Ultra Backup 32GB

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1

Hi

     I recently bought a Sandisk Ultra Backup 32GB which shows as a local hard disk . It was FAT32 with 29.8GB free space. I accidentally deleted the partition in Windows 7 x64  disk management. And when I formatted back the free space is  29.7.But when formatting in NTFS the available space is 29.8GB. Does NTFS actually wear out the drive quickly? . I tried exFAT but the problem is when I cancel a file transfer in exFAT it  takes too long to cancel and the system stops responding. So I am sticking with NTFS

I would also like to know the partition starting offset of this drive. I believe the offset was 32256 or 65536, I dont remember but now it shows 1048576. Plz help

2

“I accidentally deleted the partition”

Accidently!!  Impossible.

"Does NTFS actually wear out the drive quickly?"

There is indeed more overhead with NTFS than FAT32,  Journalling and access control primarily.

“I would also like to know the partition starting offset of this drive. I believe the offset was 32256 or 65536, I dont remember but now it shows 1048576.”

No idea.  But flash drives are usually manufactured as Super Floppies, ie no MBR, no Partition Table.  There is no way a user can recreate that format.

3

Yes I accidentally did it. I was repartitioning my secondary HDD in windows disk management and I accidentaly selected the flash drive for deletion. Could you please check the starting partition offset of this drive using ‘msinfo’ tool in windows. I am asking this because some says a wrong starting offset could affect write speeds. Why the drive is showing 29.7GB in FAT32 which was 29.8 before? . Also, why exFAT takes too long to cancel a file transfer? . I am using win 7 x64.

4

I figured out the exFAT issue. win 7 x64 only has the problem with exFAT taking long time during a cancellation of a file transfer. Win 7 x86 doesn’t have this problem

5

Hi
Does setting wrong starting partition offset affect write speed of a flash drive? and increase the rate of wearing out? My ultrabackup 32GB is showing as a fixed HDD. How could I make it to the original factory formatted state? Please help

6

I wouldn’t worry about it at this point.  It will be fine.

“How could I make it to the original factory formatted state?”

You can’t.  So you need to ask yourself; Why did I format it?  What was I hoping to accomplish?  Will I do this to my next flash drive?  etc.