PDA

View Full Version : USB Flash Drive - format to FAT, FAT32 or NTFS?

anteis24
11-05-2007, 08:13 PM
Which format is recommended? Are there any advantages to one over another? I just purchased a Sandisk cruzer micro 2GB USB 2.0 flash drive.
scooberdoober
11-05-2007, 08:51 PM
I recommend FAT16 for a 2GB drive. This should give the best overall performance and most efficient usage of available space.
yuio
11-05-2007, 08:59 PM
I recommend just FAT, do not use NTFS, heard bad things...
swarmer
11-05-2007, 09:31 PM
It depends on your needs.

If compatibility between different OSes is important, use FAT32. Pretty much everything can read and write to it: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X.

If it's just Windows XP and/or Vista, you may want to use NTFS. It's more sophisticated and keeps track of owner and group, and file permissions, etc. (Other OSes can often read NTFS volumes, but usually can't write to them.)

But if it's just a bunch of media files or something and you don't care about permissions, then I'd use FAT32.

Here's a decent summary of the advantages of NTFS:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/ntfs_or_fat32_file_system.htm

Other than compatibility, and advantage of FAT32 is simplicity. Without any file permissions, there's no chance that you could inadvertently deny yourself permission to access a file. The ownership/permissions thing could maybe complicate things when connecting the drive to a different computer (with a different user account) -- although I don't really know how that works in any detail.
lokster
11-06-2007, 06:42 AM
No no no. ONLY USE FAT. fat32 and ntfs MAKES your USB drive much smaller.

once you format into fat32 or ntfs whichever higher you cannot format down.

ONLY USE FAT!
Metamorphical
11-06-2007, 07:19 AM
Always use Fat23.

You will never see the full size on a flashdrive no matter what because even they have firmware which takes up a tiny portion of the drive.
scooberdoober
11-06-2007, 12:32 PM
Always use Fat23.

You will never see the full size on a flashdrive no matter what because even they have firmware which takes up a tiny portion of the drive.

Fat 23 huh?

Must be some new tech I've never heard of before! :p
times
11-10-2007, 01:09 AM
ive been using ntfs.owell lol
scooberdoober
11-10-2007, 01:35 AM
ive been using ntfs.owell lol

Just transfer your files to your HD, reformat your flash drive, and then return the files, no big deal.
KnightUnit
11-11-2007, 12:32 PM
Fat 23 huh?

Must be some new tech I've never heard of before! :p

Really, not with all that reading :P
Calvin
11-11-2007, 02:25 PM
Just use the default which is FAT. Also i think Metamorphical meant FAT 32 scoober.
scooberdoober
11-11-2007, 02:28 PM
Really, not with all that reading :P

lol! :p ;) :D
Lite
11-11-2007, 04:02 PM
You can always revert back from any Partition format to any other one so i dunno where that other guy heard that from..
Calvin
11-11-2007, 11:37 PM
You can always revert back from any Partition format to any other one so i dunno where that other guy heard that from..

What? What are you talking about?
scooberdoober
11-12-2007, 12:00 AM
Just use the default which is FAT. Also i think Metamorphical meant FAT 32 scoober.

I know that brutha Calvin, it was just a silly joke, you should know me better than that by now. I'm very saddened and disappointed by this. :( :p :D
lua
11-12-2007, 12:21 AM
best bet is FAT. not all devices or OS platforms have consistent support for NTFS or FAT32.
scooberdoober
11-12-2007, 12:22 AM
This thread should have been closed after my first post. :cool:
Calvin
11-12-2007, 09:14 AM
I know that brutha Calvin, it was just a silly joke, you should know me better than that by now. I'm very saddened and disappointed by this. :( :p :D

You may not have got ti but i was kidding that time too. :D
scooberdoober
11-12-2007, 02:30 PM
You may not have got ti but i was kidding that time too. :D

You get me every time! :p :D
Calvin
11-13-2007, 05:53 PM
You get me every time! :p :D

Because your easier than pie. :D
scooberdoober
11-14-2007, 02:37 AM
Because your easier than pie. :D

:p ;) :D :)
scythie
12-11-2007, 06:56 AM
LOL, know this is an old thread, but when I googled about which to format a USB drive to, this is the first result :D

From [very recent] experience, FAT32 is the best. Had so much troubles with FAT! I'm not sure why, but an error message ["Cannot create directory blahblah"] appears out of nowhere then I have to format again! After a few more formats, decided to go with FAT32. With FAT32, transferring files is a breeze.

Hope this helps, uhm, future USB flash drive users out there lol