Advertisement Formatting a USB drive is no different than If you have a new HDD or SSD, you should format it. Through formatting, you can wipe old data, malware, bloatware, and you can change the file system. Follow our step-by-step process. But how often have you actually formatted a drive and did you ever wonder what the various options mean? Most of us go with the default settings without second-guessing their logic. Naturally, optimal settings depend on the type of hardware to be formatted and what you are planning to do with it. This article will help you make the best choice. It explains what each option does and which one is best suited for your drive and expected use. How to Format a USB Drive in Windows Whether you’re running Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10, the steps are essentially the same. • Plug in the USB drive. • Open Windows File Explorer and go to This PC (aka Computer or My Computer). • Right-click the drive, and select Format The formatting options you can customize are File system, Allocation unit size, Volume label, and Format options. You can also Restore device defaults in case your custom settings aren’t working. Which File System to Choose? If you are a “Standard User” by Microsoft’s definition, you should keep the default 4096 bytes. Basically, the allocation unit size is the block size on your hard drive when it formats NTFS. If you have lots of small files, then it’s a good idea to keep the allocation size small so your harddrive space won’t be wasted. In Windows 10, you will see a maximum of four different file systems: NTFS, FAT, A file system is the tool that lets an operating system read data on any hard drive. Many systems use FAT32, but is that the right one, and is there a better option? You will actually not see FAT and FAT32 if your drive is larger than 32 GB. So what is the difference between those file systems and which one should you choose? Let’s look at the benefits of each. If for compatibility or speed reasons you want to go with FAT or FAT32, always go with FAT32, unless you are dealing with a device of 2 GB or smaller. Which Allocation Unit Size Works Best? Hard drives are organized in clusters and the allocation unit size describes the size of a single cluster. The file system records the state of each cluster, i.e. Free or occupied. Once a file or a portion of a file is written to a cluster, the cluster is occupied, regardless of whether or not there is still space. Hence, larger clusters can lead to more If your USB drive ever shrinks in capacity, there's a very simple solution you can use to restore all of that lost space. With smaller clusters, however, the drive becomes slower as each file is broken up into smaller pieces and it takes much longer to draw them all together when the file is accessed. Thus the optimal allocation unit size depends on what you want to do with your USB drive. If you want to store large files on that drive, a large cluster size is better as the drive will be faster. If, however, you want to store small files or run programs off your flash drive, a smaller cluster size will help preserve space. Rule of thumb: large drive and/or large files = large allocation unit size For a 500 MB USB flash drive, rather select 512 bytes (FAT32) or 32 kilobytes (FAT). On a 1 TB external hard drive select 64 kilobytes (NTFS). What Is a Volume Label? The volume label simply is the name of the drive. It’s optional and you can basically name your drive anything you want. However, there are a few rules to follow, depending on the file system you’re going to format with. NTFS: • maximum of 32 characters • no tabs • will be displayed with uppercase and lowercase, as entered FAT: • maximum of 11 characters • none of the following characters: *?.,;: /| + = [ ] • no tabs • will be displayed as all uppercase You can use spaces, regardless of the file system. The question now is, how are you going to fill that freshly formatted USB drive? You should definitely own a! Don’t have enough sticks for all those ideas? These are Which are the fastest USB 3.0 flash drives you can buy? Here are five of the best, ranging from $20 to $200. Money can buy. Which Format Options Do We Recommend? During a normal format, files are removed from the drive and the drive is scanned for bad sectors. During the Quick Format, only the files are removed and no scan is performed. Hence go with that option if you don’t have time and are dealing with a healthy or new drive. If you found this article helpful, you might also want to know Is your USB drive throwing up a Write Protection error? In this article, we explain what that is and how you can fix it. or 32GB of sweet USB flash drive storage space just sits in your office drawer, ironically taking up space. Because it's write protected and you can't format the stupid thing! What are your experiences with formatting USB drives and what are your preferred settings? Image Credit: nipastock via Shutterstock.com Explore more about:,,,.
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