Which file system to use for a large (1 TB) external hard drive?

"Since you're basically contemplating NTFS vs. exFAT, easy support for other operating systems doesn't seem to be a concern. I'd suggest staying with NTFS. exFAT is primarily meant for smaller volumes and slower devices where the space and complexity overhead of NTFS is an issue.

So I wonder what exactly do you plan to gain from formatting that drive with exFAT. It's in most ways inferior to NTFS anyway."

I would go for the ntfs too. Probably the least problematical and a quite good filesystem for large drives. If you want to tweak your hard-drive as much as it's possible try reading about formatting with the right blocksize for you.

I vote also for NTFS. It's a more developed format with which one can do more. See for example the Everything search engine in http://www.voidtools.com/, one of my most useful utilities.

DO NOT USE EXFAT FOR A HDD.it's ruined mine, it keeps losing files and data, and it's a world of hurt man, you don't wanna mess around with it. seriously. hell, I'd try ReFS before I went back to Exfat.

"Do you have any Macs around? Plan on getting a Mac? If so, you may want to use FAT.

Your best bet may be to create TWO partitions, one FAT and one NTFS. Check out EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition (Free): http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm"