ReadyBoost Flash Memory - Fat32 or NTFS

My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not all
the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My vista
machine is NTFS.
--
Retired Boeing Bill

I leave it in FAT file system because of compatibility issues. Most times
you might not use the entire Flash stick as Readyboost drive.
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
> My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not all
> the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
> Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My vista
> machine is NTFS.
> --
> Retired Boeing Bill

Use NTFS if it is only going to be on Vista or XP systems. If you plan on
using other systems, too, then go with FAT32.

--
Dustin Harper

http://www.vistarip.com


"Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
> My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not all
> the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
> Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My vista
> machine is NTFS.
> --
> Retired Boeing Bill

I formatted it in NTFS and it seems to work fine. But if FAT32 is faster
I'll reformat it to that.

Also, why would you have a compatibility issue if your Vista machine's hard
drive is NTFS? I'd think FAT32 would be incompatible.


--
Retired Boeing Bill


"Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:

> I leave it in FAT file system because of compatibility issues. Most times
> you might not use the entire Flash stick as Readyboost drive.
> --
> Andre
> Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
> My Vista Quickstart Guide:
> http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
> "Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
> news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
> > My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not all
> > the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
> > Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My vista
> > machine is NTFS.
> > --
> > Retired Boeing Bill
>
>
>

Vista can read NTFS & FAT32. NTFS just can't be read by older file systems
(if you have a FAT32 system; Windows 98/ME, etc). That's the only
compatibility issue.

--
Dustin Harper

http://www.vistarip.com


"Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
news:1B980481-15A7-47E9-8BB6-...
>I formatted it in NTFS and it seems to work fine. But if FAT32 is faster
> I'll reformat it to that.
>
> Also, why would you have a compatibility issue if your Vista machine's
> hard
> drive is NTFS? I'd think FAT32 would be incompatible.
>
>
> --
> Retired Boeing Bill
>
>
> "Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:
>
>> I leave it in FAT file system because of compatibility issues. Most times
>> you might not use the entire Flash stick as Readyboost drive.
>> --
>> Andre
>> Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
>> My Vista Quickstart Guide:
>> http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
>> "Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
>> news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
>> > My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not
>> > all
>> > the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
>> > Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My
>> > vista
>> > machine is NTFS.
>> > --
>> > Retired Boeing Bill
>>
>>
>>

Well, I am exposed to a variety of systems such as Linux and Mac OS X, so my
2 GB SanDisk Readyboost thumb drive is in FAT which recognized by all the
systems.
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Dustin Harper" <> wrote in message
news:7870C6D8-1F5B-4C87-B407-...
> Vista can read NTFS & FAT32. NTFS just can't be read by older file systems
> (if you have a FAT32 system; Windows 98/ME, etc). That's the only
> compatibility issue.
>
> --
> Dustin Harper
>
> http://www.vistarip.com
>
>
> "Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
> news:1B980481-15A7-47E9-8BB6-...
>>I formatted it in NTFS and it seems to work fine. But if FAT32 is faster
>> I'll reformat it to that.
>>
>> Also, why would you have a compatibility issue if your Vista machine's
>> hard
>> drive is NTFS? I'd think FAT32 would be incompatible.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Retired Boeing Bill
>>
>>
>> "Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:
>>
>>> I leave it in FAT file system because of compatibility issues. Most
>>> times
>>> you might not use the entire Flash stick as Readyboost drive.
>>> --
>>> Andre
>>> Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
>>> My Vista Quickstart Guide:
>>> http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
>>> "Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
>>> news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
>>> > My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not
>>> > all
>>> > the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
>>> > Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My
>>> > vista
>>> > machine is NTFS.
>>> > --
>>> > Retired Boeing Bill
>>>
>>>
>>>
>

Here is a great article we did on Readyboost Roundup:
http://www.activewin.com/reviews/har...adyboost.shtml
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
news:1B980481-15A7-47E9-8BB6-...
>I formatted it in NTFS and it seems to work fine. But if FAT32 is faster
> I'll reformat it to that.
>
> Also, why would you have a compatibility issue if your Vista machine's
> hard
> drive is NTFS? I'd think FAT32 would be incompatible.
>
>
> --
> Retired Boeing Bill
>
>
> "Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:
>
>> I leave it in FAT file system because of compatibility issues. Most times
>> you might not use the entire Flash stick as Readyboost drive.
>> --
>> Andre
>> Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
>> My Vista Quickstart Guide:
>> http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
>> "Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
>> news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
>> > My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not
>> > all
>> > the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
>> > Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My
>> > vista
>> > machine is NTFS.
>> > --
>> > Retired Boeing Bill
>>
>>
>>

You may be interested to know that you can use the convert command instead
of format to change a FAT32 file system to NTFS.
There is also a new format called exFAT that becomes available after
installing the Vista Service Pack.

"Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
> My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not all
> the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
> Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My vista
> machine is NTFS.
> --
> Retired Boeing Bill

Hey Bill,

Here is an interesting article check out about Readyboost, FAT or NTFS:
http://miketan.blogspot.com/2006/09/...hat-flash.html
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
> My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice not all
> the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
> Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My vista
> machine is NTFS.
> --
> Retired Boeing Bill

Ah. True. Thanks for adding that.

--
Dustin Harper

http://www.vistarip.com


"Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" <> wrote in message
news:OGmRu%...
> Well, I am exposed to a variety of systems such as Linux and Mac OS X, so
> my 2 GB SanDisk Readyboost thumb drive is in FAT which recognized by all
> the systems.
> --
> Andre
> Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
> My Vista Quickstart Guide:
> http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
> "Dustin Harper" <> wrote in message
> news:7870C6D8-1F5B-4C87-B407-...
>> Vista can read NTFS & FAT32. NTFS just can't be read by older file
>> systems (if you have a FAT32 system; Windows 98/ME, etc). That's the only
>> compatibility issue.
>>
>> --
>> Dustin Harper
>>
>> http://www.vistarip.com
>>
>>
>> "Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
>> news:1B980481-15A7-47E9-8BB6-...
>>>I formatted it in NTFS and it seems to work fine. But if FAT32 is faster
>>> I'll reformat it to that.
>>>
>>> Also, why would you have a compatibility issue if your Vista machine's
>>> hard
>>> drive is NTFS? I'd think FAT32 would be incompatible.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Retired Boeing Bill
>>>
>>>
>>> "Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:
>>>
>>>> I leave it in FAT file system because of compatibility issues. Most
>>>> times
>>>> you might not use the entire Flash stick as Readyboost drive.
>>>> --
>>>> Andre
>>>> Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
>>>> My Vista Quickstart Guide:
>>>> http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
>>>> "Retired Bill" <> wrote in message
>>>> news:9027CA11-C1C4-4295-8F1E-...
>>>> > My machine has 1 gig memory. I got a 2 gig flash drive. I notice
>>>> > not all
>>>> > the 2 gig is available, is there some volume info on the stick?
>>>> > Should it be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, which is faster access? My
>>>> > vista
>>>> > machine is NTFS.
>>>> > --
>>>> > Retired Boeing Bill
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>
>