# USB Flash (thumb) Drive, long format or quick format?



## TwoCables

Quick, because the only difference between the longer format and the "Quick" format is that the longer one includes a scan for errors. The actual format process itself takes just a couple of seconds because it's just a matter of replacing the Master File Table with a fresh (blank) one in the specified format (which is why it's called "formatting").

Also, none of the data is actually erased which is why data recovery is always possible after formatting a drive.


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## steven88

thanks for the reply...speaking of which, you'll love your new sandy bridge









I went from same motherboard and processor as you...and the gain was huge....actually i went from an E8400, to Q9550, then to sandy bridge....and I thought the jump was huge....but since you are coming straight from an E8400, that jump will be mind boggling


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steven88;14107544*
> thanks for the reply...speaking of which, you'll love your new sandy bridge
> 
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> 
> I went from same motherboard and processor as you...and the gain was huge....actually i went from an E8400, to Q9550, then to sandy bridge....and I thought the jump was huge....but since you are coming straight from an E8400, that jump will be mind boggling


Oh, nice!

Y'know, it's kinda funny that you said that. I originally wanted to just get a Q9550 and call it a day, but the good people here on Overclock.net showed me otherwise.


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## steven88

sorry to revive an old thread

i understand the "long format" scans for bad sectors...thats why it takes much longer than "quick" format....but is it even necessary to scan for bad sectors on USB Thumb drives? aren't USB thumb drives either working or not working?


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## ghostrider85

Quick format- flags every data to be hidden right now and overwritten later once new files comes in, same as deleting files and folders. data can still be retrieved after quick format under certain conditions

Long format- actual file deletion, sector sweeping, and scans for errors. Files cannot be retrieved anymore after.


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## ghostrider85

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steven88*
> 
> sorry to revive an old thread
> i understand the "long format" scans for bad sectors...thats why it takes much longer than "quick" format....but is it even necessary to scan for bad sectors on USB Thumb drives? aren't USB thumb drives either working or not working?


if windows puts data in an bad sector, the data may be corrupted. Windows scans for bad sector so it won't put any data on it


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ghostrider85*
> 
> Quick format- flags every data to be hidden right now and overwritten later once new files comes in, same as deleting files and folders. data can still be retrieved after quick format under certain conditions
> 
> Long format- actual file deletion, sector sweeping, and scans for errors. *Files cannot be retrieved anymore after.*


Yes they can...

*A quick format* - is a formatting option that creates a new file table on a hard disk but does not fully overwrite or erase the disk. Quick formatting erases/rewites the FT (File Table) of the File System partition. So basically quick formatting just erases/rewrites anew what is essentially a directory that tells the operating system where files are and what spaces are free to write new data on.
*
A full format* - is a formatting option that creates a new file table on a hard disk, but does not fully overwrite and erase the disk as well. A full format erases/rewrites the FT (File Table) of the File System partition and runs chkdsk. Chkdsk does one pass of writing zero's to the drive to ensure that the sectors are working properly. But the zero's are also rewritten with the previous 1 or 0. This is why full formats take so much longer. So basically a full format is quick format + Chkdsk.


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## ghostrider85

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *ghostrider85*
> 
> Quick format- flags every data to be hidden right now and overwritten later once new files comes in, same as deleting files and folders. data can still be retrieved after quick format under certain conditions
> Long format- actual file deletion, sector sweeping, and scans for errors. *Files cannot be retrieved anymore after.*
> 
> 
> 
> Yes they can...
> *A quick format* - is a formatting option that creates a new file table on a hard disk but does not fully overwrite or erase the disk. Quick formatting erases/rewites the FT (File Table) of the File System partition. So basically quick formatting just erases/rewrites anew what is essentially a directory that tells the operating system where files are and what spaces are free to write new data on.
> *
> A full format* - is a formatting option that creates a new file table on a hard disk, but does not fully overwrite and erase the disk as well. A full format erases/rewrites the FT (File Table) of the File System partition and runs chkdsk. Chkdsk does one pass of writing zero's to the drive to ensure that the sectors are working properly. But the zero's are also rewritten with the previous 1 or 0. This is why full formats take so much longer. So basically a full format is quick format + Chkdsk.
Click to expand...

Is it? Oh well...,


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## Thready

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TwoCables*
> 
> Quick, because the only difference between the longer format and the "Quick" format is that the longer one includes a scan for errors. The actual format process itself takes just a couple of seconds because it's just a matter of replacing the Master File Table with a fresh (blank) one in the specified format (which is why it's called "formatting").
> 
> Also, none of the data is actually erased which is why data recovery is always possible after formatting a drive.


just FYI your answer was one of the first results when I was Googling the same question he had. And look at the timestamp.


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Thready*
> 
> just FYI your answer was one of the first results when I was Googling the same question he had. And look at the timestamp.


WHOA. lol!

Oh wait. It gets better. Let's look at the fun numerology to show all of the 11s!

Time stamp:

7/4/11

9:28 PM (my time)

Ok here we go:

7+4=11

11, is, well, 11. 2011. 

Wow.

*Edit:* I had bad math for 9:28. Still, this is fun stuff for me to see.


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## Thready

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TwoCables*
> 
> WHOA. lol!
> 
> Oh wait. It gets better. Let's look at the fun numerology to show all of the 11s!
> 
> Time stamp:
> 
> 7/4/11
> 
> 9:28 PM (my time)
> 
> Ok here we go:
> 
> 7+4=11
> 
> 11, is, well, 11. 2011.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 9:28 pm: 9+2+8=29. 29 becomes 2+9 which equals 11.
> 
> More fun: the number 33 is a very very very important number in numerology. 11+11+11=33.
> 
> Whoa. Do you think that this is meant to be?


the universe is going to explode. What I found funny is that I had a freshly formatted USB drive and I went through all of these steps of formatting and making it active and all of this, only to realize that it was totally unnecessary. I was thinking that I had to do something special on it. I am putting Win 8 on my dad's new PC via USB. They make it seem harder than it is. I easily put Linux Mint onto a flash drive, so this was a no brainer once I realize exactly what the instructions were telling me to do.


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## TwoCables

What I like is how what I posted caused others to post even more accurate information, and this post is the first that shows up in your Google search. Nice!!


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