Windows 10: NTFS formatted USB drive cannot be safely removed - use exFAT?

I have a problem with NTFS formatted USB thumbdrives which often gets the "cannot be safely removed" error when I try to eject the drive. The thumbdrive in device manager is set to quick removal policy by default so I don't have to change it but I still keep running into this problem. From what I've heard its a problem with the journalling on NTFS which wasn't designed for removable thumbdrives.

1. I usually just close all the windows and unplug the USB thumbdrive, would it cause any problems?
2. Do exFAT thumbdrives face this issue?
3. The same problem also appears with my USB docking station (also quick removal policy on by default) for harddrives. I'm not 100% sure but I think unplugging the usb cable after ejecting the drive seems to help. Is that normal?

:)

 

exFAT Format with Windows 10

Hi Brandon,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I understand your concern and frustration you have been through. I will be glad to assist you.

By default, Windows provides the option to format a USB flash drive with FAT or FAT32 file systems only, but not with NTFS (New Technology File System.)

The reason behind this is that there are some disadvantages of NTFS usage in this case. First of all, the speed of saving on the flash drive decreases (but the speed of reading data from the drive is the same), and you have to be more careful to always remove
the USB flash drive safely.

However, you can still format the Flash Drive in the NTFS format. Follow these steps for the same.

1. Insert the USB flash drive into the USB port.

2. Press Windows Key + R, type devmgmt.msc in the Search textbox and press Enter.

3. Find Disk Drives and expand it.

4. Find the USB flash drive you want to format, and double-click it. It opens the Properties dialog box.

5. Click Policies tab.

6. By default, the Optimize for quick removal option selected, switch it to Optimize for performance and then pressOK.

7. Now open Computer. Right click on the USB Flash Drive and select Format. The Format dialog box now appears.

8. Select NTFS in the File System field.

9. Press Start and wait while the process will be completed.

10. Now your USB Flash Drive is formatted with NTFS format.

If you wish to format external hard drive in exFAT follow the steps below.

1. Right click on start and select Command Prompt (Admin).

2. Type format g: /FS:exFAT and then Enter to begin formatting the G drive as exFAT

Hope it helps. Do let us know if your issue is resolved. For any further query, feel free to contact us.

Thank you.

 

trying to download win 10 recovery ,doesnt allow usb option as instructions clearly say...why???

The file system of the USB drive must be NTFS. Right click the drive and select properties. If the File system is FAT32, you need to erase the drive using format.

Formatting drive removes all data from the drive.

 

Hi benedict.

I have the same issue and I've noticed it happens on larger USB keys, 32GB and above. More on Win 8.1 & Win 10 than 7 butt still happens on Win 7.

I just confirm I'm not using and then click "Continue".

The exFat file system as I understand it does not carry the same file info / permissions that the NTFS system does. Exactly how different they are I have never investigated. How much of this info is really needed for each file type is user dependent.

When I disconnect HDD's that are attached through enclosures I put my device to sleep. Overkill, yes, but I want to be sure especially as most of the time these are backups.


Ken

 

Drives formatted as exFAT can be used on Windows, Macintosh and Linux Operating Systems. Thumb drives usually come formatted as FAT32 which is okay on the same systems but Windows cannot natively format/reformat as FAT32 larger than 32GB. When I have a need to change to get the NTFS-support for files of 4.1GB and larger I use a Linux Mint machine and the GPARTED program in it or a GPARTED bootable CD made from an .iso file that is freely downloadable. The exFAT drives can also accommodate large files. My latest WDC 4TB USB HDD came formatted as exFAT, works fine and seems a little faster in file transfers than a 2TB NTFS drive, both USB 3.0.