Having a Problems Copying Large Files Onto a USB Drive?

One of the most common issues when trying to load data onto a USB drive is when you know your drive is big enough but your computer is saying that there isn’t enough space on the drive.

USB Drive Formatting is Probably to Blame. 

Most USB drives ship preformatted with FAT32 file system.

File Allocation Table (FAT) is a file system developed for personal computers. Originally developed in 1977 for use on floppy disks, it was adapted for use on hard disks and other devices. It is often supported for compatibility reasons by current operating systems for personal computers and many mobile devices and embedded systems, allowing interchange of data between disparate systems.[3] The increase in disk drives capacity required three major variants: FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32..

-wikipedia
Custom Printed USB Drive

FAT32 is often chosen by USB Flash Drive manufacturers because it is widely adopted having been in use for decades. It is also not a proprietary format meaning that they don’t have to pay a licensing fee. Businesses like when they can eliminate an expense.

The problem is because FAT was developed so long ago it is unable to handle contiguous file sizes over 4GB. Now back in the 90’s this was not a problem; file sizes were small, storage was expensive and people were stingy with their data. Today is a different story. High Def video files can get monstrous in size- 4GB worth of ones and zeros gets eaten up in the blink of an eye.

THIS IS THE MOST COMMON REASON THAT YOUR DRIVE REPORTS AS TOO SMALL WHEN YOU KNOW ITS A LARGE ENOUGH CAPACITY USB DRIVE.

Your problem is not that your USB Drive is too small.  It is that you have a file that is too big to be written to the FAT file system.

What is the solution for Flash Drives that are formatted FAT32 if you need to load a file over 4GB?

Simply Reformat the USB Drive!

USB DRIVE REFORMATTING STEP 1.

Navigate to Windows File Explorer

USB DRIVE REFORMATTING STEP 2.

Right Click on your USB Flash Drive and Select “Format” from the drop down list.

USB DRIVE REFORMATTING STEP 3.

Under “File System” select either exFat or NTFS and click the start button. Windows will notify you once your formatting is complete. Both of these file systems are capable of handling larger files.

*Quick note – you may want to research with file structure is right for you. I believe that NTFS is better for linux and exFat is more native to Windows. These selections will be exacerbated by those looking to utilize their USB drives as bridge across OS.

MAKE ABSOLUTE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE CORRECT USB DRIVE SELECTED AND THE CAPACITY LISTED MATCHES!  YOU DO NOT WANT TO REFORMAT YOUR PRIMARY HARD DRIVE.

Now that your USB drive is formatted to a modern file structure you should be able to drag and drop or copy your files larger than 4GB to the drive.

This covers one of the most common issues you will come across when data loading USB Drives. I hope it helps remove some frustrations you might have incurred. If you have problems you cannot solve or would like help with data loading a large quantity of USB drives we would love to help you out.

You can always reach us at 952-944-0087 or contact us via email.