Format USB memory stick using NTFS??

[BoboKatt]

Hey all,
I recently purchased an 8GB USB memory stick. I routinely deal with large files well over 4GB and hence the purchase. To my dismay when I tried to copy over a 6GB file to the 8GB USB key, it said not enough space. I then relized that there is a limit of 4GB in the FAT32 system and the key is in FAT32 format. There is no option to format in any other way.

Anyhow know if it is possible with some sort of utility to convert it to NTFS to get over this limit?

thanks!

 

[BoboKatt]

Well search is your friend... just found this:
http://www.anandtech.com/memor...c.aspx?i=2549&p=6&cp=3

 

[Jiggz]

Well, good on ya for researching! However, is 4GB the size limit for FAT32 or FAT16. I thought the size limit for FAT32 was in the 30's GB. It's been awhile and can't exactly remember.

 

[MegaVovaN]

FAT32 theoretical max is 127.53 gb


32 gb is the max Windows 2000 Format tool could create

http://www.microsoft.com/techn...fls_pxjh.mspx?mfr=true

 

[Jiggz]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
FAT32 theoretical max is 127.53 gb


32 gb is the max Windows 2000 Format tool could create

http://www.microsoft.com/techn...fls_pxjh.mspx?mfr=true

That's the number I was looking for 32GB! In fact, even in XP this is the limit of the format tool for FAT32. So basically, the limit of 4GB is for FAT16 which I believe was the initial format of the thumbdrive in question.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Most all thumbdrives and SD cards use FAT16 formatting. Above 4GB they are usually FAT32. I did NTFS for a while on my thumbdrives and it was a nightmare. Hardly anything could read them, and since NTFS has dependency features it was a real pain to remove the key without destroying the contents of the key even after hitting the "Safely Remove Hardware" button. Eventually I just switched back to FAT32.