How to configure and access a local USB drive?

[thecodeman]

I just installed the latest version of Xbian to a SD card and I'm using it with Raspberry Pi version B. Access over the network works great. I want to use it as a portable player with an external USB drive. I have looked for tutorials on this but haven't found specifics. Not being a Unix user, I'm looking for a little guidance.

I have a 2.5 USB drive connected to the Raspberry Pi via a powered USB hub. I can see the drive in the boot code but when I check all the options in XBMC, I don't see the drive. I've tried both NTFS and FAT32 volumes. I want to retain the ability to copy movies to the USB drive in Windows.

Can anyone point me in the direction on how to mount or make available a local USB drive and what format type would be the best to use so I can play movies >4GB in file size?

Any help would be most appreciated.