XP can access FAT32 and NTFS file systems, it is the older versions of Windows 98/Me that can't see or access NTFS partitions. I have run 4 HDD one partitioned into 4, so effectively 7 drives. Two partitions were FAT32, the other 5 NTFS, to hold Me so I could play some of my older games that don't work under XP, and XP could access them but not the other way round. Therefore if you want to keep one partition as FAT32 you can, though personally I wouldn't given the max file size restriction of FAT32.