Big files to pen drive: NTFS or exFAT?

Bean_BR

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Hello! I have two pen drives (8GB and 32GB), I know the default file system for USB flash drives is FAT and FAT32. However, files over 4GB can't be tranferred to them, so a good option would be to format in NTFS or exFAT, but I heard that the NTFS for pen drives is bad, because it can reduce the pen drive lifespan to about 75%, and I never used exFAT. So what is better, NTFS or exFAT?
 

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NTFS is only bad for flash drive if you turn on journal, which is off by default.

Go with NTFS, because it is more widely compatible with other OS/device.
 

Bean_BR

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NTFS is only bad for flash drive if you turn on journal, which is off by default.

Go with NTFS, because it is more widely compatible with other OS/device.


I will use them only for storage, so NTFS for pen drives is safe, right? Also, do I do this through Windows or should I use a specific tool for it?
 

Bean_BR

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Regular Windows format is fine.


OK, thanks for the help.
EDIT: Just remebered, Windows don't show the NTFS option to format USB flash drives, but it can be done in "Computer Management". Just to be sure, it will reduce the pen drive lifespan or it's just bullshit?
 

FAST6191

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Edit. I see a whole conversation has gone on. I will leave my reply up though.

Unless I buy ultra fancy ones pendrives I tend to write off after about a year of general use and unless you are doing something like running a standard OS (they are often a bit slow but you can run an OS one one if you set it up properly) on one then chances are you will leave it in a laptop and break it long before then.

I will assume you routinely have to store and run 4 gig or large files on the drive, I have not really had this but I stopped playing with isos years ago and most of the time you can split a file easily enough with something like 7zip (if you do not compress it then it takes the same amount of time as copying it).

NTFS is widely supported, exfat is not as rare as some of the linux/BSD specialist stuff but can be tricky if you are not on Windows and some mac stuff. Stock NTFS on a pendrive I can see being less than ideal for a few reasons but not enough to really matter on these sizes and with standard options.

To that end I will have to ask you what you want to do? If it is just for your personal use on your machine as a backup of sorts or transfer between machines you control then you might even consider something else like ext3 ( http://www.ext2fsd.com/ being able to see it in windows if you want it to).

If you plan to use it as a windows repair type and/or day to day usage probably NTFS.

Similarly you might have trouble on some TVs and other embedded devices if you use exfat.

Whatever you do make sure you eject the drive properly on every occasions, even if you have "optimise for quick removal" enabled.
 

Bean_BR

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Edit. I see a whole conversation has gone on. I will leave my reply up though.

Unless I buy ultra fancy ones pendrives I tend to write off after about a year of general use and unless you are doing something like running a standard OS (they are often a bit slow but you can run an OS one one if you set it up properly) on one then chances are you will leave it in a laptop and break it long before then.

I will assume you routinely have to store and run 4 gig or large files on the drive, I have not really had this but I stopped playing with isos years ago and most of the time you can split a file easily enough with something like 7zip (if you do not compress it then it takes the same amount of time as copying it).

NTFS is widely supported, exfat is not as rare as some of the linux/BSD specialist stuff but can be tricky if you are not on Windows and some mac stuff. Stock NTFS on a pendrive I can see being less than ideal for a few reasons but not enough to really matter on these sizes and with standard options.

To that end I will have to ask you what you want to do? If it is just for your personal use on your machine as a backup of sorts or transfer between machines you control then you might even consider something else like ext3 ( http://www.ext2fsd.com/ being able to see it in windows if you want it to).

If you plan to use it as a windows repair type and/or day to day usage probably NTFS.

Similarly you might have trouble on some TVs and other embedded devices if you use exfat.

Whatever you do make sure you eject the drive properly on every occasions, even if you have "optimise for quick removal" enabled.


I'm not planning to run anything to and from the pen drive, it's just for storage purposes, really.
EDIT: I might actually consider splitting the files with 7-zip and continue to use FAT/FAT32, but I don't know, I like to leave the files as they are. Maybe I'm a purist.:P LOL
 

FAST6191

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I'm not planning to run anything to and from the pen drive, it's just for storage purposes, really.
EDIT: I might actually consider splitting the files with 7-zip and continue to use FAT/FAT32, but I don't know, I like to leave the files as they are. Maybe I'm a purist.:P LOL

Not stripping exif and other metadata or only storing things as scene style rar files (though we have the SRR format for that)/as it originally came I can see. Not doing a simple file split crosses the line from purist and heads rapidly into territory I have no desire to even contemplate.
 

Bean_BR

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Not stripping exif and other metadata or only storing things as scene style rar files (though we have the SRR format for that)/as it originally came I can see. Not doing a simple file split crosses the line from purist and heads rapidly into territory I have no desire to even contemplate.


I didn't remembered about splitting the files... I feel so stupid now:mellow:
 

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All of the major OSes and newer mobile devices support exFAT now, and I personally use it for my 1TB external drive to transport files between my MacBook and my Windows desktop. The NTFS drivers on Mac OS are read-only and third-party NTFS are not quite stable. But I'm assuming that Mac OS compatibility is probably not a necessity in your situation. Older OSes might have troubles with exFAT.

As far as I know, exFAT was designed specifically for the purpose of being more efficient with read/write cycles compared to NTFS, while being able to handle larger drives and files better than FAT32. It's missing a few features compared to NTFS (such as journaling), but usually you wouldn't need those on an external drive.
 

trumpet-205

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Third party support for exFAT isn't stable as well. NTFS is a lot more matured than exFAT, excluding Mac OS (Apple did pay license fee to see the specification for both NTFS and exFAT from Microsoft).

exFAT is designed for flash drive, which is why it completely left out journaling. As I said Windows does not use journaling for external storage by default.
 

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