At last all those long hours were left behind,spent behind the computer screen in search of information about flash drives. Now, having started a conversation with friends and acquaintances, you can not transfer it to storage and transfer devices. It's simple - a long-awaited USB flash drive was bought! Now you can go to friends, see on their computer excerpts from the new movie and, quite by accident, remember the new flash drive in his pocket. Here on these thoughts, usually the joy of the owner of flash memory ends - at the first attempts to write to it any file larger than 4 gigabytes (GB). And again reading forums, searching for recommendations on how to format a USB flash drive in NTFS, etc. Actually, everything is simple. Everybody encounters this, therefore, until a person knows how to properly format an NTFS flash drive system, he can not consider himself versed in this matter. Next, we'll tell you why you need to format a new flash drive and how to do it correctly.
Any new flash drive:sold both as an OEM (in a plastic bag) and as a Retail version (in the original sealed package) comes fully ready for use. To be able to copy files, simply connect it to a compatible device. At first glance it may seem that the manufacturer prudently formats the USB flash drive, allowing the owner to simply enjoy the good work, and not think about how to format the USB flash drive in NTFS. In practice, everything is a bit wrong.
At the moment there are several majorfile systems: FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT. Linux adds its own systems, but there is no backward compatibility with Microsoft products, so we’ll leave them for the professionals. A file system is a set of rules that determine the way in which the data recorded on the storage medium is located, stored and interacted. In order for the operating system to work with the media, it needs to be formatted, that is, to create the desired file system (structure). Each of them has certain advantages and limitations. For example, a simple FAT (File Allocation Table) is one of the first systems, the use of which on spacious modern devices is impractical.
Более новая FAT32 впервые была представлена еще в 1995 and since then has not changed significantly. It is the development of the old FAT16, increasing the size limit of the section and making some other improvements. Most flash drives are formatted by the manufacturers in this system, which allows them to be connected to any other digital devices, as well as to demonstrate high speed characteristics. FAT32 is a universal system supported by a variety of equipment. In fact, this is the unwritten standard for flash-memory. One of its drawbacks is the impossibility of writing a file of more than 4 GB. With this attempt, you will receive a message about the lack of free space, although it may still remain.
This problem is missing in the new NTFS.This is a rather complex system, significantly different from FAT. In it, the file is not represented by the name and size, but by a set of attributes. The restriction on the file size has been removed (it is, but so great that it will not be achieved in the near future). It is quite clear that the user wants to learn how to format a USB flash drive in NTFS. Performing this operation makes it possible to use flash media as a small hard disk and not worry that a large file cannot be recorded.
How to format a USB flash drive in NTFS?This can be done using Windows. We connect it to the computer, open the “My Computer” folder, select the flash drive, call its properties. The menu item will be "Formatting". You can choose FAT32 or NTFS. When formatting, all data will be erased, so you need to save them first.
You can also convert FAT32 to NTFS without formatting, which guarantees data integrity, for this you need to do:
Start - Run - convert "drive letter": / FS: NTFS
In addition to the standard method, the format of flash drives in NTFSoften perform the popular program Format Tool (developer - HP). By the way, for flash memory devices it is recommended to use not NTFS, but exFAT, since this system is designed specifically for them.
