Access exFAT partitions from Windows XP

23 December 2008 by Snakefoot | Comment » | Trackback Off
Microsoft have created the exFAT filesystem to better support flash drives. It is a proprietary file system that was introduced with Vista SP1. More Info Filesystem Comparison

The exFAT/FAT64 filesystem is only supported for Windows Vista/2008/CE 6.0, and it is not possible by default to access exFAT partitions from other versions of Windows.

Microsoft have now released an official driver update for Windows XP, that allows one to access exFAT partitions. More Info MS KB955704
Unofficial way of installing exFAT support
Before Microsoft released the official update for Windows XP, then one had to apply a few hacks to make it possible to use the Vista exFAT file system driver on Windows XP (and maybe other versions of Windows):
  1. Download the exFAT File System Driver
  2. Copy exfat.sys and uexfat.dll into these directories:
    • %windir%\System32\Drivers
    • %windir%\System32
  3. Copy the Reg code, given below into Notepad and Save as exFAT.reg:

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\exfat]
    "Description"="exFAT File System Driver"
    "DisplayName"="exFAT File System Driver"
    "ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
    "Group"="Boot File System"
    "Start"=dword:00000002
    "Type"=dword:00000002

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\System\exfat]
    "EventMessageFile"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,\
    00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,\
    5c,00,49,00,6f,00,4c,00,6f,00,67,00,4d,00,73,00,67,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
    00,00,00
    "TypesSupported"=dword:00000007

  4. Double click the newly created reg-file exFAT.reg to activate the driver
  5. Restart the computer
Note make sure to create a system restore point before starting this procedure. It should be possible to use Last Known Good Configuration to restore the system if the operation goes bad.

Credits ItsMyWindows.com
Tags:
Category:

Updated: 18 October 2010

Comments:

Comment by EP - 5 February 2009 @ 8:51 Reply

Microsoft has recently posted the KB955704 update which now gives WinXP users FULL read/write access to exFAT volumes. Read about the update here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955704

Comment by Snakefoot - 5 February 2009 @ 20:52 Reply

EP wrote:

Microsoft has recently posted the KB955704 update which now gives WinXP users FULL read/write access to exFAT volumes.

Thank you for telling ! I have now updated the article.

Comment by EP - 14 September 2009 @ 22:22 Reply

Microsoft has recently released the KB955704 updates for Windows XP 64bit edition and all editions of Windows Server 2003.

Windows Server 2003 KB955704 Update (32bit edition)

Windows Server 2003 KB955704 Update (64bit edition)

Windows XP KB955704 Update (64bit edition)

These were posted at Microsoft Download Center on August 25, 2009, barely 7 months after releasing the KB955704 update for 32bit editions of Windows XP.

Comment by Nikunj Patel - 18 October 2010 @ 13:22 Reply

this is not working .
when i create exfat registry then save to exfat.reg and run this registry gives the error cannot import this registry.
this registry is binary version.

Comment by Snakefoot - 18 October 2010 @ 13:26 Reply

Nikunj Patel wrote:
when i create exfat registry then save to exfat.reg and run this registry gives the error cannot import this registry.

Did you see the link to the official exFat driver for Windows XP ? (Btw. updated the registry script to include regedit version)

Comment by polocanada - 17 July 2011 @ 19:57 Reply

This older driver works on my Windows XP (SP2). The official driver from Microsoft (KB955704) released same year but few months later doesn’t even work. Thank you.

Leave a comment


NB! Use the Forum for computer help and off-topic questions.

You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>