Is it possible to format the flash drive to NTFS As is known, the reliability and fault tolerance of the file system NTFS - beyond praise (see How to convert to NTFS without losing data? ). The same can be said about the popularity of flash drives (see How to extend the life of the stick? ). But we are not talking about it. The problem is that by default, regular operating system tools can reformat the memory stick or the file system FAT, or FAT32 (but not NTFS!). Can not be here to help and are generally recognized programs designed to format / convert disk devices as PartitionMagic from PowerQuest Corporation. There are several ways to solve this problem. 1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> System; - In the System Properties dialog box click the Hardware tab -> Device Manager; - In the Device Manager dialog box, expand the Disk Drives, double-click open the properties window of his stick; - Policy tab, click Optimize for performance -> OK; - Close the Device Manager dialog box, System Properties; - Open My Computer, right-click mouse icon stick; - From the shortcut menu, select Format ...; - Format dialog box Removable Disk drop-down list File System option appeared NTFS (rather than FAT); - Format the USB flash drive to NTFS; - Set the Optimize for quick removal: My Computer -> Properties -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> Disk Drives -> -> Properties -> Politics. 2. You can make it even easier by using the built file system conversion utility convert.exe (File System Conversion Utility - C: \ WINDOWS \ system32 \ convert.exe): - Run the shell , click Start -> Run ... -> Run -> cmd -> OK; - Switch (if necessary) the keyboard layout to EN; - After the prompt C: \ Documents and Settings \ Administrator> type convert : / fs: ntfs / nosecurity / x (Eg for flash H:, enter convert h: / fs: ntfs / nosecurity / x); - Click ; - After the conversion, type exit (or just close the command prompt window). This utility allows you to convert flash file system without losing data. Notes 1. Although convert.exe utility allows you to convert flash file system without data loss, it is recommended before performing the conversion to copy all the data available on a flash drive, hard disk, the computer ! 2. On a flash drive must be space to convert the file system. Otherwise, you get an error message, for example: "... Rating disk space required for file system conversion ... Total disk space: 1023712 KB Available: 14328 KB Need for conversion: 15486 KB Insufficient disk space for conversion The conversion failed H: was not converted to NTFS » In this case, the required free space on the flash drive by deleting unneeded files (or copy some files to the hard disk PC ). 3. If the flash drive / removable disk has a label / Volume Label (eg, Transcend or my stick), when you try to convert the message Enter the volume label for drive : In this case, enter a label of your stick (otherwise you will not be able to convert flash: the message you specify an invalid disk label) before converting or remove the label (in the Properties dialog box of the stick). 3. You can use a free utility HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool . Download and unzip the file HPUSBFW.zip . Connect the USB flash drive into a free USB-port. - Copy all the data available on the flash drive on your computer hard drive; - Run the utility HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool (file HPUSBFW.EXE); - If several USB-connected devices in the Device drop-down list, select the desired (USB flash drive you want to format); - In the drop-down list, select File system NTFS (or, if necessary, FAT / FAT32); - If you want to set the label text box Volume label (optional); - To accelerate the check Quick Format; - Click Start; - HPUSBFW dialog box appears with a warning (in English) that all data on the flash drive will be destroyed. Click Yes; - Wait for the conversion process; - In the dialog box (with the results of the conversion), click OK. Notes 1. Be careful when choosing a device to be formatted to avoid accidentally formatted not the removable drive that you want. 2. Before formatting, be sure to copy all the data available on the flash drive on your computer hard drive! 3. Not recommended to format the flash drive to NTFS, if you use it as a boot device. 4. Not recommended to format the flash drive to NTFS, if you use - hopelessly outdated! - Windows 98. 5. Stick to NTFS formatting not only lets you forget about the scourge of FAT / FAT32, such as lost clusters, but also increases the reliability and durability of flash drives , and allows slightly increase the speed of reading / writing data. 6. Keys utility convert (Converting FAT file system volumes to NTFS): CONVERT is: / FS: NTFS [/ V] [/ CvtArea: filename] [/ NoSecurity] [/ X] • Volume - Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name. • / FS: NTFS - The ultimate file system: NTFS. • / V - Enabling output messages. • / CVTAREA: filename - Specifies a contiguous file in the root folder to reserve space for the system files NTFS. • / NoSecurity - Security options for converted files and folders will be available for all changes. • / X - Forced removal of this volume (if it was connected). All open handles to this volume will become invalid.