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How to format and create a USB drive or pen drive that is compatible with Windows 10, 8, 7 or Mac or Linux.

Because your USB size is more than MAX Volume size of FAT. FAT/FAT16: Max volume size 4GB, Max file size 2GB. FAT32: Max volume size 2TB, Max file size 4GB. ExFAT: Max volume size 128PB, Max file size 16EB. It mean if your USB flash drive is 8GB or more, it will not support FAT format. So what you need is resize it to 4GB. To format the flash drive in Linux, we need to unmount it first. To do this, you have to enter the 'unmount' command, following by the identifier. In our case, we will enter the command: $ sudo umount /dev/sdc1. Step 4: Format the USB drive. Now, you can just format the USB drive in Linux by entering the 'mkfs' command. It will have a parameter.

A file system is a method and structure of data used by an operating system, called Windows, Linux or Mac OS, for reading media files such as disks, removable drives, etc.

Types of File Systems

It is vital that we are aware that each developer implements a series of file systems for their operating system, for example, we have the following:

Windows:

• FAT

• FAT32

• NTFS

• exFAT

Linux:

• ext2

• ext3

• ext4

• ReiserFS

• Swap

Mac OS:

• HFS +

• MS-DOS (FAT)

• exFAT

• APFS (Present in the new edition of macOS High Sierra)

Each system manages its file system and in this way, USB drive with NTFS can only be recognized in Windows environments but not in Linux or macOS environments, even if it is accepted in macOS we can not make changes to it.

At this point, another question arises, what type of file system to use that is compatible with these three operating systems?

In technical terms, it has been recommended that the file system of the USB drives be FAT32 thanks to the fact that it is an old file system and that it has evolved to FAT32 at present, but there is a format that is much better regarding security, reliability, and compatibility: exFAT.

Let’s see in detail what is and what covers each of these file systems.

FAT32:

This format is one of the most compatible, but due to its useful life, it has been in force since the 90s, it has a series of limitations that can affect the pace of updates we are experiencing today.
Being a format with so much active time is compatible with virtually any operating system.

As mentioned, it has its limitations such as the inability to host files larger than 4 GB or that partitions with this file system cannot have more than 8 TB capacity.

exFAT:

exFAT is in a way a more modern and dynamic FAT32 which was developed in 2006 and is present in most modern operating systems.

By default, all traditional operating systems, Windows, Linux or Mac OS are compatible with exFAT, and its use is highly recommended for external drives, such as USB devices or external drives, thanks to its simplicity and multiple features.

Now we will analyze a little more in detail the fields of action where these two file systems are compatible to know which is the best option to choose.

Device Support

This is the first fundamental field since if the USB device formatted with FAT23 or exFAT is not compatible with the device where it has to be connected it will be impossible for it to be recognized and to access its contents.

In this field, we can say that FAT32 has an advantage over exFAT because, being an old file system, it is compatible with all operating systems and devices such as game consoles, Smart TV, multimedia players and others.

ExFAT, although it is currently compatible with more than 95% of the devices on the market, can still find individual limitations in some Linux distros or Android devices.

In some Linux distros the exFAT file system will not be recognized immediately, so we must install the several utilities by executing the following line:

Then update the packages running the line:

Reading & Writing Speed

Another of the pillars in a file system is the ability with which this can access the content and read or write it since this depends on optimal performance which is a highly required value today. Undoubtedly in this regard exFAT outperforms FAT32 to be a much more recent technology which is compatible with USB 3.0 which can have a transfer rate up to 5 Gbps.

In the previous graphic of flexense we can see the performance of exFAT on FAT32, and in the following link we will be able to look in detail multiple operations carried out by this software developer called Flexsense

Size of Supported Files

Format External Hard Drive Mac

Undoubtedly on this field wins exFAT because, as we mentioned above, FAT32 only allows files with a maximum capacity of 4 GB in partitions that do not exceed 8 TB of storage while exFAT is virtually unlimited in this aspect to support 16ZB files. Mac equalizer.

How To Format a USB drive with exFAT

Starting from the detail that exFAT is the most practical and functional file system, unless we are not going to use files of more than 4 GB, this is the process of formatting the USB drives with exFAT.

It will first be necessary to install the exFAT tools by executing the following command, as we have mentioned before:

Later we run the fdisk -l line to list the active disks in the system.

How To Format Hard Drive For Mac

There we will locate the USB drive which has the extension /dev/sd** (Replace the ** with the indicated number)
Once the USB disk is identified, we will execute the following syntax:

As we understand, we have the freedom to select the best file system for our USB drives to have the best capacity and performance.

In some cases, you may need to format a USB flash drive or hard disk using the command line. For example, this can be useful when Windows cannot complete formatting, as well as in some other situations.

This guide will detail how to format a USB flash drive or hard disk using the command line in Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7, as well as an explanation of when which methods will work best.

Note: formatting removes data from the disk. If you need to format the C drive, you will not be able to do this in the running system (since the OS is on it), but there are ways, nevertheless, which is at the end of the instruction.

Using the FORMAT command from the command line

Best torrent client for raspberry pi 4. Format is a command for formatting drives on the command line, existing since the days of DOS, but working properly in Windows 10. With it, you can format a USB flash drive or hard disk, or rather, a partition on them.

For a flash drive, it usually does not matter, provided that it is defined in the system and its letter is visible (since they usually contain only one partition), it can be for a hard disk: with this command you can format only partitions individually. For example, if the disk is divided into sections C, D and E, with the help of format you can format D first, then E, but not merge them.

The procedure will be as follows:

1. Run the command prompt as administrator (see How to start the command prompt as administrator) and enter the command (an example is given for formatting a flash drive or a hard disk partition with the letter D).
2. format d: / fs: fat32 / q (In this command, after fs: you can specify NTFS to format not in FAT32, but in NTFS. Also, if you do not specify the / q parameter, then not fast, but full formatting will be performed, see Fast or full formatting of the flash drive and disk).
3. If you see the message 'Insert a new disk into drive D' (or with a different letter), just press Enter.
4. You will also be prompted to enter a volume label (the name under which the disc will appear in the explorer), enter at your discretion.
5. Upon completion of the process, you will receive a message stating that the formatting is over and the command line can be closed.

The procedure is simple, but somewhat limited: sometimes it is necessary not only to format the disk, but also to delete all partitions on it (that is, to merge them into one). Here format will not work.

Formatting a flash drive or disk in the command line using DISKPART

The Diskpart command line tool, available in Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10, allows you not only to format individual sections of a flash drive or disk, but also to delete them or create new ones.

First, consider using Diskpart for simple partition formatting:

1. Run a command prompt as administrator, type diskpart and press Enter.
2. In order, use the following commands, pressing Enter after each.
3. list volume (here pay attention to the volume number corresponding to the drive letter that you want to format, I have 8, you use your number in the next command).
4. select volume 8
5. format fs = fat32 quick (instead of fat32, you can specify ntfs, and if you need not quick, but full formatting, do not specify quick).
6. exit

This completes the formatting. If you need to delete all partitions (for example, D, E, F and others, including hidden ones) from the physical disk and format it as a single partition, you can do it in a similar way. In the command line, use the commands:

1. diskpart
2. list disk (you will see a list of connected physical disks, you need a disk number to be formatted, I have it 5, you will have your own).
3. select disk 5
4. clean
5. create partition primary
6. format fs = fat32 quick (instead of fat32 it is possible to specify ntfs).
7. exit

As a result, there will be one formatted primary partition with a file system of your choice. This can be useful, for example, when a flash drive does not work correctly due to the fact that it has several partitions (about it here: How to delete partitions on a flash drive).

Command line formatting - video

Finally, what to do if you need to format the C drive with the system. To do this, you will need to boot from the boot drive from the LiveCD (including utilities for working with hard disk partitions), a Windows recovery disk or an installation USB flash drive with Windows. Those. It is required that the system is not started, since it is deleted when formatting.

If you booted from a bootable Windows 10, 8 or Windows 7 flash drive, you can press Shift + f10 (or Shift + Fn + F10 on some laptops) in the installation program, this will bring up a command line where C formatting will already be available. Also, the Windows Setup program when selecting the 'Full installation' mode allows you to format the hard disk in a graphical interface.