Cannot format USB flash drive, external hard drive, pen drive, SD memory card to FAT 32 in Windows 10 Dont worry This page shows you how to do it by using CMD. Whats the Difference Between FAT3. FAT, and NTFS Whether youre formatting an internal drive, external drive, or removable drive, Windows gives you the choice of using three different file systems NTFS, FAT3. FAT.  The Format dialog in Windows doesnt explain the difference, so we will. Fat32 Formatting Software For Vista' title='Fat32 Formatting Software For Vista' />Disk formatting is the process of preparing a data storage device such as a hard disk drive, solidstate drive, floppy disk or USB flash drive for initial use. Encrypt and passwordprotect external drives with USBCrypt software for Windows 10,8,7, and XP. User rating 4. 75 Purchase or download a free trial. Partition-Wizard.jpg' alt='Fat32 Formatting Software For Vista' title='Fat32 Formatting Software For Vista' />A file system provides a way of organizing a drive. Early Intervention Training Program Illinois. It specifies how data is stored on the drive and what types of information can be attached to filesfilenames, permissions, and other attributes. Windows supports three different file systems. NTFS is the most modern file system. Windows uses NTFS for its system drive and, by default, for most non removable drives. FAT3. 2 is an older file system thats not as efficient as NTFS and doesnt support as big a feature set, but does offer greater compatibility with other operating systems. FAT is a modern replacement for FAT3. NTFSbut its not nearly as widespread as FAT3. NT File System NTFSNTFS is the modern file system Windows likes to use by default. When you install Windows, it formats your system drive with the NTFS file system. NTFS has file size and partition size limits that are so theoretically huge you wont run up against them. NTFS first appeared in consumer versions of Windows with Windows XP, though it originally debuted with Windows NT. NTFS is packed with modern features not available to FAT3. FAT. NTFS supports file permissions for security, a change journal that can help quickly recover errors if your computer crashes, shadow copies for backups, encryption, disk quota limits, hard links, and various other features. Many of these are crucial for an operating system driveespecially file permissions. Your Windows system partition must be NTFS. If you have a secondary drive alongside Windows and you plan on installing programs to it, you should probably go ahead and make it NTFS, too. And, if you have any drives where compatibility isnt really an issuebecause you know youll just be using them on Windows systemsgo ahead and choose NTFS. Despite its advantages, where NTFS lacks is compatibility. Itll work with all recent versions of Windowsall the way back to Windows XPbut it has limited compatibility with other operating systems. By default, Mac OS X can only read NTFS drives, not write to them. Some Linux distributions may enable NTFS writing support, but some may be read only. None of Sonys Play. Station consoles support NTFS. Even Microsofts own Xbox 3. NTFS drives, although the new Xbox One can. Other devices are even less likely to support NTFS. Compatibility Works with all versions of Windows, but read only with Mac by default, and may be read only by default with some Linux distributions. Other deviceswith the exception of Microsofts Xbox Oneprobably wont support NTFS. Limits No realistic file size or partition size limits. Ideal Use Use it for your Windows system drive and other internal drives that will just be used with Windows. File Allocation Table 3. FAT3. 2FAT3. 2 is the oldest of the three file systems available to Windows. It was introduced all the way back in Windows 9. FAT1. 6 file system used in MS DOS and Windows 3. The FAT3. 2 file systems age has advantages and disadvantages. The big advantages is that because its so old, FAT3. Flash drives you purchase will often come formatted with FAT3. USB port. Limitations come with that age, however. Individual files on a FAT3. GB in sizethats the maximum. A FAT3. 2 partition must also be less than 8 TB, which admittedly is less of a limitation unless youre using super high capacity drives. While FAT3. 2 is okay for USB flash drives and other external mediaespecially if you know youll be using them on anything other than Windows PCsyou wont want to FAT3. It lacks the permissions and other security features built into the more modern NTFS file system. Also, modern versions of Windows can no longer be installed to a drive formatted with FAT3. NTFS. Compatibility Works with all versions of Windows, Mac, Linux, game consoles, and practically anything with a USB port. Limits 4 GB maximum file size, 8 TB maximum partition size. Ideal Use Use it on removable drives where you need maximum compatibility with the widest range of devices, assuming you dont have any files 4 GB or larger in size. Extended File Allocation Table ex. FATThe ex. FAT file system was introduced in 2. Windows with updates to Windows XP and Windows Vista. FAT is optimized for flash drivesdesigned to be a lightweight file system like FAT3. NTFS and without the limitations of FAT3. Like NTFS, ex. FAT has very large limits on file and partition sizes., allowing you to store files much larger than the 4 GB allowed by FAT3. While ex. FAT doesnt quite match FAT3. NTFS. While Mac OS X includes only read only support for NTFS, Macs offer full read write support for ex. FAT. ex. FAT drives can be accessed on Linux by installing the appropriate software. Devices can be a bit of a mixed bag. The Play. Station 4 supports ex. FAT the Play. Station 3 does not. The Xbox One supports it, but the Xbox 3. Compatibility Works with all versions of Windows and modern versions of Mac OS X, but requires additional software on Linux. More devices support ex. FAT than support NTFS, but someparticularly older onesmay only support FAT3. Limits No realistic file size or partition size limits. Ideal Use Use it when you need bigger file size and partition limits than FAT3. NTFS offers. Assuming that every device you want to use the drive with supports ex. FAT, you should format your device with ex. FAT instead of FAT3. NTFS is ideal for internal drives, while ex. FAT is generally ideal for flash drives. However, you may sometimes need to format an external drive with FAT3. Smc Ez Connect G Pci Driver on this page. FAT isnt supported on a device you need to use it with.