![]() Nick Lewis is a staff writer for How-To Geek. If you have important data, you should back it up to the cloud and in multiple other places. They're small, easily lost or damaged, and they tend to be fairly easily corrupted. No matter what file system you choose, remember: USB flash drives are not great long-term storage devices. Just keep in mind that reformatting the drive will "wipe" any data you have stored on the drive. Changing the file system is easy, all you need to do is reformat the USB drive again. You can try out any number of them to see if you have a preference. There are formats specific to macOS too, like APFS. Other formats, like NTFS, will work well if you're sticking with just Windows. Its age comes with one major perk and one major downside: It is basically universally supported by all computers and game consoles, but it can't handle files larger than four gigabytes. FAT32 is ancient by computer standards - it has been around since the mid-90s. If you don't expect to need to move any large files, you should consider FAT32. (For example, you should run a full format to securely erase any sensitive data before disposing of or giving away a USB drive.) Since flash memory has a limited number of writes, you should avoid full formats unless it is absolutely necessary. A full format will overwrite the entire USB drive. A quick format won't actually wipe any data, it'll just allow it to be overwritten. Format Options - You can choose between quick format and a full format.Volume Label - This is just the name of the drive.Leave it alone unless you have a specific need. Smaller units result in less wasted space, but at a mild performance cost. Allocation Unit Size - The allocation unit size is basically how the space on the USB drive is divided up.They each have different properties that determine maximum file sizes, maximum storage volume, and operating system compatibility. File System - This lets you pick between a handful of file systems.Capacity - This tells you the size of the drive you have selected. ![]() For the most part, you can leave them alone, but here is a breakdown of what each option means if you want to change something: Please see the documentation for your computer for information about how to access BIOS and change the boot order of drives.You now have some choices available. ![]() You can change the boot order of the drives in your computer's BIOS so the Windows installation on your USB drive runs automatically when you turn on your computer. The Windows USB/DVD Download Tool is an official, freeware tool from Microsoft that allows you to install Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Windows 10 without having to first run an existing operating system on your computer. Windows USB/DVD Download ToolĮditor's Note: if you want to create a bootable Windows install USB, this is the tool you should choose. NOTE: If you have problems getting the BIOS on your computer to let you boot from a USB drive, see our article about booting from a USB drive even if your BIOS won't let you. We have collected some links to free programs that allow you to easily setup a USB drive to install Windows or Linux on a computer. You can boot to the USB drive, using it to run the OS setup program, just like a CD or DVD. If you need to install Windows or Linux and you don't have access to a CD/DVD drive, a bootable USB drive is the solution.
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