Formatting a new Extreme PRO USB 3.1 128GB to NTFS

My Extreme PRO USB 3.1 128 GB devices are pre-formatted ex-FAT and I want to reformat them to NTFS because a large portion of the files to be put on them will be small.  Both of the drives will have the files used by E-mail package with some of the data files and indexes being updated several times a day.

  1. If I copy all files on the Extreme PRO to another drive, Reformat to NTFS and then copy them back, can Secure Access still be used on the NTFS formatted Extreme PRO?

2.  I have assumed that the Extreme PRO has a higher write threshold?  Will reformatting substantially reduce the life of the Extreme PRO?  I am interested in the Extreme PRO as opposed to a generic USB device. 

Do you honestly think a manufacturer would format a drive such that it’s performance would be slow for small files?  Do you honestly think a journeling format designed for hard drives is better for a removable USB drive?  And if you do why didn’t the manufacturer put it on the drive?

exFAT is the new standard for removable drives, don’t change it.

As for Secure Access, if you do reformat the drive, download the app from SanDisk and reinstall it.

As for the RescuePro sticker do note SanDisk no longer supports it.  https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7473/~/rescuepro-support-information-page

ex-FAT has a sector size of 128K which means it is bad for small files (<64K) that comprise a high percentage of the files on both my wifes USB and mine.  ex_FAT can be both read and written by both Mac an Windows (I would guess Linux as well).  NTFS has smaller sectors but can not be written to by native Mac (I don’t know about Linux).  Thus to cater to the largest market, ex-FAT is used.  Howerver APS for Mac and NTFS for Windows can offer advantages if the key is used in only one environment.

I’m pretty sure performance speed plays a bigger factor than compatibility.

I suggest you try the drives as exFAT for a while and see if you like them.  If you don’t then format them as NTFS and notice the performance impact.