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Flash Drive is fully erased but only has 400 megabytes!

macuser1232

macuser1232

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 20, 2012
673
7
Hi,

I recently was using my flash drive to transport stuff from my mac computer to windows computer and now when I insert the flash drive in my Mac it says there's only 460 megabytes left on it when everything is erased! This is an 8 gigabyte flash drive. Please Help!
 
Last edited:
On OS X you need to empty the trash with the flash drive inserted in the USB.
 
macuser1232 said:
Hi,

I recently was using my flash drive to transport stuff from my mac computer to windows computer and now when I insert the flash drive in my Mac it says there's only 460 megabytes left on it when everything is erased! This is an 8 gigabyte flash drive. Please Help!
Click to expand...
As stridemat suggested, connect the drive, then empty your trash. If that doesn't fix it, you may need to reformat the drive. It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted, or whether you formatted it with Mac OS X or Windows, as long as both computers can read/write to the drive.

Format A Hard Drive Using Disk Utility (which is in your /Applications/Utilities folder)

Choose the appropriate format:

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)

NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
    [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon ($19.95) (Best Choice for Lion and Mountain Lion)
    • For Mac OS X 10.5 and later, including Lion, FUSE for OS X
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and later versions, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.

exFAT (FAT64)
  • Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
  • Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
  • exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
  • Maximum file size: 16 EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
  • You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
    [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
  • You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
 
I recently made a shared files folder to move some files from my mac to my windows desktop so I could clean install OS X Mountain Lion and then move the files back but I'm not sure if the files will work when I move them back with a flash drive to my macbook pro. Will they?
 
macuser1232 said:
I recently made a shared files folder to move some files from my mac to my windows desktop so I could clean install OS X Mountain Lion and then move the files back but I'm not sure if the files will work when I move them back with a flash drive to my macbook pro. Will they?
Click to expand...
There's no reason why they shouldn't.
 
GGJstudios said:
There's no reason why they shouldn't.
Click to expand...

Ok because when I put it on the Windows desktop it turns into a folder that says Example.app and then has a contents folder and I want to make sure it will turn back to normal when I put it back on my Mac. I guess I could go test it right now.
 
macuser1232 said:
Ok because when I put it on the Windows desktop it turns into a folder that says Example.app and then has a contents folder and I want to make sure it will turn back to normal when I put it back on my Mac. I guess I could go test it right now.
Click to expand...
What, exactly, are you moving? Is it an app, a file or a folder?
 
macuser1232 said:
well most are apps but some are just documents.
Click to expand...
Rather than move apps and files to your Windows computer, it's a better idea to have an external drive to use for regular backups of your Mac, formatted specifically for the Mac (HFS+ format). Use Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner to backup your files, apps, etc., then restore from the backup after a clean install.
 
GGJstudios said:
Rather than move apps and files to your Windows computer, it's a better idea to have an external drive to use for regular backups of your Mac, formatted specifically for the Mac (HFS+ format). Use Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner to backup your files, apps, etc., then restore from the backup after a clean install.
Click to expand...

I know but it's so expensive!!! I can't afford it!
 
GGJstudios said:
What, exactly, are you moving? Is it an app, a file or a folder?
Click to expand...

IIRC, apps in OS X function as folders with added functionality (you can run them). You can right click and view the contents. Windows must see these as simply folders. :confused:
 
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