External pen drive is FATS32 format

Four of a kind

My Voyager GT flash drive is in the FATS32 format as opposed to the NTFS system - is this a problem?

I just checked it in the disk managment on windows to see if everything is ok. I've no issues with it or anything, I'm just curious to know should I change it to NTFS or what?

Torqay

Four of a kind wrote: »

My Voyager GT flash drive is in the FATS32 format as opposed to the NTFS system - is this a problem?

Only if you want to use it for files > 4 GB (i.e. DVD images).

FAT32 is universally supported (Linux, Mac OSX, Media players, TVs, etc), with NTFS the usability of your USB stick will be rather limited to Windows computers.

FSL

Torqay wrote: »

Only if you want to use it for files > 4 GB (i.e. DVD images).

FAT32 is universally supported (Linux, Mac OSX, Media players, TVs, etc), with NTFS the usability of your USB stick will be rather limited to Windows computers.

Actually I have a 16GB USB stick which has an NTFS partition which is readable in linux but not in Windows. Windows wants to format it.

Fysh

FSL wrote: »

Actually I have a 16GB USB stick formatted as NTFS which is readable in linux but not in Windows. Windows wants to format it.

I question the assertion that it's correctly NTFS-formatted given that description :P

(It's possible to get NTFS access in Linux with NTFS-3g, and on OS X with MacFUSE & NTFS-3g, but I wouldn't trust either option in any circumstance where accidentally wiping the entire contents of the NTFS partition would present a problem...)

Torqay

FSL wrote: »

Actually I have a 16GB USB stick which has an NTFS partition which is readable in linux

I know...

Some Linux distros even have NTFS write support "out of the box" and even a Mac can be helped reading and writing NTFS drives. I was speaking in rather general terms here.

FSL wrote: »

but not in Windows. Windows wants to format it.

Windows isn't very "fond" of USB sticks with multiple partitions, more info here.

Four of a kind

So can I just leave it FATS32 then? I will only be using the stick on windows machines.....good luck with them apples.

The files I'll be holding on them will be mainly photos, which I will have grouped into folders that will be way bigger than 4GB in total size - will this be a problem?

Torqay

Four of a kind wrote: »

I will have grouped into folders that will be way bigger than 4GB in total size - will this be a problem?

No, the 4GB limit only affects a single file, it's not a folder limit.

Four of a kind

Torqay wrote: »

No, the 4GB limit only affects a single file.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Capt'n Midnight

Torqay wrote: »

Some Linux distros even have NTFS write support "out of the box"

Most Linux distros have supported read/write for quite a while now




FAT32 is fine for most things - the usual thing about ejecting safely doubly apply

it doesn't support user permissions, so no need to grab ownership like you might when using NTFS in a different PC

Zillah

I format all my USB sticks in ExFat. I am astounding how few people know about it. It is the modern version of Fat32, works on most operating systems and can have files of any size (well, I think there is some ridiculous theoretical limit but nothing you'd ever approach). Windows 7 and OSX have no problems with it, Windows XP is fine if it is up to date, and most of the newer Linux builds have it too.

Torqay

Zillah wrote: »

I format all my USB sticks in ExFat... have no problems with it

Until you want to use it with a common media player or TV, then you'll be posting, "Help, why is my TV not detecting files on my flash drive?"

Fact is, very few support ExFAT, some support NTFS and HFS(+), but all support FAT32, so for the sake of of versatility FAT32 is the file system of choice. Other file systems do have their advantages over FAT32 but they also limit the usability.

I wouldn't recommend using NTFS on flash drives. The journalling causes increased writes and could wear it out quicker. You might also find it more difficult to safely remove (sometimes requiring the OS to be shut down), and could run into file permissions issues when moving the drive to other machines.

Torqay

Karsini wrote: »

run into file permissions issues when moving the drive to other machines.

How so, since FAT 32 does not support permissions.

Torqay

Torqay wrote: »

How so, since FAT 32 does not support permissions.

Read it again... I said I wouldn't recommend using NTFS due to that

Torqay

oops, my bad.