Q about formatting USB Thumb Drives


  1. Posts : 6,292
    Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
       #1

    Q about formatting USB Thumb Drives


    I just quick formated one 8GB and a few 2GB thumb drives NTFS. They now each have 37.3MB of used space showing up under properties.
    Really? 37MB for a file table? Is this common/normal?

    They were originally FAT32 and had 0MB used space under properties.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 273
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #2

    Yeah that's about right. Think that's why most flash drives come preformatted with FAT32. Though with today's file/storage sizes 38 mbs is peanuts.
      My Computer


  3. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #3

    Unless you have a specific reason to use NTFS (e.g. writing blocks bigger than 4GBs), you are better off with Fat32. Less wear on the stick and(sometimes) faster.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 6,292
    Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thanks for the confirmation.

    I needed to format NTFS to solve an annoying issue: the error message "Do you want to copy this file without it's properties" stopping transfers. The message is generated when you copy files from an NTFS formatted hard drive to a non NTFS formatted external drive or USB stick.

    I'm just amazed that the file system would use that much space. I've got whole programs that use less!
      My Computer


 

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