Which is best, a 64 GB USB 3.1/3.0 pen drive Sony or HP? Most wide selection is available only in the Linux (and probably *BSD) world, where you can apply a files system from a wide. ExFAT is compatible with both Windows and Mac. To share a USB drive between a Mac and a Windows PC, there are two disk formats to choose from: exFAT and FAT32. The other formats -- Microsoft's NTFS and Apple's Mac OS Extended -- don't work well on the other operating system.
Methods of formatting flash drives differ from HDD or SSD formatting. The guide will help you understand formatting settings. I'll explain what each individual option is responsible for and which one is the best for your usb flash drive.
Contents:
What is formatting?
Formatting is the preparation of the disk (a hard disk drive (HDD), SSD, a flash card (usb flash drive), sd-card or other solid state device) / partition to use it by operation system. This process will destroy all the files on the source.
How to format sd memory card
The microsd cards have some formatting tricks. We wrote an instruction on [how to format a memory card], where these nuances were indicated. SDFormatter app is specifically designed to format flash drive and sd card on Windows and Mac OS.
It is necessary to bear in mind two facts:
- When the usb flash drive is formatted, all the data stored on it is erased. To recover its data you’ll need special recovery tools – but the results will be unpredictable.
- During the format of a USB flash drive or HDD, the operation system checks errors on it and, in some cases, fixes them.
As a rule, users ignore all the disk format options provided by formatting utilities. Nevertheless the settings are responsible for the performance of the usb flash drive. The optimal settings depend on the model of the usb flash, which will be formatted. It is important what do you plan to do with the USB flash drive: to run applications, use it as a bootable flash drive, to store all kinds of data, etc.
Selecting a file system for formatting and storing files
In Windows 7, you can choose one of 4 file systems: NTFS, FAT, FAT32 or exFAT. FAT and FAT32 options are unavailable for 32Gb > usb flash drives / sd cards.
Advantages of the NTFS file system:
- You can copy and read files larger than 4 gigabytes – up to the maximum allowed partition size.
- The ability to create large partitions on a usb flash drive (more than 32 GB)
- NTFS formatting of the USB flash drive is a bit easier than FAT
- Compression of the information and, accordingly, saving space on the usb flash drive
- Smart space allocation = no need for partition fragmentation
- support for encrypting files 'on the fly' (thanks to the encrypted EFS file system).
Advantages of FAT and FAT32 file systems:
- FAT format is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
- files take up less space on the USB drive than in case of NTFS.
- FAT formatting tools are available in any OS
Pros of the exFAT file system:
- You can copy large files to the usb-stick (4Gb and more).
- Partitions size > 32 GB.
- Smart file storage and optimisation.
So, we draw conclusions. FAT and FAT32 are suitable for usb drives smaller than 32 GB or / and if you do not need to store files larger than 2 and 4 GB.
Due to the peculiarities of the file system, NTFS is not recommended for flash drives, even if their capacity is > 32GB. The compromise solution will be the exFAT file system. It combines the essential advantages of FAT and NTFS (large file sizes are supported). Thus, the exFAT file system is optimal for usb flash drives formatting.
FAT and FAT32 are the only file systems that guarantee cross-platform compatibility. NTFS is not supported in Linux and requires the installation of third-party applications to mount usb storage on Mac. exFAT, on the other hand, is supported in Snow Leopard and later versions of Mac OS while Linux also requires drivers installation.
If you’d like to choose FAT or FAT32, prefer the latter - especially if you have USB flash drive 2GB or less. This trick is useful for compatibility and speed improving.
What is the cluster size to specify in the settings
The 'Cluster size' option in the formatting settings sets the appropriate size of the block. The file system records the status of each cluster: free or busy. After the file or part of the file is written to the cluster, it goes into the 'busy' state – regardless of whether there is available space on the usb flash.
Therefore, large clusters are inexpedient in terms of using space on a usb flash drive.
With smaller clusters, however, the flash drive slows down, because each file is divided into small parts. Copying files takes much longer.
Fortunately, the situation can be corrected with the help of the flash drive formatting software. In addition, the optimal cluster size depends on the purpose of the USB drive.
The cluster size in NTFS
If you store small files on a USB flash drive, execute programs from a flash drive, a smaller cluster size will help save space. On a 1 TB external hard disk, it is desirable to select a 64-kilobyte cluster.
The size of the cluster for fat32 formatted flash drive
If you store large files on a disk, a large cluster size is preferable: the flash drive will work faster. For flash drives less than 500 MB, select a cluster of 512 bytes (in FAT32) or 32 KB (FAT).
Which volume label should I choose for the name of the flash drive?
A volume label is just a name. It is not necessary, so anything can be used as a label. However, there are several rules that need to be followed, depending on the file system in which you are going to format usb flash drive.
For NTFS
- 32 characters maximum
- Will be displayed in CAPITAL and lowercase letters, as you entered.
For FAT
- Max length is 11 characters
- The label will be displayed in capital letters
Quick format vs Full format
In typical formatting cases, files are deleted from the usb flash, and the disk is checked for bad sectors. Full formatting will be useful for fixing errors.
In case of quick formatting, all files are deleted, and that's it. Therefore, use the Quick format option if you do not have time to check the errors on the usb flash drive.
There are many reasons why you may want to format an external HDD or small flash drive. For instance:
- You brought a new unformatted hard drive
- If the drive is not properly formatted, it won’t work
- You want to use your external hard drive in both MAC, PC and Linux (use FAT32)
- Before you sell your SDcard or Pendrive, you should format it to erase its data
- Your camera’s SD card (FAT32) can only hold a file up to 4GB file. To get larger file size format it to exFAT.
Warming: Formating a drive, also erase its data. Although you can still get it back, but it’s much harder after formatting. So if you can’t afford losing you data, take backup.
Which Format to choose?
Choosing a right file system is a bit tricky, so here are some pros and cons of all file system.
NTFS: This is windows propriety file system. Most external drives come preformatted in NTFS so that they can be used easily with Windows. However, NTFS drives are read only in MAC, but you can get write access by using software like NTFS-3g. It also works in Linux. And to support NTFS on Android use Stick mount or Paragon NTFS, HFS and exFAT.
HFS+: This MAC propriety file system and is used in iOS and MAC. If you format your external hard drive to HFS, you can use it on MAC and Linux (by removing journaling). However, to use it on Windows you can HFS explorer (read only).
ext4: This is a default file system for linux OS (including Raspberry Pi). To read an ext4 drive on Windows, you can Ext2Read and OSXfuse for MAC. However, I have not really use this format much, so we just skip it.
FAT32: This oldest file system and work with all OS i.e. Windows, MAC, Linux, Android, even TV, and PS3 etc. This is why it’s used in all small flash drive. Although it lacks all modern features and comes with 4 GB limit for single file size.
exFAT: is the extended version of exFAT. It works fine with Windows and MAC (all the modern version). For Android, you can use Stick mount app (root needed). However being a windows propriety file system, it does not play well in open source environment. But unlike FAT32, it does not have 4GB limit for single file size. Thus making it ideal for SDcards of the high-end camera.
How to Format an External Hard drive or Pen drive
Now that we know the good and bad about every file system, let see how to format a drive in Windows, MAC, and Linux.
Windows
Formatting a drive on Windows is quite simple. Plug in your external HDD to the USB port of your computer> then go to my computer > find your external drive > right-click it > and select format.
A new window will open, select the desired file system, keep the allocation unit size to default and check mark quick format (or it will take more time). Once done hit the format button and that’s it. Within seconds, you will have your drive in the new format.
Note: While formatting a pen drive you will see FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS as the available file system. However for external HDD you won’t see the FAT32 (windows don’t suggest fat32 for bigger drives) However to get other format option you can use third-party software.
MAC
Start by connecting your external HDD to MAC’s USB port. Under the finder men, go to Go > utilities > Disk Utility or type disk utility in the spotlight and hit enter.
Once under disk utility. Select your external HDD on the left side and then select partition option.
Now in the Partition area, click under Partition Layout and select 1 Partition. Then, click on Options. A new window will open, here select Master Boot Record and then click Ok.
Now in the right side of windows, give a name to your drive, from the drop-down select desired file system format. Make sure the size is set to an entire volume of your external drive. And once done, click on Apply.
Note: Here you will also see an option to format a large hard drive to FAT32 which is not available in Windows.
See this animated gif (Imgur)
Linux
Unlike windows and MAC, Linux does not a have built-in partition tool. So, you will have ti install a GUI tool called GParted and then plug in your external drive in the computer.
Open your terminal and type in the following command to install GParterd.
sudo apt-get install gparted
Once installed, type the following command to launch the program.
sudo gparted
A new window will open. Click on the top right side, select the volume you want to format.
Once you see the volume you want to format, right click on the block and select format > choose the file system you want > and click OK to confirm.
Note: Since, I am running Linux in a virtual machine, in final step my Format to option is not highlighted, But in your case, you will be able to click it and select the file system you to format in. To see the final step, I suggest you check out this howtogeek article.
Android
Say you don’t have any computer with you, now can you still format your external HDD? Well, if you have an Android (ROOT) then yes, you can still format your drive to popular formats like NTFS and HFS.
To do this, install Paragon exFAT, NTFS & HFS+ from Play store. The main function of this application is to mount NTFS or HFS formatted HDD on Android, but there is another useful option hidden under settings — i.e. formatting a drive.
Once installed, open the app, mount your drive and then go to the settings, There select the new file system for your drive, give it a name and hit format.