NTFS or FAT32

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  1. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit Dual Boot with Windows XP Professional
       #1

    NTFS or FAT32


    should i format my newly bought Sandisk cruzer blade 8gb pendrive using NTFS or leave it to the default FAT32? What i'm looking for is higher write speeds, as its only 4mb/s. I did find that one could store indivisual files exceeding 4GB only using NTFS, but i have no such requirements. Also is it true that NTFS decreases the life of the pen drive?? I need speed but definitely not at the cost of device life...
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  2. Posts : 2,497
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
       #2

    NTFS and FAT32 write speed is much the same. Either may be faster in specific situations. It is doubtful you would notice any difference. You have a slow drive and nothing is going to change that.

    NTFS is a more modern file system but it was never designed for use with removable drives or media. On an 8 GB drive where there is no need for files over 4 GB there is little reason to use NTFS. When using NTFS you MUST use the safe removal icon or data loss is likely. This is less important with FAT32.

    Be sure you understand that flash drives are the least reliable of modern storage media and should be used primarily as a transport media. You always need an alternate copy on some other media, such as a hard drive. All important files on any media need at least one backup copy.
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  3. Posts : 1,045
    Win8/8.1,Win7-U64, Vista U64, uncounted Linux distor's
       #3

    FAT32 for flash drives. Since I started using fat32 I have not had a single problem with my flash drives, my linux stuff is the only flash drive that does not get fat32. YMMV
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  4. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit Dual Boot with Windows XP Professional
    Thread Starter
       #4

    thanks for your views. may i also know, if ntfs decreases the life span of pendrives? i just formatted it to ntfs. there is no change of write speed. should i keep it, or go back to default fat32?
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  5. Posts : 2,497
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
       #5

    NTFS does perform more writes than FAT32 and this will likely increase write times, in some cases quite a bit. Whether this will noticeably shorten the life of the device is another matter. But I would reformat as FAT32. You really don't want to be using NTFS on a flash drive unless there is a real need, such as having files over 4 GB.
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  6. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit Dual Boot with Windows XP Professional
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Thanks LMiller7. I am going back to fat32 as you recommended, but may I know if it is true that NTFS decreases the life of the pen drive?
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  7. Posts : 58
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 Dual Boot with Windows Serve 2012 R2
       #7

    UrAsish said:
    Thanks LMiller7. I am going back to fat32 as you recommended, but may I know if it is true that NTFS decreases the life of the pen drive?
    Ntfs does more writes then fat32 so theoretically it should decrease the life of drive buy practically it won't be more then few days long. Hahahah
    And the most important thing is that ntfs is not designed for removable drives so fat32is recommended.
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  8. Posts : 1,364
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #8

    LMiller7 said:
    Be sure you understand that flash drives are the least reliable of modern storage media ...
    Sorry for o.t. and my ignorance, this is news to me. Do you have an authoritative technical source for this? I had always reasoned that, due to no 'moving parts', these were as reliable as music/video discs - some of which I have had for more than 2 decades (back when disc drives were the size of a washing machine) and still work today.

    -thnx
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  9. Posts : 2,497
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
       #9

    As I mentioned before, NTFS uses more writes and that is a factor in drive lifetime. But there are other factors as well and drives often fail for unknown reasons, even when new.

    Will using NTFS shorten the life of a drive?
    Maybe. There are too many variables.
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  10. Posts : 2,497
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
       #10

    MourningStar said:
    LMiller7 said:
    Be sure you understand that flash drives are the least reliable of modern storage media ...
    Sorry for o.t. and my ignorance, this is news to me. Do you have an authoritative technical source for this? I had always reasoned that, due to no 'moving parts', these were as reliable as music/video discs - some of which I have had for more than 2 decades (back when disc drives were the size of a washing machine) and still work today.

    -thnx
    The unreliability of flash drives is well known and many people with far greater knowledge and experience than I have made similar statements. I have made essentially the same statement many times on other forums and until now it has never been questioned.

    These devices are often built cheaply with poor quality control in order to compete with others in the mass market. Many years experience in the electronics industry has taught me what that can do.

    Some devices are no doubt very good. The problem is knowing which ones. Past experience with specific vendors helps but this can go very wrong. The vendor may have switched suppliers and manufacturing techniques have changed. There is no way to tell if this is for the better or worse until a specific model is old enough for meaningful statistics to be available. By then that model is no longer available. All you can do is pick a reputable vendor and hope for the best.

    SSDs use similar technology but seem to be manufactured to a higher standard.

    Floppies are less reliable than flash drives but who would consider them a modern storage media?
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