Partition 64GB thumb drive

[bawldiggle]

Is it possible (acceptable) to partition a 64GB USB thumb drive ?
Or is it that a no-no ?

Thank you

 

[Layback Bear]

I haven't studied the subject but I don't know of any reason you can't.
Give it a try. You might have to format it first.

I'm trying what you want on a 16 gig thumb drive at the present time.
I'm starting with a wipe of the thumb drive. Then I will format it and then try a partition.
I'll will be back.

 

[LMiller7]

Flash drives can be partitioned but Windows disk manager won't do it. But apparently the command line tool Diskpart will. I have not done this.

 

[jumanji]

Have a look at this thread. usb - Flipping the Removable Media bit -- alternatives to BootIt? - Super User Your attention is invited to the warning in it. ( So I am not repeating it.)

( The method given above is for the adventurists. ( I amn't ).I have the Lexar Bootit utility for flipping the bit, but since I understand that it does not work with Windows 7 I hadn't tried.)

 

[Layback Bear]

I use AOMEI PARTITION to do the partition.

 

[bawldiggle]

More complex than I thought ... maybe?

Thank you Layback Bear, jumanji and LMiller7 for your contributions ...

My thumb drive (aka. TD) is new with a few irrelevant files (that I have backed up)

Should the TD be wiped first? ... I assumed formatting does that?
What format should the TD be? -- NTFS or FAT32
Quick format or full-format ?
Allocation unit size ? ... Is currently 16 KB

A web search has found maybe a problem with WinExp not recognising both partitions. ?

One PC term that I cannot find an explanation for is ... "flip the bit"
Google returns pancakes, cars, holidays, airline tickets ... but no windows related stuff, that I can understand.

In my quest to grasp "flip-the-bit" I found ... How to flip the removable bit on USB flash drives? ... a CNet forum thread. A colorful post Dude,you CAN do EXACTLY this and I hate it when other say NO is over my head.

If my TD was a cheap 8GB I would just crash through and hope but 64GB TDs are not cheap.
Needing one partition, TWO virtual drives both for data only. Have I got the terminology correct ?

I am thankful for any guidance.

 

[Layback Bear]

Post # 6

Should the TD be wiped first? ... I assumed formatting does that?
What format should the TD be? -- NTFS or FAT32
Quick format or full-format ?
Allocation unit size ?

With my short test it doesn't need wiper.
Formatting does not wipe any drive. It just allows the drive to wrote over by the new stuff be installed. The format will meet most needs.
A quick format will suite most needs but it's cost no more to do a full format.
NTFS or FAT32 depends on what you intend to install on the thumb drive.

 

[whs]

Thumb drives are usually Fat32 because it is faster and more space economical than NTFS. But I format many thumb drives in NTFS because Fat32 has a 4GB block size limit and for certain operstions (e.g. imaging) you may need larger blocksizes.