Board logo

Can't put 8Gb file onto 16Gb memory stick
Jasper - 21/1/11 at 10:09 AM

I've got a 16Gb memory stick and I'm trying to copy over an 8Gb .iso file onto it, but it says the file is too large for the destination folder.

The memory stick is completely empty, so why won't it copy? Do I need to reformat it in a different way maybe? When I right click/Properties on the stick it shows the full 16Gb free.

Thoughts clever chaps?

phoenix70 - 21/1/11 at 10:20 AM

probably need re-formated, if it's formated as FAT32, the max file size is 4Gb. Format it as NTFS, it should be fine, assuming you can format an USB key as NTFS

Moorron - 21/1/11 at 10:20 AM

could be its formatted in Fat32, which has a single file limit of 4 gig. Try formatting it as NTFS which is the newer type of file system which has a huge limit to file sizes.

Note that i found this out as my PS3 wouldnt play files off my external backup drive.

scudderfish - 21/1/11 at 10:23 AM

As above. You're fortunate that it stopped you. I've used machines before that have blithely copied the file, but when you come to read it, its corrupted.

[Edited on 21/1/11 by scudderfish]

Daddylonglegs - 21/1/11 at 10:24 AM

Sounds right, I think they always default to FAT32, so do as the guys suggest, format NTFS and it should be fine

jossey - 21/1/11 at 10:28 AM

if you ordered off ebay or it was from china its probably a fake.

they over write the size so on your pc it looks like a 16gb stick but they are normally 2gb so you would get less that 2gb on it before it says its run.

let me knwo how you get on.

good luck.






dave j

MikeRJ - 21/1/11 at 10:36 AM

They are formatted to FAT32 for a reason; NTFS writes to the disk for the journal etc. every time the disk is accessed (for read or write) that slows things down and wears out the flash faster.

Jasper - 21/1/11 at 10:55 AM

Hmmm, that's what I thought, and when I try to reformat it to NTFS it can't do it, just comes up with an error.

It was a reasonably cheap stick, but bought from a UK company, and I've had at least 8Gb of seperate files on it before.

Seems like I'm stuck with this one which is a pain as the reason I bought it was to move large files arround.....

MikeFellows - 21/1/11 at 11:00 AM

exfat ftw

but you will need a newer machine not sure xp supports it (presuming your using windows as your using fat32)

Jasper - 21/1/11 at 11:12 AM

exfat worked - you're a star, cheers

MikeRJ - 21/1/11 at 11:46 AM

Windows won't let you format a removable drive with NTFS by default, but you can work around this very easily like this

Jasper - 21/1/11 at 11:48 AM

Yeah - tried that Mike after a Google search, that didn't work either!!

mad4x4 - 21/1/11 at 12:03 PM

You can get a "file Splitter" that will split in into Big Chunks. ( think even Winzip split a file)

Jasper - 21/1/11 at 12:12 PM

It's working now with exfat, it just seems weird to me that you can buy a nice big memory stick now, but it's rather hard to actually make use of it for big files!

mcerd1 - 21/1/11 at 12:32 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mad4x4
You can get a "file Splitter" that will split in into Big Chunks. ( think even Winzip split a file)
winrar will do that - and *.rar files squash most things a bit more than *.zip files too

but its easier all round if you don't have to bother...

prawnabie - 21/1/11 at 12:41 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
It's working now with exfat, it just seems weird to me that you can buy a nice big memory stick now, but it's rather hard to actually make use of it for big files!


That because moving ripped movies files around is illegal

Jasper - 21/1/11 at 12:48 PM

Actually it's not a movie smart arse - it's a game