Quoting Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx>:
Also, the maximum file size is a function of the operating system used, not the processor. Anything that can use the FAT32 file system (available in any 32-bit version of Windows, which means 95 on up) can handle huge files (don't recall the actual size, but it's a whole bunch of GB).
You may want to recheck your data. FAT32 is limited to 2 GB at best, I understand. (1 GB in early versions, hence 1 GB maximum VOB size on DVD-Video). For large files in Windows, NTFS is required.
Note, too, that it is not the OS but the filesystem which imposes the limit in practice. Thus, one can run a FAT16 partition under XP - and one would then be limited by FAT16, not by XP.
There are some issues, but what I understand is more complex than this.
I'm afraid you are conflating two different issues. The question dealt with file size - the largest file which can be stored on a drive. Your reply deals with partition size - the largest allocation of a drive to hold files. There are additional matters on partition size which also seem to be confused, such as the distinction between a partition and a drive (consisting potentially of several partitions) and there appears toi be a passing reference to a limitation on a bootable NT partition.
Suffice it to say that multi-gigabyte files need NTFS as a rule and that the file system and partition sizes should be tuned to the requirements, not generalized. For various reasons, I wish I could use FAT32 for my large partition, but many of its files are several gigabytes so that is not possible.
Mike -- mrichter@xxxxxxx http://www.mrichter.com/