A computer components & hardware forum. HardwareBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » HardwareBanter forum » General Hardware & Peripherals » Storage (alternative)
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old October 9th 15, 02:51 AM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Ant
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 858
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

Let's ask comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage newsgroup as well. I'd assume
exFAT can do it, but not sure if non-computer devices can. I know all
can do FAT32.


Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:
exFAT to hold 4GB+ files and for faster read/writes (so I'm told -
right?)?


What is the status of exFAT support nowadays for the main OSes?


Would all WinXP systems have exFAT support installed via normal system
updates, or is it still optional and thus hit and miss as to whether
it's available?


What about Linux? BSD Unix? Last I checked a few years ago, *unix exFAT
support seemed patchy.


How about for TVs, Android devices, etc?


Is it still the case that only more recent versions of OS X choose the
right block size when formatting with exFAT, to ensure crossplatform
compatibility? IIRC Snow Leopard got this wrong (technically adhering to
the published specs, but weirdly MS doesn't fully support their own
specs).


Or should I just stick with FAT32 as I rarely encounter very large
files, anyway?


TIA,
Jamie Kahn Genet



--
Quote of the Week: "It is said that the lonely eagle flies to the
mountain peaks while the lowly ant crawls the ground, but cannot the
soul of the ant soar as high as the eagle?" --unknown
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail privately. If credit-
( ) ing, then please kindly use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
  #2  
Old October 9th 15, 03:16 AM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Ed Light
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 924
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

I would never use FAT 32 as it falls apart from crashes in a way NTFS
usually doesn't. I would use NTFS.

--
Ed Light

Better World News TV Channel:
http://realnews.com

Iraq Veterans Against the War and Related:
http://ivaw.org
http://couragetoresist.org
http://antiwar.com

Send spam to the FTC at

Thanks, robots.
  #3  
Old October 9th 15, 05:31 AM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Jamie Kahn Genet
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 7
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

Ed Light wrote:

I would never use FAT 32 as it falls apart from crashes in a way NTFS
usually doesn't. I would use NTFS.


But NTFS write support is patchy across OS X versions, IME, so I steered
clear of it and till now used FAT32 for crossplatform flash media.

I just tried formatting a new 64GB USB 2.0 keychain drive (1) as FAT32
and then exFAT, and sure enough read/write was improved with exFAT :-)

(1) The nifty Kingston Datatraveler SE9 which is tiny - though not the
smallest Datatraveler model nowadays, extremely durable with it's one
piece metal case, and lacks the easier IMO to damage USB 3 contacts.

I had my earlier and now too small 16GB model survive on my keychain for
two years, where it was battered by keys, the contents of my pockets,
and rained on several times. I expect I will pass it on to a family
member who can make use of it.
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
  #4  
Old October 9th 15, 02:41 PM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Alan Browne
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 117
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

On 2015-10-08 22:16, Ed Light wrote:
I would never use FAT 32 as it falls apart from crashes in a way NTFS
usually doesn't. I would use NTFS.


For interoperability it's best to use FAT32. I've never had any issue
with FAT32 at all in 20 years or so that it's been around (that's an
awful lot of machines and disks and flash drives.

Macs don't write NTFS w/o 3rd party drivers. One I tried was not very
good and was very slow when a "large" job had to be done.

  #5  
Old October 9th 15, 06:09 PM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Alan Browne
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 117
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

On 2015-10-09 12:01, Lewis wrote:
In message
Alan Browne wrote:
On 2015-10-08 22:16, Ed Light wrote:
I would never use FAT 32 as it falls apart from crashes in a way NTFS
usually doesn't. I would use NTFS.


For interoperability it's best to use FAT32. I've never had any issue
with FAT32 at all in 20 years or so that it's been around (that's an
awful lot of machines and disks and flash drives.


Then you have very limited needs. FAT32 doesn't support files over 4GB.


I have a lot of needs, just no needs for Windows files larger than 4GB.

Where FAT32 is concerned most of my flash cards are formatted in camera
(FAT32) and files there are about 32 MB. No need for anything larger.

My USB thumb drives over 32GB are formatted exFAT.


My large USB keys are formatted for Mac. No need for anything else. YMMV.

  #6  
Old October 9th 15, 08:14 PM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Alan Browne
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 117
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

On 2015-10-09 14:29, JF Mezei wrote:
On 2015-10-09 13:09, Alan Browne wrote:

Where FAT32 is concerned most of my flash cards are formatted in camera
(FAT32) and files there are about 32 MB. No need for anything larger.


Consider a HD movie that might be 6 to 8 gigs. Sometimes easier way to
transfer it is via USB.


Consider that I have USB keys formatted for Mac, not Windows. As was
stated in the prior post (the part you snipped out).

  #7  
Old October 10th 15, 01:14 AM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Ed Light
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 924
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

On 10/9/2015 6:41 AM, Alan Browne wrote:

For interoperability it's best to use FAT32. I've never had any issue
with FAT32 at all in 20 years or so that it's been around


I based my post on my Windows 98 experience. It would crash often, and
you'd almost always find errors on the FAT 32 when running chkdisk.

--
Ed Light

Better World News TV Channel:
http://realnews.com

Iraq Veterans Against the War and Related:
http://ivaw.org
http://couragetoresist.org
http://antiwar.com

Send spam to the FTC at

Thanks, robots.
  #8  
Old October 10th 15, 02:45 PM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Alan Browne
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 117
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

On 2015-10-09 20:14, Ed Light wrote:
On 10/9/2015 6:41 AM, Alan Browne wrote:

For interoperability it's best to use FAT32. I've never had any issue
with FAT32 at all in 20 years or so that it's been around


I based my post on my Windows 98 experience. It would crash often, and
you'd almost always find errors on the FAT 32 when running chkdisk.


Win98. Right. Yep. That's something to base opinion on. Sure.

Tell me, do you use a crank to start your car?

  #9  
Old October 10th 15, 03:26 PM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Jamie Kahn Genet
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 7
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

Ed Light wrote:

On 10/9/2015 6:41 AM, Alan Browne wrote:

For interoperability it's best to use FAT32. I've never had any issue
with FAT32 at all in 20 years or so that it's been around


I based my post on my Windows 98 experience. It would crash often, and
you'd almost always find errors on the FAT 32 when running chkdisk.


I hadn't found an error when checking my previous USB flash drive, and
it was on my keychain getting battered around and rained on for a couple
years.
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
  #10  
Old October 10th 15, 10:47 PM posted to comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Shadow[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 195
Default Best format for USB flash drives nowadays?

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:29:43 -0400, JF Mezei
wrote:

On 2015-10-09 13:09, Alan Browne wrote:

Where FAT32 is concerned most of my flash cards are formatted in camera
(FAT32) and files there are about 32 MB. No need for anything larger.


Consider a HD movie that might be 6 to 8 gigs. Sometimes easier way to
transfer it is via USB.

Or you make a .ZIp backup of a collection of photos that exceeds 4GB
onto a .ZIP. The .ZIP file is greater than 4 gigs.


I think almost if not all zip utilities allow you to divide
the zip into 4GB portions.
Or just use exFAT.
I think the original question was about OS compatibility.
Linux, Mac and Windows support exFAT.
I read something about journaling not working well on flash
cards, which would probably exclude NTFS, and all the Unix extXs from
the OP's choice.
[]'s
--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Format Patriot flash drive to NTFS Metspitzer Homebuilt PC's 19 January 23rd 11 12:17 PM
Format a flash drive?? Bob[_6_] General 6 March 23rd 07 04:08 AM
Which disk format used on MP3 player flash cards? Jon D General 1 November 18th 06 02:47 PM
Should I format a Compact Flash card before use? Dave General 4 February 18th 05 07:10 PM
does it matter how you format flash usb drives? Conor Homebuilt PC's 4 November 15th 04 03:34 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 HardwareBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.