alternative to NTFS for flashdrives

does anybody know of an alternative to NTFS for usb flashdrives. my main concern is that it needs to be able to handle files over 4gigs and it needs to be at least as compatible as NTFS so its portable and easily readable on other computers etc.

Gazzer

 

This article may help:

http://www.howtogeek.com/73178/what-file-system-should-i-use-for-my-usb-drive/

 

Whats the problem with NTFS ?

 

NTFS is too slow on files over 4gig and also from what i have read here, it can also shorten the life of flashdrives

 

Shorten lifespan from what to what? 20 years to 18? Flash drives should not be used as a primary drive. You should not be deleting and writing and deleting and writing and deleting and writing files, day in and day out.

NTFS is the most universally supported file system. I would stick with that.

 

And flash drives are damn cheap!!
You can get a 16GB just for a couple bucks.

When i backup files in my Flash Drives i usually copy them to 2 or 3 flash drives, i know they can fail at any time, so better be safe than sorry.

 

The cheaper ones are excruciatingly slow, if you need a decent transfer speed flash drive you will still need to spend around $25-$40 for a 16 GB model.

To the OP, for me NTFS works the best on my flash drives. I have had mine since 2006, formatted with NTFS and it is still going good.

 

FAT32 Format

I can't see a problem with NTFS for doing every day stuff.

But, as an aside.

I had to backup my son's PS3 data as he was upgrading his PS3 hard drive, but a PS3 will only accept a FAT32 formatted drive and Windows will only allow you format a drive up to 32 GB for FAT32.

So I found if you need to format a drive that is larger than 32 GB in FAT32, then FAT32 Format is the best tool that I have come across. It works a treat.

 

I use exFAT, and there is a download patch from microsoft for XP that lets older XP systems 'see' it