usb flash drive - Should I format USB sticks and SD cards to FAT, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS? (Windows files, live Linux distributions)

Does it depend on the media size which one to chose or on some other parameters? On Windows 7, FAT16 is the default. In pendrivelinux.com's Universal USB Installer, FAT32. Which one should I chose? How about NTFS for Windows use?

How about exFAT? It is the Microsoft designed filesystem for removable media. Is there a difference in USB sticks and SD cards in this regard?

Seeing developments in the other question, should I still use something like exFAT if I don't want Recycle bins created on every single machine I plug my USB thumb drive into?

Answer

To put it simply:

• Between FAT and FAT32, just choose FAT32.


• Between NTFS and FAT32, if you use the drive only in Windows, use NTFS. In any other case, use FAT32.

Why NTFS for Windows?

• NTFS (New Technology File System) was introduced by Windows and has been supported since the early versions of Windows. So it has become sort of a Windows thing.




• Is the native file system for Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.




• Allows indexing which improves file searching (mostly, faster); causes slight performance hit (can turn off).


• Has better security -- such as file-wise encryption (not supported by Windows XP Home edition) and per-user access rules (you can stop your wife from seeing the porn folder!)


• Supports user quotas (prevent the tykes from downloading too many MP3 files)


• Has file-wise compression.


• Is journaled, decreasing data loss (ScanDisk at start up unnecessary).


• Uses Unicode (allows foreign and extended character) file names and natively supports long file names.


• Supports larger files than FAT (greater than 4 GB).


• Allows larger volume sizes (greater than 1 TB). There is talk about a theoretical limit of 16 exabytes, and up to 2 terabytes.


• Supported format on dynamic disks (no dynamic disks on Windows XP Home).


• Works well with large cache (greater than 96 MB systems).



• Performs better on volumes ~20 GB and more.


• Is more space-efficient on large volumes (greater than 8 GB).


• Resistant to fragmentation.

Why FAT32 for Linux?

• FAT32 works well almost everywhere. [FAT32 isn't even the default filesystem on Linux (as opposed to NTFS and Windows)]