What formats does usb support. What file system to format the USB flash drive. Formatting a USB flash drive using the HDD Low Level Format Tool

Hello dear friends! Today we'll talk with you about the format in which to format the USB flash drive. The fact is that there are certain nuances that I think you should be aware of.

In what format to format the USB flash drive

So, first of all, we should decide on how we will use a USB flash drive or an external HDD... This will immediately clarify a lot.

Usage options for a flash drive:

The flash drive stores different files required for work;
USB flash drive or external HDD used as a multimedia data storage;
Music or movies are recorded on a USB flash drive for playback on third-party devices.

Let's go through the points in more detail. The situation on the first point is characterized by the fact that you often have to use a flash drive on different computers.

Often there is no way to understand if there are viruses on these computers. Therefore, you need to protect the data on such flash drives yourself, and it is advisable to do this in advance.

By the way, I have good news for you! The site already has an article about protecting a flash drive from viruses (I can say that it is very highly valued on the Internet),.

Regarding our question, I can say that an important step in installing protection on a USB flash drive is formatting it into NTFS format.

Point number two: the flash drive is used as a storage of various data. As you probably know, the FAT32 file system has file size limits. The file cannot be larger than 4 Gb. Nowadays, this is not so much, considering that there are various video formats or virtual dual layer discs.

Often there are images of 8 Gb discs, not to mention movies of 40 Gb or more in the Bluray or 3D format.

It is quite obvious that for such purposes the FAT32 file system is clearly not enough for us. We have considered another option in favor of file NTFS systems for a flash drive.

So what about FAT32? It is too early to bury this file system.

Firstly, there are operating systems that do not support the NTFS format, which is rare these days, but nevertheless.

Another situation is much more common: we have a car with a radio tape recorder in it. This radio tape recorder does not want to read songs from a flash drive. But after formatting in FAT system 32, the radio tape recorder begins to interact perfectly with the flash drive.

Also, the FAT32 file system may be required by some TVs, media players and other devices such as PS3 or xBox consoles.

Conclusion

Having understood for what purposes the flash drive will be used, we ourselves will be able to answer the question in what format to format. It is clear that more often, in the overwhelming majority of cases, it will be more convenient to use an NTFS flash drive.

But in special cases, there is simply no alternative to flash drives with FAT32, so this file system still many people enjoy.

The process of formatting a flash drive is not very different from formatting an HDD or SSD. Next, we'll take a look at the best ones (such as USB Disk Storage Format Tool). We will also mention the USB stick available in any OS of the Windows family.

Content:

The guide will help you understand the many formatting options. I will explain what each individual parameter is responsible for and which one is optimal for your USB stick. And if it doesn't help standard method- we will select an alternative utility for formatting the flash drive.

What is formatting?

Formatting refers to the processing of a storage medium associated with ordering the structure of this medium. The source can be a hard disk drive (HDD), SSD, flash drive (usb flash drive), sd card or other solid-state device. The formatting changes the structure of access to digital information.

How to format a sd memory card? SD cards have special features when formatting. We have written instructions on how to format the memory card. We are talking about the SDFormatter tool (download), specially designed for formatting flash drives and sd cards in Windows and Mac OS.

There are two things to keep in mind:

when formatting a flash drive, all data stored on it is destroyed. It will be possible to restore files only with special resuscitation utilities - and a successful result cannot be guaranteed.
when you format a flash drive or HDD, the system checks for structure errors and, in some cases, fixes them.

Low-level formatting of a flash drive is a type of formatting in which the surface of a USB drive is marked into sectors used for further recording of service information. Performs low-level formatting using special utilities, which we will talk about later in the article. We will also tell you how to format a USB flash drive with their means.

As a rule, users do not want to understand the formatting options of the program. But in vain: after all, the settings are responsible for the performance of the flash drive and the read / write speed. Optimal parameters depend on the model of the device that will be formatted and on what you plan to do with the flash drive, what tasks to perform: run applications, use it as an OS boot, store all kinds of data, etc.

How to quickly format a USB flash drive in Windows 7 - Windows 10

Tip of the day... Sometimes formatting allows you to restore the operation of a flash drive, mark it up correctly, copy files to it - as a result, it becomes writable even after Windows has ceased to be detected or has stopped reading data. This is especially important to consider if Windows cannot format the USB flash drive and the user has to look for third-party tools.

Windows OS has a stock utility for this case, so you don't need to look for third-party formatting tools. Whether you are using Windows XP, Windows 7, 8, or Windows 10, the steps described are essentially the same.

Insert the flash drive into the USB port
Go to Explorer (Start> My Computer)
Click right click mouse on the USB drive, select “Format” in context menu
Determine the file system type - FAT or NTFS
To format the disk, make your selection and click the "Start" button
Confirm that you really want to erase all data on the disk
Flash disk formatted

You need to understand what each of these options is responsible for. The formatting parameters of the flash drive, available for changing in the standard "Formatting" utility:

Capacity: the size of the flash drive in GB. Each time you format the drive, check the size: this will avoid an error.
File system. The file system type is, in many situations, irrelevant. However, if you specify not NTFS, but FAT, then you will not be able to write files> 4 GB in size to the USB flash drive. Having chosen a rare type of file system, be prepared for the fact that your flash drive will not be detected on other operating systems and computers. However, in the OS Windows choice limited to NTFS and (ex) FAT only.
Cluster size. Read about what a cluster is and what size you need to specify here.
Volume label: the conventional name of the flash drive. Does not affect anything, but it is advisable to assign a memorable label to navigate in Explorer and the operating system.

The interface of the USB flash drive system formatting utility in Windows 8

What is the best format to format a USB stick?

Windows 7 has four main file systems to choose from: NTFS, FAT, FAT32, and exFAT. You will not see FAT and FAT32 in the list of available FSs - if the total capacity of the flash drive or disk is more than 32 GB.

File system benefits NTFS:

writing and reading data larger than 4 gigabytes and up to the maximum allowed partition size.
the ability to create large partitions on a usb flash drive - more than 32 GB
formatting a USB flash drive in NTFS is easier than in FAT
effective compression of information and, accordingly, saving the occupied space on the flash drive.
more efficient use of available space = less need for fragmentation.
Supports on-the-fly file encryption with EFS Encryption File System (Windows Professional OS).

Benefits of file systems FAT and FAT32:

FAT is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X operating systems
files take up less space on a USB stick than NTFS.
FAT formatting is available on any OS
fewer disk write / rewrite operations = more efficient use available memory.

File system pros exFAT:

reading / writing large files> 4 gigabytes to a USB flash drive.
partitioning> 32 GB.
rational use of space = optimization of fragmentation.

So, we draw conclusions. FAT and FAT32 are suitable for drives less than 32 GB and if you do not need to store files larger than 2 and 4 GB.

Due to the nature of the file system, NTFS is not recommended for flash drives, even if their capacity is> 32 GB. The exFAT file system is a compromise solution. It combines the essential advantages of FAT and NTFS (supported big size files). Thus, the exFAT file system is optimal for formatting flash drives.

FAT and FAT32 are the only file systems that guarantee cross-platform compatibility. NTFS is not supported on Linux and requires installation third party applications to work on Mac. exFAT, on the other hand, is supported in Snow Leopard and later Mac OS, but Linux requires drivers as well.

If you choose between FAT and FAT32, choose the latter - especially if you are dealing with a flash drive of 2 GB or less. This is useful for improving compatibility and speed.

What cluster size to specify in the settings

The "Cluster Size" option in the formatting preferences sets the appropriate size. The file system records the status of each cluster: free or busy. After a file or part of a file is written to the cluster, it goes into a "busy" state - regardless of whether there is available space.

Consequently, large clusters are impractical from the point of view of using space on a flash drive (disk).

With smaller clusters, however, the flash drive slows down as each file is split into smaller pieces. It takes much longer to copy files.

Fortunately, the situation can be corrected using a USB flash drive formatting program. In addition, the optimal cluster size depends on the purpose of the USB stick.

Cluster size in NTFS

If you do not store large files on a flash drive, run programs from a flash drive, a smaller cluster size will help save space. On a 1 TB external hard drive, it is advisable to choose a cluster with a size of 64 kilobytes.

Cluster size when formatting a flash drive in fat32

If you store large files on disk, a large cluster size is preferable: the flash drive will work faster. For flash drives less than 500 MB, select a 512 byte cluster (in FAT32) or 32 KB (FAT).

What label should I choose for the name of the flash drive?

The volume label is just a name. It is optional, so anything will do. However, there are a few rules to follow, depending on the filesystem you're going to format your flash drive with.

maximum 32 characters
will be displayed in UPPERCASE and LOWER CASE as you entered.

maximum 11 characters
the label will be displayed as uppercase letters

Fast or full formatting?

In typical formatting cases, files are removed from the disk and the disk is scanned for bad sectors. Full formatting will be useful for diagnosing write errors.

Quick format only deletes files and does not search. Therefore, use the quick option if you don't have time to check for errors on your flash drive.

Choosing a program for formatting a flash drive

Windows may not always format the USB flash drive correctly. Standard formatting- not a panacea for a flash drive if the service information on the storage device has been damaged. Unfortunately, recovering data on a flash drive with such damage is more difficult. One of the solutions to the problem is to download a proprietary program for formatting a USB flash drive (if available) to a computer on the website of the memory manufacturer. We recommend that you contact the support service and ask the manufacturer how to clean the USB flash drive, if they have programs for full formatting.

So, how to format a USB flash drive? Consider best programs for formatting flash drives, more or less universal tools. If you wish, you can easily find other alternatives, free and proprietary utilities offered by suppliers.

Tip of the day... When formatting a USB flash drive, save important files to your computer. All data on the media being formatted will be permanently deleted.

JetFlash Recovery Tool

JetFlash Recovery Tool- a universal solution. This program for formatting flash drives will be useful if:

errors, crashes were found on the usb flash drive
information on the flash drive is not readable
need to format the flash drive

Install JetFlash Recovery Tool and try to force format the USB drive with it. The flash drive app works with A-DATA and Transcend media, but other options are also possible. Warning: the utility is not “omnivorous” and can easily reject your usb device.

JetFlash Recovery Tool can be downloaded from the official website. Install it on your computer according to the instructions included with the program.

Utility for formatting USB flash drive Disk Storage Format Tool

Free utility USB Disk Storage Format Tool allows you to quickly and correctly format a USB flash drive under Windows. In this case, you can specify the media file system: FAT, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS.

The main functions of the utility:

Allows you not only to format a USB flash drive, but also to erase all data on a flash drive that cannot be formatted using the traditional (system) method.
USB Disk Storage Format Tool removes any traces of malware and viruses that may have infected the USB flash drive.
Search and correction of reading errors, bad blocks on a USB flash drive.
Create a volume label (name) for USB drives.
Create a FAT32 partition larger than 32 GB.
Low-level formatting of a flash drive of the required model (Kingston, HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Transcend, Corsair, etc.)
It is convenient to observe the formatting process: just check the box next to the Verbose option.

The USB Disk Storage Format Tool has been successfully tested on thousands of storage devices (Compact Flash, CF Card II, Memory Stick Duo Pro, Thumb Drive, Pen Drive). USB Disk Storage Format supports drive brands such as SanDisk, Kingston, Transcend, Corsair, HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Toshiba, PNY, Verbatim, LaCie, Panda, Seatech, SDKSK9, Silicon Power, IronKey, and HDE.

There is also a Pro version of the USB Disk Storage Format Tool. With its help, you can create bootable USB drives, perform low-level formatting, change the size of the cluster.

Formatting a flash drive using the HDD Low Level Format Tool

HDD Low Level Format Tool - a utility for low-level formatting hard drives under Windows control... Allows you to read SMART data, extract service information about Data storage devices.

However, HDD Low Level Format Tool supports not only hard drives, but also memory cards and flash drives (SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash) - you may need a card reader to connect them.

HDD Low Level Format Tool will erase data from SATA, IDE, SAS, SCSI or SSD at low access level. Utility also work with any USB and FIREWIRE external drive, as well as SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash flash drives.

Supported Brands: Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum, Western digital and others not listed here.

Utility for formatting a USB flash drive HDD Low Level Format Tool

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

A very simple utility for correctly formatting a flash drive in FAT32 and NTFS format. The main function is to help the user quickly select options and format the USB flash drive on the computer by clicking on one button.

A utility for a USB flash drive is distributed for free, the installer can be downloaded for Windows.

In addition, through the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, you can create a bootable Windows USB flash drive (which other similar formatters cannot do).

Program interface for formatting HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

How to format a USB flash drive in Mac OS

The HP USB Format Tool allows you to format your USB flash drive in the operating room. Mac system... However, for this you need to perform a number of intricate actions:

Install Parallels Desktop emulator on your computer
Install Windows system on Mac OS
Format a USB flash drive for Mac OS X via emulated Windows

Kingston USB Format Tool - format a USB flash drive without settings

This program does not contain any settings at all. To format, you need to specify the device (usb stick) and file system.

The developers on the site indicate that the FAT file system will avoid conflicts with other operating systems and will not affect the performance of the flash drive.

The program works under Windows 7 and Windows 10 and more early versions OS.

Therefore, if you have a Kingston flash drive and for some reason it began to work slowly, try this program: it may solve the problem.

Answers on questions

I'm having problems with my USB stick. SmartBuy 64 gig. At first, the flash drive occasionally "disappeared", then it disappeared altogether .... after sleeping for 3 weeks, it appeared and allowed itself to be formatted (from fat32 to NTFS). Worked for 2 weeks and disappeared again ..... SmartBuy technical support specialists "do not know and cannot help with the problem" ... The utility for formatting the USB flash drive Low Level Format Tool runs as it should, the usual (both Windows and special utilities) - some goes to the end and writes that Windows cannot complete the formatting (this is usually in NTFS), and some of them immediately refuse (and this is in exFAT).

So: I have thoughts that the flash drive has "shortened" due to bad blocks, and therefore the programs for formatting the flash drive do not reach the very end - so they refuse to make the final recording on the media.

Please advise a program for the correct low-level formatting of the flash drive, which does not check for errors at the end. Something like the program that the Chinese "make" from small flash drives BIG.

Answer... Try the following programs: JetFlash Recovery Tool, USB Disk Storage Format Tool, HDD Low Level Format Tool. Pay attention to utilities that do low-level formatting. The name may state that these programs are designed for hard drives - however, some of them work similarly with flash drives, allowing them to be formatted.

There is such a flash drive Name: DT 101 II (USB2.0)

VID & PID: Vid_0951 & Pid_1625
Speed: high speed

Vendor Description: Kingston
Product Description: DT 101 II
Serial Number: 000AEB91EBF5F97155120907

The capacity of the flash drive is determined by the system as 16 GB. It is formatted, but when writing a file larger than 4 GB, it says that there is no space.

Answer... You need to format the flash drive to NTFS. You will be able to write files larger than 4 GB to it. However, as we noted, exFat (Extended File Allocation Table) is the best way for a flash drive.

How to format a USB flash drive in ntfs? Use USB programs Disk Storage Format Tool or HDD Low Level Format Tool. Built-in Windows tools will also help to format the drive in ntfs.

Good day. I have a Transend flash drive, the problem is that it works then it does not, formatting does not help. You drop the files on the computer from which you dropped it, it opens, you insert it into another and there is only a "shortcut" and it weighs 1 kb. Today I formatted it in fat32 I dropped the film I looked on the TV half of the film I thought everything was working out, but early I was glad the video stopped and everything is no longer played. I just don't know what problem to link it with in your article. Please help, thank you in advance !!

A friend brought a Micro Sd Jeef 64GB. The flash drive worked properly. After a while, the error “The disk is write-protected” came out. I tried all the methods of treatment, formatting does not get through and gives the same error. On his phone, the flash drive is displayed on mine. All files can be pulled out but not thrown. How to format a USB flash drive so that files can be copied to it?

I bought an sd card a month ago. When I put it in the connector, I went into the settings and it was shown that the memory capacity was only 128MB, although in reality there was 14.7GB of memory. I tried several times to format it differently (with the programs for formatting the flash drive described in the article), but it still could not be repaired. Everything is in order with the device. other volumes of sd cards were shown normally.

I have a problem with the micro SD card of a 4GB transsend phone. photos and videos are no longer recorded on it, the information is not deleted. I tried to reformat it into the desired format (Fat 32), it is not formatted. only in eksphat, but after that the information on the card does not disappear, and the format remains the same fat 32. tried all the options, formatted with the command line, various utilities, scanned for viruses, also corrected errors through Windows and broken sectors, everything remains the same. The program for formatting the company of the same name did not help either. Tell me, can you do something in this case, or is the card completely dead?

The flash drive was completely working, I tried to write windows 10 to it via ultraISO, before that I formatted it, after which it is now empty (there are no files at all), nothing was left of the old 32 GB: busy, free, the capacity is now 0 bytes. If you run error checking through properties / information, the inscription: Unable to check the disk because it is not available. How to reformat a USB flash drive to return 32 GB of volume to it?

The problem is that even after the flash drive is fully formatted, the files remain. There is a second protected partition on the flash drive - how can I delete it? Standard tools Windows and formatting utilities do not see it. Flash drive 16 GB, 14 GB is visible. This section saw by the AOMEI program Partition Assistant 6.6.0 but there is no way to uninstall.

there is a Flash drive Apacer AH223. The owner encrypted it with some kind of program. Which one does not know. As a result, all infa is easily read and copied, but it is impossible to format it. HDD Low Level Format Tool, Diskpart didn't help.

MicroSD 32gb - I can view the contents, I can not delete and format. Applied different programs for formatting. What's the best way to format your USB stick (if possible) to fix it?

My Xiaomi formatted the flash drive in the phone, now it is not readable on the phone or on the computer. I tried to format it through the computer, now it does not show anything at all, write insert the card. What to do????

My Xiaomi formatted the SD card in the phone, now it cannot be read on the phone or on the computer. I tried to format it through the computer, now it does not show anything at all, writes “insert the card”. What to do?

In short, I have a 32GB flash drive, and someone from my acquaintances formatted it from ntfs to fat, and plus, from somewhere else, write protection appeared. I have no idea how to format it back to ntfs (possible with data loss) and remove write protection.

A double-sided flash drive (yusb-micro usb) was no longer detected both on the computer and on the phone: the chipset program was considered the form: 090C and pid: 1000, tried to format the flashdoctor program and the process lasted 2 days, upon completion it is not even detected by the chipset program, tell me the solution.

Today, Flash drives have practically replaced all other portable storage media such as CDs, DVDs, and magnetic floppy disks. On the side of flash drives, there is undeniable convenience in the form of a small size and large amounts of information that they can accommodate. The latter, however, depends on the file system in which the drive is formatted.

What is a file system? Roughly speaking, this is a method of organizing information that is understood by this or that OS, with division into documents and directories familiar to users. There are 3 main types of file systems today: FAT32, NTFS and exFAT. We will not consider ext4 and HFS systems (options for Linux and Mac OS, respectively) due to their low compatibility.

According to the importance of the characteristics of a particular file system, it can be divided into the following criteria: system requirements, the impact on the wear of memory chips and restrictions on the size of files and directories. Let's consider each criterion for all 3 systems.

Compatibility and system requirements

Perhaps the most important of the criteria, especially if the flash drive is planned to be used to connect to a large number of devices on different systems.

FAT32
FAT32 is the oldest document and folder organization system still in use, originally developed for MS-DOS. It has the highest compatibility of all - if the flash drive is formatted in FAT32, then most likely it will be recognized by most devices, regardless of the operating system. Besides, working with FAT32 does not require a lot of random access memory and processing power.

NTFS
File Windows system by default since the transition of this operating system to the NT architecture. Tools for working with this system are present both in Windows and Linux, Mac OS. However, there are certain difficulties with connecting drives formatted in NTFS to car radios or players, especially from second-tier brands, as well as to Android and iOS via OTG. In addition, the amount of RAM and CPU frequency required for operation have increased in comparison with FAT32.

exFAT
The official name stands for "Extended FAT", which corresponds to the essence - exFAT and there is a more extended and improved FAT32. Developed by Microsoft specifically for flash drives, this system is the least compatible: such flash drives can only be connected to computers running Windows (at least XP SP2), as well as to Android and iOS smartphones. Accordingly, the amount of RAM required by the system and the processor speed have increased.

As you can see, according to the criterion of compatibility and system requirements FAT32 is the undisputed leader.

Impact on wear of memory chips

Technically, flash memory has a limited lifespan, which depends on the number of sector rewriting cycles, which in turn depends on the quality of the chip itself installed in the flash drive. The file system, depending on its own characteristics, can either extend the life of the memory or reduce it.

FAT32
In terms of the impact on wear and tear, this system loses to everyone else: due to the peculiarities of the organization, it works well with small and medium files, but significantly fragments the recorded data. This leads to more frequent access by the operating system to different sectors and, as a consequence, an increase in the number of Read-Write cycles. Therefore, a USB flash drive formatted in FAT32 will last less.

NTFS
The situation is already better with this system. NTFS is less dependent on file fragmentation and, in addition, it already implements more flexible content indexing, which has a positive effect on the longevity of the drive. However, the relative slowness of this file system partially negates the obtained advantage, and the peculiarities of data journaling force us to frequently access the same memory areas and use caching, which also negatively affects the durability.

exFAT
Since exFAT was developed specifically for use on flash drives, the developers paid the most attention to reducing the number of rewriting cycles. Due to the peculiarities of organizing and storing data, it significantly reduces the number of rewriting cycles, especially when compared to FAT32 - a bitmap of available space has been added to exFAT, which reduces fragmentation, which is the main factor in reducing the lifespan of a flash drive.

As a result of the above, we can conclude that exFAT has the least effect on memory wear.

File and directory size limits

This parameter is becoming more and more important every year: the amount of stored information, as well as the storage capacity, is steadily growing.

FAT32
So we got to the main disadvantage of this file system - in it the maximum volume occupied by one file is limited to 4 GB. In the days of MS-DOS, this would certainly have been considered an astronomical value, but today this limitation is inconvenient. In addition, there is a limit on the number of files in the root directory - no more than 512. On the other hand, there can be as many files as you want in non-root folders.

NTFS
The main difference between NTFS and the previously used FAT32 is the practically unlimited volume that a particular file can occupy. Of course, there is a technical limitation, but in the foreseeable future it will not be possible to reach it soon. In the same way, the amount of data in a directory is practically unlimited, although exceeding a certain threshold is fraught with a strong drop in performance (a feature of NTFS). It is also worth noting that this file system has a character limit per directory name.

Sometimes, to restore the operability of a flash drive, it needs to be formatted. In this article, we will look at how to properly format a USB flash drive and which formatting system is better to choose FAT or NTFS.

To format a flash drive, do not download or search for some special programs or utilities. Windows does an excellent job of this task in a short amount of time.

What better system formatting to choose? What is the general difference between FAT and NTFS? All you need to know about these systems is that you cannot copy or write a file larger than 4 gigabytes to a formatted USB flash drive in the FAT system, for example ISO image or some movie High Quality... And the NTFS system supports writing files over 4 gigabytes.

So when choosing the formatting of the flash drive, be guided by the size of the file you want to write to it.

So, to format the USB flash drive, insert it into USB port computer and wait for it to be determined. Open "My Computer"

We find our USB flash drive. I call it "SARDU", your most likely will be called " Removable drive". How to call a USB flash drive by your name read below

Select the flash drive with one click of the left mouse button

Then we click on the selected flash drive with the right mouse button, thereby calling a window with a choice of options. In the window that opens, select the item "Format"

The formatting window has opened. Here we can choose which section format FAT or NTFS

In the drop-down menu, select the formatting system. For example, I chose NTFS, since I need to write a file larger than 4 gigabytes

In the "Volume label" form, enter any title or Name. This will be the name of your flash drive. It will be visible when browsing computer disks. Like my name was "SARDU", now I gave her the name "My flash drive"

Below we see the ways of formatting. Mainly used quick format, but if your flash drive is very buggy, then you can use full formatting, for this you need to uncheck the box next to "Quick (clear the table of contents)". Be aware that full formatting will take much longer than normal formatting. So everything is ready. Click the start button.

A warning information window should appear. We agree and press the "Ok" button. Formatting has started.

After the end of the formatting, an information window will appear stating that the formatting is complete. Click "OK"

Now we see that our flash drive is formatted and empty. It is called "My flash drive", ie. as I wrote in the "Volume label" field

And remember that formatting a flash drive will destroy all data on it. So before that, copy all the files to your computer.

To many experienced users, formatting seems trivial, and because of this they overlook important nuances. Beginners should definitely understand how such an operation takes place.

Formatting a flash card is preparing the media for use operating system by deleting all data and then creating the file system. There are 2 key aspects:

The available information will be destroyed... Before formatting, the user is always asked whether he confirms clearing the flash drive. You cannot accidentally perform this procedure. Under some conditions, formatted data can be recovered.
The file system determines a lot. They are like markings and road signs that tell the motorist where to go next. For Windows users choosing a file system is not a difficult task, there is not much to choose from.

How to choose the right file system?

Common file systems NTFS and FAT 32. In most cases, the first option is suitable for the following reasons:

it is not possible to write a file larger than 4 GB in FAT32. The OS image or high-definition movie will not be saved at full size;
NTFS is a journaling file system, therefore, in case of force majeure, it will provide increased reliability of data storage;
FAT32 is poorly organized for dealing with a large number of small files. In NTFS, file size has little effect on read / write speed;
NTFS allows you to block access using encryption. It is not difficult to set a password for some folder.

Today, there is only one significant advantage of FAT32 - compatibility with almost any device with USB. At the same time, choosing a file system for data warehouses is a vast topic. NTFS is not a milestone. For example, if you have Windows 10 and need to format microSD card for a smartphone, then it is rational to use the exFAT file system.

What is the best cluster size?

This parameter sets the smallest amount of information that can be set for a given file. Let's look at a very conditional example. Suppose you have a 10 GB flash drive with a cluster size of 1 GB. If you record a 10 MB (0.01 GB) song on it, then the file will take 1 GB - the computer “does not know” that information on the drive can be stored in smaller portions.

In practice, the cluster size is specified in much smaller volumes. It depends on the filesystem and Windows versions... The following nuances are important:

the larger the cluster, the faster data is read and written;
to store a huge number of small files, use a small cluster size so that free space on the flash drive is used rationally;
the larger the files are planned to be stored on the drive, the more profitable it is to use the increased cluster size.

You should almost always not bother with the cluster size - use the default settings.

How to format a USB flash drive?

It's easy to figure out how to format a USB flash drive in a standard way on Windows:

connect the drive to your PC;
open "My (This) computer";
if the flash drive has important information, then copy it;
right-click on the drive icon and select "Format";
specify the file system and click on "Start".

You can do this through command line... After starting it, enter the command "format / fs: NTFS X: / q", where NS- the letter under which the OS identified the drive, and instead of "NTFS" specify other file systems, if required.

Programs for formatting a USB flash drive

Consider the features of popular utilities:

"MiniTool Partition Wizard"... Simplicity and functionality are the advantages of this free software... She "knows" on one flash drive to create folders with different file systems, including exotic ext2 or ext3 for Windows users. The interface is easy to understand, but advanced users will also find where to dig into it.
HDD Low Level Format Tool... The application performs a complete formatting, during which it is possible to correct physical errors on the drive. The bottom line is that you can "revive" a USB flash drive that seemed completely out of order. The utility was originally developed for hard drives, but it perfectly supports USB drives.
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool... An elementary program that almost completely repeats the interface of a standard Windows tool. It is worth stopping at this tool if the OS is buggy and "does not want" to format the media. Advantage over competitors - does not require installation, runs from a downloaded file.
"SD Formatter"... Especially for SD memory cards, microSD cards and the like. Works with regular USB sticks as well. It's worth using if you don't have the simplest memory card. Let's say it's a fast SD UHS-II. In order not to bother and get the maximum possible write / read speed at the output - do everything through SD Formatter.

There are the following tips regarding this:

Format on the device that will primarily use this drive. For example, if you need to format a memory card for Android smartphone then do it on the phone itself. Specifically in this example, FAT32 or Linux file systems (ext4 and the like) are preferred. Not all is smooth on Android regarding NTFS compatibility.
Fast and complete formatting is designed for a variety of purposes. For example, in windows windows with the formatting settings, a checkmark was made in the "Quick (clear the table of contents)" line. In this case, the information will not be physically deleted - the reformatting process will end faster. If it is important that the data is completely destroyed, then stop at full formatting, although this will take more time. This procedure is also preferable if the OS often “swears” that the flash drive has errors.