How To Format A USB Drive In NTFS

USB Drives have come a long way. Four years ago, I would have been ecstatic to have a 32Mb USB Drive, but now we even have sizes up to 256Gb. But like the 32Mb, the newer models still have a setback to its file format. They are by default, still in FAT or FAT32. These would be OK if you just wanted to store small sized files, but what if you wanted to copy a 4Gb High-def movie file? It won't work. Unless, you convert to a better format: NTFS.

If you're on Windows 7, it should be real easy. Kudos to Microsoft for adding the NTFS option when formatting a USB Drive.

Right-click on your USB Drive and select Format. On "File System," you should be able to see "NTFS" on the drop down menu. *If the NTFS option does not appear on Windows 7, the steps below will still apply.

If you're still using Windows XP, NTFS formatting requires more steps.

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. 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.