Windows 10: FAT32 to NTFS Flash Drive error? Flash Drive is empty after back up

Hi! I am freaking out a bit.. My laptop took a tumble and the harddrive skipped (or something), leading me to have to back up my files and restart to factory settings. The blue screen lead me to the back up, but my flash drive was required to format to NTFS from FAT32 per the prompts when I attempted my back up.

I formatted, wiping the flash drive. I then backed up on my computer and was able to complete the action, which lead me to believe the format happened properly because I wasn't able to complete the back up prior to the formatting.

Side note.. My laptop is Windows 10 Home and the other computers at my house and work are Mac, so my father brought his windows laptop to my work so I could format. Then he left... So I wasn't able to put the flash drive on a windows computer to make sure the transfer happened properly.

I followed all of the prompts and waited while the back up did it's job. then I ejected my flash drive and reset to factory settings.

NOWWWW... I put the flash drive into my laptop after all was reset. it's format is back to FAT32 and the drive folder is empty!!! Not sure what could have happened, but I lost everything, right? Can anyone tell me how this happened?

I downloaded AOEMI to format back to NTFS without losing data, but still nothing.

Thank you!
Marissa

:)

 

Windows 10 recovery usb flash drive , formatted fat32 or NTFS?

Sirs,

I have an old pc and Bios ( non UEFI) .

i formatted NTFS the 8GB usb flash drive,

then found the Recovery drive creator by opening Control Panel (Windows key + X)

Open Recovery

Click Create Recovery drive , flash usb drive inserted , box labeled "Back up system files to the recovery drive" checked, then i clicked next to start process of creating recovery drive. When creation
was completed ,i checked content of the created Flash recovery drive and was formatted FAT32. I am confused, i thought that ,for my PC with an old Bios, recovery drive should have been formatted NTFS ( as my inizial format with empty usb flash drive)
not FAT32( changed to fat 32 during recovery creation) . Can someone tell me if Windows 10 recovery usb flash drive will work with FAT32 or do i need to reconvert it in NTFS ?

thank you for your help.

Antonio

 

Compatibility FAT32 to NTFS

Hi Clifford

Yes, a Flash drive can be formatted as FAT32, NTFS or xFAT

While Windows may be installed on a hard drive formatted to NTFS, you can still use a Flash Drive formatted to either FAT32, NTFS or xFAT in that Windows system . . .

The format you choose for your Flash Drive depends on what you are using the drive for, if say you want that to work in other devices like TV's or car stereos and you are adding files smaller than 4GB (each) in size, then FAT32 is the best format

If you will only be using that Flash Drive in PC's and may need to add files larger than 4GB (each) then NTFS is the best format . . .

 

Compatibility FAT32 to NTFS

Yes. Windows 10, regardless of whether it itself is installed on an NTFS or FAT32 drive, is compatible with NTFS, FAT32, and FAT16 drives, whether they are flash drives, internal hard drives, external hard drives, SSDs, etc.