16GB PNY USB Thumb Drive

[c327]

I have a PNY 16GB thumb drive that is formatted in Fat32 from the factory. I want to put a Windows operating system ISO file on it but am not sure if it will work with Fat32?

Also I see that formatting it to NTFS is not an option with this thumb drive ???

[rascard2007]

If the iso file is less than 2GB is OK with fat32, if it´s bigger u need NTFS or extended fat (a patch in winXP, native in Win7 and beyond)

if u r using win XP, in order to format an usb drive in NTFS, go to windows explorer, rigth click on the device icon, click in properties, click in hardware, click in ur device name, click in properties button, click in policies tab and click in optimize for performance. click in teh OK button and now u will see NTFS in the format options drop down menu

remember tha for a device formated in NTFS u have to securely remove always or can lost all ur data

[Karlsweldt]

FAT32 is the current default format. More universal for access than NTFS.
Should be no issues with having OS install files on a flash drive if in ISO mode.
It is possible to put a Windows OS "shadow" or reference image on a flash drive, but it would not have the full features or speed as when on a hard drive. But the flash drive would have to be certified as a "Windows to Go" bootable type.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/librar ... 81%29.aspx