Hi Dan, Yes it is possible to reformat a FAT32 format to a NTFS format. The steps are below along with a website link for future reference.
If you plan to download files to your flash drive that are larger than 4gb, you need to reformat it to NTFS, instructions for which can be found on the site below. However, if your files are smaller than 4gb, you can leave it in the default FAT32 format. By the way, I have found no articles that suggest that reformatting a modern flash drive creates damaging stress on its memory components. In fact, I recently reformatted my new 8gb flash drive to NTFS so that I could back up my Documents and Settings folder (which is larger than 4gb) using the Windows XP Backup utility, and have had no problems. http://www.ntfs.com/quest22.htm Gerald Q: How do I format a USB Flash Drive to NTFS file system? A: To enable NTFS on your USB Flash Drive drive (USB Flash Memory): 1. Right click My Computer and select Manage. 2. Open the Device Manager and find your USB drive under the Disk Drives heading. 3. Right click the drive and select Properties. 4. Choose Policies tab and select the "Optimize for performance" option. 5. Click OK. 6. Open My Computer. 7. Select Format on the flash drive. 8. Press Alt + F for the file menu and choose NTFS in the File System dropdown box. 9. Device Formatting is completed. Important: To remove a device safely without data loss use a "safely remove hardware" procedure or Eject function from Windows Explorer. http://www.ntfs.com/quest22.htm Gerald Hope this info provided by Gerald helps. It certainly helped me. Take care. Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Murphy" <mwe...@roadrunner.com> To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com> Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 4:32 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] fat 32 or NTFS this brings up another question. Is it possible to reformat a flash drive to ntfs in stead of the default fat32. I own no mack, so I don't care about compattability. I can format the drive, but in the dialog, it says that the filetype is fat32, and doesn't seem to be changeable. ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Ferrin" <d...@jaws-users.com> To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com> Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:04 AM Subject: [Blind-Computing] fat 32 or NTFS > If memory serves NTFS is better at maximizing hard drive space because of > the smaller cluster size there for limiting wasted space. If this could be > confirmed by somebody out there I would appreciate it. > David Ferrin > www.jaws-users.com > VIP Conduit Tech Support > www.vipconduit.com > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
