Anyway, i have d same problems as you have now last time, considering what type of format do i need to use on my external hard drive. i googled it and my final decision is use HFS+ format. Y ? cause this format is far more better than fat32 and ntfs, from my experience.
the file system is totaly different. if u wan to use the external hard disc with windows, install macdrive.
i also read that macfuse writing files to a ntfs is much slower.