[PCWorld]

Post your comments for What's the best file system for an external drive? here

[SylviaRosemond]

Great Article. Just need to spell check, systgem,and supporft

[TrevDawg94]

Actually, exFAT would be the best for flash memory, as it was designed with the problems of flash memory in mind. It's also compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux systems unlike NTFS (with Mac OS anyway). The only problem is that it doesn't work with XP, but at this point that's not really an issue.

[TrevDawg94]

Correction, it does work with XP after an update.

[KLanD]

I was going to say the same. I currently use exFAT on all my USB keys. I am constantly transferring files between Mac and PC, so it's the only format that works (for large files).

It's ridiculous that Apple's computers still don't support NTFS without buying a 3rd party application.

[JimH443]

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

[compguru62]

Formatting a drive in FAT32 larger than 32gb is possible from the command prompt. Also, exFAT is not accessible in Linux, or anything other whan winXP or later, or new versions of MAC OSX because Microsoft owns exFAT and only Apple has purchased a license to use it.

[yaroha]

Don't forget that FAT32 have 4gb file limitation, just in case if you planning to move large video files, not sure about exFAT so.

[KLanD]

JimH443, on 26 November 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

yes, but the default format is usually FAT32, which can't handle large files.

[KLanD]

compguru62, on 26 November 2012 - 03:33 PM, said:

Formatting a drive in FAT32 larger than 32gb is possible from the command prompt. Also, exFAT is not accessible in Linux, or anything other whan winXP or later, or new versions of MAC OSX because Microsoft owns exFAT and only Apple has purchased a license to use it.

exFAT works fine on all; the versions of OSX we have.

[JimH443]

KLanD, on 27 November 2012 - 08:16 AM, said:

JimH443, on 26 November 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

yes, but the default format is usually FAT32, which can't handle large files.

This isn't true for the external drives I've bought. I've put DVD-9 (8+ GB) ISO files on them with no problem.

I wouldn't ever want to put a large file on a flash drive; most of them are also limited to USB 2.0. File transfer times with large files are unacceptable. External drives, OTOH, are easily portable and offer USB 3.0.

[KLanD]

JimH443, on 27 November 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

KLanD, on 27 November 2012 - 08:16 AM, said:

JimH443, on 26 November 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

yes, but the default format is usually FAT32, which can't handle large files.

This isn't true for the external drives I've bought. I've put DVD-9 (8+ GB) ISO files on them with no problem.

I wouldn't ever want to put a large file on a flash drive; most of them are also limited to USB 2.0. File transfer times with large files are unacceptable. External drives, OTOH, are easily portable and offer USB 3.0.

If you put an 8Gb file on it, it was probably in NTFS, not FAT32.

[JimH443]

KLanD, on 27 November 2012 - 01:20 PM, said:

JimH443, on 27 November 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

KLanD, on 27 November 2012 - 08:16 AM, said:

JimH443, on 26 November 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

yes, but the default format is usually FAT32, which can't handle large files.

This isn't true for the external drives I've bought. I've put DVD-9 (8+ GB) ISO files on them with no problem.

I wouldn't ever want to put a large file on a flash drive; most of them are also limited to USB 2.0. File transfer times with large files are unacceptable. External drives, OTOH, are easily portable and offer USB 3.0.

If you put an 8Gb file on it, it was probably in NTFS, not FAT32.

Whatever it is, it's the default. The default works just fine with any file size we're likely to come across in the next 10 years or so - well beyond the device's life-cycle. For the vast majority of people, for the vast majority of circumstances, a mass delete from the root directory will do just fine and be much faster. I can think of only 3 circumstances that would/could require a reformatting:

1) Getting rid of the drive - clearing all data from it for disposal.
2) The drive becomes infected with an extremely persistent virus.
3) The drive will be hooked up to a computer that doesn't recognize its default format.

By it's very nature, #1 will happen only once per drive, per owner.

With any luck, #2 won't happen at all.

The likelihood of #3 depends on the owner's circumstances. I doubt more than 10% of people will ever encounter this situation even once. It'll probably happen - and may have already happened - and you'll probably hear about it when it does, since the internet allows millions of people to hear about a one in a million occurrence,

[gyffesgyffeshcr8]

Quote

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

No.. not until you Empty Trash (at least on a Mac) will the drive reclaim the space you deleted.

[JimH443]

gyffesgyffeshcr8, on 28 November 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

Quote

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

No.. not until you Empty Trash (at least on a Mac) will the drive reclaim the space you deleted.

By default, on a PC, deletions on a flash drive do not go to the Trash. I don't know if this default can be changed.

I forget the default size of the Trash for an external drive on a PC - I think it's 10%. Whatever it is, anything that overflows that amount will get deleted.

So, technically, you are correct for an external drive - if you want ALL the space back immediately, it is necessary to empty the trash. If you're satisfied with 90% of capacity, that step can be ignored for the moment.

Edit: And, of course, "deleted" isn't really deleted - it's simply marked as "Available."

This post has been edited by JimH443: 28 November 2012 - 05:23 PM

[waldojim]

For what it is worth, the article is factually incorrect. Fat32 can be used on drives up to 2TB in size.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/154997

Quote

FAT32 Features
FAT32 provides the following enhancements over previous implementations of the FAT file system:

FAT32 supports drives up to 2 terabytes in size.

NOTE: Microsoft Windows 2000 only supports FAT32 partitions up to a size of 32 GB.
FAT32 uses space more efficiently. FAT32 uses smaller clusters (that is, 4-KB clusters for drives up to 8 GB in size), resulting in 10 to 15 percent more efficient use of disk space relative to large FAT or FAT16 drives.
FAT32 is more robust. FAT32 can relocate the root folder and use the backup copy of the file allocation table instead of the default copy. In addition, the boot record on FAT32 drives is expanded to include a backup copy of critical data structures. Therefore, FAT32 drives are less susceptible to a single point of failure than existing FAT16 drives.
FAT32 is more flexible. The root folder on a FAT32 drive is an ordinary cluster chain, so it can be located anywhere on the drive. The previous limitations on the number of root folder entries no longer exist. In addition, file allocation table mirroring can be disabled, allowing a copy of the file allocation table other than the first one to be active. These features allow for dynamic resizing of FAT32 partitions. Note, however, that although the FAT32 design allows for this capability, it will not be implemented by Microsoft in the initial release.

[BearPup]

An informative article. I had formatted my flash drives to prep them for ReadyBoost usage; didn't know about the journal piece of NTFS drives. Will reformat them to FAT32. Thank you.

[BradRad2365]

Quote

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive. No.. not until you Empty Trash (at least on a Mac) will the drive reclaim the space you deleted.

Shift+Delete bypasses the trash/recycle bin entirely.

[KLanD]

JimH443, on 27 November 2012 - 03:31 PM, said:

KLanD, on 27 November 2012 - 01:20 PM, said:

JimH443, on 27 November 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

KLanD, on 27 November 2012 - 08:16 AM, said:

JimH443, on 26 November 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

yes, but the default format is usually FAT32, which can't handle large files.

This isn't true for the external drives I've bought. I've put DVD-9 (8+ GB) ISO files on them with no problem.

I wouldn't ever want to put a large file on a flash drive; most of them are also limited to USB 2.0. File transfer times with large files are unacceptable. External drives, OTOH, are easily portable and offer USB 3.0.

If you put an 8Gb file on it, it was probably in NTFS, not FAT32.

Whatever it is, it's the default. The default works just fine with any file size we're likely to come across in the next 10 years or so - well beyond the device's life-cycle. For the vast majority of people, for the vast majority of circumstances, a mass delete from the root directory will do just fine and be much faster. I can think of only 3 circumstances that would/could require a reformatting:

1) Getting rid of the drive - clearing all data from it for disposal.
2) The drive becomes infected with an extremely persistent virus.
3) The drive will be hooked up to a computer that doesn't recognize its default format.

By it's very nature, #1 will happen only once per drive, per owner.

With any luck, #2 won't happen at all.

The likelihood of #3 depends on the owner's circumstances. I doubt more than 10% of people will ever encounter this situation even once. It'll probably happen - and may have already happened - and you'll probably hear about it when it does, since the internet allows millions of people to hear about a one in a million occurrence,

Read back up. NTFS isn't compatible wit OSX (by default).

So again, you're only left with exFAT

[KLanD]

gyffesgyffeshcr8, on 28 November 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

Quote

I have never formatted a flash drive or an external drive. Both come ready to use (on a PC, anyway). After that, there's no need to format - simply go to the root directory, press CTRL-A followed by SHIFT-DELETE. Voila, empty drive.

No.. not until you Empty Trash (at least on a Mac) will the drive reclaim the space you deleted.

This is a really annoying "feature" of OSX. Every time you 'delete' something off of a USB Key, it's actually going into a hidden folder called 'Trash'. The problem is; The folder is hidden. Take the key to some PCs and the key will look empty, but it's full.

Confuses the hell out of a lot of users.

I also find all the extra files a Mac makes to be annoying.