Formatting a flash (thumb) drive: what's safest?


  1. riffwraith
    Posts : 229
    W7 64 Ult
       New #1

    Formatting a flash (thumb) drive: what's safest?


    Apologies if this is not in the best forum.

    I just bought a bunch of 2GB flash drives (talking data only; no memory) that I will be copying data on to, and then sending those drives to people. Thing is, there is no way to tell what OS they will be using, be it a Windows OS, or a Mac OS. What is the best bet for formatting, be it FAT32, or NTFS, or...? I'd hate to send a drive to someone, who won't be able to read the data due to incompatibility.

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks in advance.
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  3. Brink
    Posts : 72,041
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       New #2

    Hello Riff,

    The safest format would be to use FAT32. This way NTFS permissions will not get carried over to the USB. Plus, FAT32 us fully compatible with Mac OS X. :)
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  4. riffwraith
    Posts : 229
    W7 64 Ult
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Excellent - thank you!
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  6. Brink
    Posts : 72,041
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       New #4

    You're most welcome. :)
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