Tag Archives: file size limit

Freecom Network Drive and 4GB file size limit – a little discovery

I’ve discovered something very pleasing about the Freecom Network Drive today.

I was copying a bunch of files to my Network Drive today, not noticing that in the bunch there was a 6GB file, which in theory should not copy because there is theoretically a 4GB file size limit on the Freecom Network Drive since it is formatted in FAT32.

However, after leaving the computer to copy the files, I came back to check it later that afternoon, and to my amazement the file had copied with no issues. I opened the file from the Network Drive and it worked perfectly.

I was astonished, so I decided to connect the Network Drive up to my computer over USB to see if their had been any disguised file splitting or anything like that. And yes, there was. The file had split into one 4GB file and another 2GB file.

I connected the drive back up over LAN and the file was one 6GB file again.

I am very pleased with this, as it means that the 4GB file size limit is not necessarily true. Freecom doesn’t advertise the fact that the Freecom Network Drive can split files and therefore store files bigger than 4GB, so you might want to bare that in mind if you are considering getting a network drive in the near future.