Can different partitions have different formatting?

[mkraft]

Originally Posted by dnanian

Yes, different format particions can exist on teh same HD, but not different "partition schemes" (i.e. a GUID partitioned drive cannot also be APM Partitioned).

I should have worded my question differently. I'd already been made aware (by another poster here) that different partitions can have different formatting, but was wondering whether that is specifically relevant to backing up files created in a Windows virtualization environment.

IOW, can those files be backed up to a disk that is entirely HFS+-formatted, or should those Windows files be stored on a FAT-32 partition?

Thanks.