Should i format a new flash drive

To format your drive, you simply make your selection, click Start , followed by OK to confirm that you really want to erase all data and the drive will be formatted. However, before you proceed with formatting, you will want to understand what each of these options actually means.

So let's go through them one by one. So what is the difference between those file systems and which one should you choose? Let's look at the benefits of each. This is where exFAT comes in.

Hard drives are organized in clusters and the allocation unit size describes the size of a single cluster. The file system records the state of each cluster, i. Once a file or a portion of a file is written to a cluster, the cluster is occupied, even if there is space remaining.

Hence, larger clusters can lead to more wasted or slack space. With smaller clusters, however, the drive becomes slower as each file is broken up into smaller pieces, and it takes much longer to draw them all together when the file is accessed. Hence, the optimal allocation unit size depends on what you want to do with your USB drive.

If you want to store large files on that drive, a large cluster size is better as the drive will be faster. New posts Trending Search forums. What's new. New posts New profile posts Latest activity. Current visitors New profile posts Search profile posts Billboard Trophies. Does a memory stick need formatting when bought new.

Thread starter R Brennan Start date Sep 8, Forums Software Windows 7. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.

Previous Next. R Brennan Distinguished. Sep 8, 2 0 18, 0. I bought a new memory stick and on inserting into the USB port it says it needs formating, but on formating and completion the computer tells me yhe stick cannot be formated. Jul 2, 1, 0 19, Sounds like you have a faalty memory stick - they are usually formatted whne you buy them FAT32 - have you tried using it on another PC? Aug 31, 73 0 18, 2. In general they probably do not need to be formatted. If the stick comes with proprietary software for launching portable apps, then I usually do format it first.

Also, if I decide to add data files Excel spreads, Word dox, etc. If so, how? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Joined Nov 2, Messages You'll have to check your car manual to see which format your usb and music need to be.

Also check to see if the music has to be in a certain folder or not. As for excel and things as such, I think you can just put them into a seperate folder. Joined Aug 1, Messages 51, Formatting drives is never as important as partitioning them.

But it never hurts to repartition and reformat with the opeating system that will use the drive primarily to insure compatibility. Thanks for the reply. Greatly appreciated. Elvandil said:. Joined Dec 6, Messages 1, Except in one case, don't format the thumb drive.

All thumb drives come pre-formatted and yes, you can harm it by formatting it. In any case, it isn't necessary. The one exception is if the manufacturer decided to add a separate partition on the drive to make it look like a CD Rom. Format that crap out of there. You can use the standard formatting commands in Windows regardless of the version.

If you do format it, format it in FAT