If a flash drive is empty (256MB), but reads full when you try to move a file into it, how do you fix that? I have two students with empty ones yet they can't transfer any files to them. Would it be from deleting files that were on them while they were in another computer, but not emptying that trash before ejecting the disk? I found that mine would read as partially full unless I emptied the trash in the same location where I deleted the files. Is there any other way to deal with this issue that I am not aware of?
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Flash Drive question (iBook G4/OSX 10.3.6)
- Thread starter StephR
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What is the Flash drive formatted as?
If the Flash Drive is formatted by a PC with NTFS, then Macs would not be able to read it and would see the Flash drive as full or no space.
If the Flash Drive is formatted by a PC with NTFS, then Macs would not be able to read it and would see the Flash drive as full or no space.
Response and more questions
Every hard drive is formatted to a particular file system. For instance, there are main types in the realm of Windows and Mac (NTFS, FAT,HFS). Mac uses HFS and FAT, but not NTFS. Windows can read NTFS and FAT, but not HFS.
This is one of the principal differences between Mac and Windows. NTFS formatting will not read on any Mac(without some emulation or application). If your students have a flash drive formatted by a PC, chances are that it is possible they formatted as NTFS (NTFS is file system that was created for better security and can pretty much only be read off windows)
Basically, if they do have this "NTFS" formatting. All you would need to do is to tell those students to reformat under FAT and then save their files on the drive. Then you should be able to read the files properly.
If they are using a PC, to check whether the file system is FAT or NTFS, tell them to go to My computer, right click the flash drive and click on properties. That should show which file system that the drive is using. If they are using NTFS, tell them to backup the files onto the computer hard drive and reformat the flash drive using FAT. This will wipe out all the data and create a FAT file system format. Then have them save the files on the flash drive again and give them to you.
That should solve the problem if they are using NTFS
Every hard drive is formatted to a particular file system. For instance, there are main types in the realm of Windows and Mac (NTFS, FAT,HFS). Mac uses HFS and FAT, but not NTFS. Windows can read NTFS and FAT, but not HFS.
This is one of the principal differences between Mac and Windows. NTFS formatting will not read on any Mac(without some emulation or application). If your students have a flash drive formatted by a PC, chances are that it is possible they formatted as NTFS (NTFS is file system that was created for better security and can pretty much only be read off windows)
Basically, if they do have this "NTFS" formatting. All you would need to do is to tell those students to reformat under FAT and then save their files on the drive. Then you should be able to read the files properly.
If they are using a PC, to check whether the file system is FAT or NTFS, tell them to go to My computer, right click the flash drive and click on properties. That should show which file system that the drive is using. If they are using NTFS, tell them to backup the files onto the computer hard drive and reformat the flash drive using FAT. This will wipe out all the data and create a FAT file system format. Then have them save the files on the flash drive again and give them to you.
That should solve the problem if they are using NTFS
If you have it mounted on the desktop Control + Click on it and click on get info. It should say Format: FAT-32. If it doesn't post back with what is says. You will probably need to format it in disk utility. Is there a lock switch on it?