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

Discus and support NTFS formatted USB drive cannot be safely removed - use exFAT? in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware to solve the problem; 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... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware' started by benedict, Jul 25, 2017.

  1. benedict Win User

    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?

    :)
     
    benedict, Jul 25, 2017
    #1
  2. Pavan_N Win User

    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.
     
    Pavan_N, Jul 25, 2017
    #2
  3. 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.
     
    Sumit Dhiman2, Jul 25, 2017
    #3
  4. NTFS formatted USB drive cannot be safely removed - use exFAT?

    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
     
    Caledon Ken, Jul 27, 2017
    #4
  5. Berton Win User
    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.
     
    Berton, Apr 5, 2018
    #5
Thema:

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

Loading...
  1. NTFS formatted USB drive cannot be safely removed - use exFAT? - Similar Threads - NTFS formatted USB

  2. usb drive broken after trying to format it as exfat

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    usb drive broken after trying to format it as exfat: I needed my 64gb usb thumb drive at full capacity after using it as windows format drive which made it 32gb drive. Windows showed a window saying format failed while I was waiting it to be in exfat format. I tried to use disk manager and list disk thing but It doesn't show up...
  3. usb drive broken after trying to format it as exfat

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    usb drive broken after trying to format it as exfat: I needed my 64gb usb thumb drive at full capacity after using it as windows format drive which made it 32gb drive. Windows showed a window saying format failed while I was waiting it to be in exfat format. I tried to use disk manager and list disk thing but It doesn't show up...
  4. Format flash drive exFAT

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Format flash drive exFAT: Format flash drive exFAT https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/format-flash-drive-exfat/9b4ae7be-66d8-4279-8e68-fb2d07745b31
  5. Corrupted USB Drive in exFat format

    in Windows 10 Customization
    Corrupted USB Drive in exFat format: I was doing a backup of some files from my laptop to my 1TB USB Drive in exFat format.During the file transfer, the progress suddenly stopped and I got the message "The Semaphore Timeout Period Has Expired". The file explorer freezed and I was forced the end the process. Then...
  6. USB stick with 20H2 version formatted as NTFS and exFAT not bootable

    in Windows 10 Ask Insider
    USB stick with 20H2 version formatted as NTFS and exFAT not bootable: Hello Redditors! I downloaded the ISO file for Win10 from the Microsoft website (https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10ISO). The only available version for downloading is 20H2 - October update. The total of all files is somewhere around 6.2GB, which...
  7. What to format larger USB sticks with? NTFS? exFAT?

    in Windows 10 Ask Insider
    What to format larger USB sticks with? NTFS? exFAT?: I bought a few 32GB sticks the other day. They came formatted with FAT32. Immediately I had trouble copying the Win10 20H2 ISO to it (greater than 4GB). Formatting to NTFS solved it of course. But I'm curious if, for use as a general USB stick (plugging it into Windows,...
  8. Can't format USB drive in NTFS format

    in Windows 10 Network and Sharing
    Can't format USB drive in NTFS format: I have a sandisk 128gig flashdrive its in exFAT, every time i try to re format it into NTFS format it gives me an error pop up saying "windows was unable to complete the format" i need it for the extra storage space, hope anyone knows the solution. please get back to me....
  9. Is it safe to convert USB Drive format from FAT32 to NTFS

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    Is it safe to convert USB Drive format from FAT32 to NTFS: Is it safe to convert USB Drive format from FAT32 to NTFS. Hi tried to transfer a 4.33 GB File to USB Stick,14.5 GB Free Space, message popped up . File To Large - ....... Is Too Large For This For The Destination File System. will It still play ok on my built in Tv Media...
  10. Overwrite exFAT format of 8TB external drive with NTFS?

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    Overwrite exFAT format of 8TB external drive with NTFS?: I have an external WD 8TB My Book: My Book - External Hard Drive | Western Digital (WD) It is formated in exFat. Could I do a quick format with NTFS? Would this cause any drawbacks? 94361