right-click Computer (Windows 7
and Vista) or My Computer (XP), then choose Manage . Under Computer
Management > Storage
Management
the provided dialog box, specify a volume label for the partition you are creating.
From the File System list, select NTFS . Leave the Allocation unit size at
Default
are formatting the drive for the first time, do not select the Perform a quick
format
¡ Important All information on the designated drive will be lost.
For more information on how to format your storage devices using NTFS, see
your Windows documentation.
Disk defragmentation
It's important to make sure that your storage does not become too fragmented.
Overly fragmented drives will lead to a major reduction in your system's
performance, which will in turn seriously reduce Matrox RT.X2's ability to work
properly.
¡ Important To ensure that your storage is operating at optimal levels,
defragment your hard drives regularly (daily or several times a week).
For information on how to defragment your storage devices, see your Windows
documentation.
Chapter 2, Installing Your Matrox RT.X2 Hardware
, select Disk Management . In the Disk
utility, right-click the appropriate drive and choose Format . In
. Do not select the Enable file and folder compression option. If you
option either.