Which format for an external drive

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  1. Steve C
    Posts : 7,909
    Windows 11 Pro 64 bit
       New #1

    Which format for an external drive


    I just bought a Seagate portable USB hard drive. It was supplied formatted as an ex-FAT drive. I changed this to NTFS. What's the 'best' format to use for external drives for Windows 10 use only?
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  3. sportsfan148
    Posts : 985
    Windows 10 Home 21H1
       New #2

    I'd go with NTFS. I have a WD Passport Drive and it came set up with NTFS
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  4. nIGHTmAYOR
    Posts : 1,310
    Windows 10
       New #3

    Pros : ex-FAT has the lowest waste of space of the bunch (you can notice this by comparing actual file size and size on disk in file properties) on big sized folders of small sized files and hence is why the format of choice to SD cards usually used by phones since that's the norm on these devices .

    Cons : but then lacks permissions assignment of the NTFS file system and least compatibility with devices (won't be accessed on the majority of [tvs , receivers and projectors] with     usb support) .
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  6. Bree
    Posts : 31,691
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       New #4

    Never bought a Seagate, but I have several Toshiba and WD external HDDs (largest is 2TB). They all came formatted as ntfs.
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  7. Try3
    Posts : 16,963
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       New #5

    It's horses for courses.

    I have a 128GB MicroSD supplied as exFat that I want to be able to read on my phone [through a USB-MicroSD adapter] so I've left it as exFat. I understand that I would need to make the same decision if I wanted to use the card on a Mac as well.

    I have a couple of small bootable USB memory sticks formatted as FAT32 because that's what the boot programs were designed to run on [Win10 installation USB, Acronis TI boot disk].

    Other than that, everything is NTFS and I think that's what you want.

    If you want to waste your life -
    exFAT, NTFS - TenForums
    NTFS vs ExFAT - TenForums
    ExFAT, a few dits - TenForums
    File System Functionality Comparison - MSDocs
    File system - Wikipedia
    exFAT - Wikipedia

    Denis
    Last edited by Try3; 30 Aug 2019 at 12:31.
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  8. Infrasonic
    Posts : 245
    W10 Home Version 21H1 Build 19043.1055
       New #6

    NTFS will give you the most flexibility in a Windows environment, for instance mounting OneDrive (and Dropbox) to an external now requires NTFS.
    Third party NTFS support is available for Android, Linux, Mac if needed...
    Microsoft exFAT/NTFS for Android | Paragon Software
    Paragon Software Group - Products for Home Users
    Microsoft NTFS for Mac | Paragon Software
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  9. Try3
    Posts : 16,963
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       New #7

    Infrasonic points out Paragon exFAT/NTFS. I had previously used Paragon's exFAT/NTFS utility with Android 4 to allow me to use an NTFS USB with my earlier phones [before they started charging for it]. Wth my new phone**, I had the choice of using exFat or trying their utility again and I chose exFat.

    [** I am now on Android 9 and their exFAT/NTFS utility does not state that it is compatible with this version so trying it would be an experiment in any case]

    Denis
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  10. Berton
    Posts : 14,023
    Win10 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home, Win7, Linux Mint
       New #8

    I have 2 x WDC 4TB USB drives factory formatted as exFAT, no need to change as Windows and Macintosh works with them. Mac OS can usually read NTFS but usually requires third-party software to have full r/w access, at least up until the last couple of versions. Checking the packaging will usually give a clue if it is marked as for Windows and Macintosh. Linux can work with many more formats. Cross-platform usage of hardware and software is a good thing.
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  12. zbook
    Posts : 41,481
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #9

    If you fix and recover the drive file system chkdsk has better functionality with NTFS:

    Because repairs on FAT file systems usually change a disk's file allocation table and sometimes cause a loss of data, chkdsk might display a confirmation message similar to the following:

    10 lost allocation units found in 3 chains.
    Convert lost chains to files?

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ommands/chkdsk
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  13. Infrasonic
    Posts : 245
    W10 Home Version 21H1 Build 19043.1055
       New #10

    Another option would be to multi partition / format it.
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