Mobile memory card still with FAT32 file system truth

Microsoft in 2001 for its own XP system local disk default use of the NTFS file system, but 12 years later, the market of USB mobile devices and SD card external storage is still in use in the FAT32 file format, what is the reason for hardware vendors to choose outdated file system format?

Obviously, this is not the hardware manufacturer's own problem, but for users, after using NTFS format, you will find FAT32 file System format brings many inconvenience.

FAT32 File System deficiencies:

The FAT32 file system does not support the storage of 4G and above single files, and the maximum supported storage space for FAT32 file system is 2TB. For example, high-definition movies can hardly be copied or written to FAT32-formatted disks.

FAT32 is not a journaling file system, it also means that the file system is more prone to problems. However, NTFS adds the ability to check the file system, reducing the risk of data on the disk.

FAT32 does not support the permissions feature of the file. With the NTFS file system, you can further enhance the security permissions of your disk storage files.

Therefore, for Windows system disks, the best way is to use the NTFS-formatted file system for management, NTFS format is more secure, reliable, and supports larger file volumes and drive devices.

But for removable storage devices, the situation is different.

Here are the detailed reasons:

1, U disk/SD card capacity is less than 2TB, so do not worry about the limit of disk capacity problems. Files with a volume of around 4G are occasionally moved with a copy.

2, regardless of the USB flash drive or SD card, do not need to use similar system disk journaling Disk Management function, the main function is portable, mobile, if the U disk using NTFS format, will also bring greater read and write volume, reduce the life of flash memory.

3, for the file permissions function, u disk or SD card is not very likely to use. Similar problems are encountered only when removable devices are removed between different machine devices.

For example, a machine local disk, due to local drive and management, and assigned a unique special user ID number, can always work, but for the USB stick and SD card device, because of the need to change between different machine equipment, so each will generate a different ID identification number, Therefore, there is no problem with file permission security.

Therefore, unless it is necessary to use more than 4G of single-file write, you need to format the USB flash drive/SD card into the NTFS file system, in the remaining environment, the FAT32 file system is also enough to use.

Finally, let's talk about the compatibility of all desktop systems with FAT32 and NTFS two file systems:

win platform: both are compatible

Mac Platform: Mac OS x fully supports read NTFS file system, unable to write, FAT32 can read and write properly

Linux platform: can read and write NTFS file format, but not perfect, generally use the Linux home file system format

Therefore, for mobile devices, often connected to different desktop systems, if the use of the FAT32 file system can be normal operation and read and write, if the use of the NTFS file system, not guaranteed to work properly. Therefore, for hardware manufacturers, can only choose a more universal file system, that is, FAT32, for USB or SD card and other Removable storage devices.

Microsoft also offers a exFAT file format, but with less versatility.

Mobile memory card still with FAT32 file system truth