Formatting a Brand New USB Flash Drive?

I bought two 32gb usb flash drive. I am planning to install windows 11 on one... and linux on the other.


They are new but if I want to format it to make sure it is clean and free of virus or malware, what should I do? Do I need to format it FAT32 or NTFS?


I have kaspersky total so the moment i plug the usb in the laptop, it would scan it automatically. So if it scans it automatically and shows nothing, don't bother with any format?


Last time with a new usb flash drive, I remember formatting it by doing a lot of things such as Clear All or something like that.


Is this necessary or not? I want to make sure it is free of malware just in case.

Did you purchase from a reputable store? Usually new flash drives don’t require formatting unless you require a different file format.
If you’re installing Windows I would choose NTFS. If you’re creating Windows installation media then the media creation tool would choose the correct format.

How to make windows to go How to Run Windows 11 on a USB Drive (and Take it With You)
or HERE

It requires a 64 gb flash drive. As previously mentioned the process does the formatting for you.,

Just to add, all the USB Thumb drives I have and clients came factory-formatted as FAT32 in capacities as large as 256GB. Windows can do it up to 32GB, if necessary for larger ones I do it in Linux Mint. FAT32 is needed for some things and can also be read and written on a Mac OS X and probably the newer macOS. Large drives for use on Windows and Mac came formatted as exFAT, does not have the 4GB single file size of FAT32. I did have occasion to work with a no-name 2TB Thumb drive but it would only format to 1TB even using NTFS, think what they paid was too little to get quality.

Berton said:

I did have occasion to work with a no-name 2TB Thumb drive but it would only format to 1TB even using NTFS, think what they paid was too little to get quality.

Click to expand...

I heard a long time ago that over stating the drive size was a very common practice of cheap thumb drives. I only buy well-known brands when buying large flash drives.

The flash drive I purchased was new. However, when i took a look at it earlier, the package it is in... is easily opened and not like real packaging where you have to open it up. Would that be a concern?


Now if i connect it to the laptop, is there a big risk if this laptop has malware or virus? For example the way the packaging is... if someone returns this back to the website, i mean the packaging is the exact same like if someone else receives it.


Would this be a huge concern for any of you?

Most times the packaging requires heavy shears or a box cutter to get into them so Yes, an easily-opened package could be a clue it has been previously opened and glued or taped back. It that truly is the case the drive could have picked up an infection from a computer it was plugged into.

newmann said:

The flash drive I purchased was new. However, when i took a look at it earlier, the package it is in... is easily opened and not like real packaging where you have to open it up. Would that be a concern?

Click to expand...

Where did you buy the flash drive from? If you bought it from a reputable dealer, it should be fine. Never buy anything if the price seems too good to be true or from a source you know nothing about.

Winuser said:

Where did you buy the flash drive from? If you bought it from a reputable dealer, it should be fine. Never buy anything if the price seems too good to be true or from a source you know nothing about.

Click to expand...

I bought it online. But the issue is the packaging is literally like in a ziplock bag etc. The packaging doesn't even require you to glue it back. It is literally like a ziplock bag and you open it up.


Would you return it and not risk using it? Because if you connect it to your laptop and there is malware or virus, then your laptop will get screwed right? What if it has virus protection like kaspersky total? Would that prevent it or not?

Based on that description, Yes, I'd return it. Always err on the side of caution.

newmann said:

I bought it online. But the issue is the packaging is literally like in a ziplock bag etc. The packaging doesn't even require you to glue it back. It is literally like a ziplock bag and you open it up.


Would you return it and not risk using it? Because if you connect it to your laptop and there is malware or virus, then your laptop will get screwed right? What if it has virus protection like kaspersky total? Would that prevent it or not?

Click to expand...

My last multi pack USB flash drive purchase from Amazon came in zip lock type plastic bag and each drive is in its own sealed plastic bag. If I may ask, why are you suspicious about the drives? If you purchased from a reputable company, I would think that they are ok. If it was from an unknown seller or a too cheap to be true deal I don't know if I would trust them.

The issue is it is basically in an open bag sort of. You can just open it and up close it just like that.


When you say it came in a plastic bag and each drive came in its own sealed plastic bag... can you explain that more? Do you still need to rip off the packaging like how you normally would similar to like how you buy a sandisk usb flash drive from say best buy?

As someone with 100+ flash drives, I always, without exception, run a "Fake USB Flash Drive" test on any new drive.

newmann said:

The issue is it is basically in an open bag sort of. You can just open it and up close it just like that.


When you say it came in a plastic bag and each drive came in its own sealed plastic bag... can you explain that more? Do you still need to rip off the packaging like how you normally would similar to like how you buy a sandisk usb flash drive from say best buy?

Click to expand...

All of the Flash drives were in a large zip lock type bag and each Flash drive is in its own sealed plastic bag. If you bought them from an unknown seller or the deal was too good to turn down, don't use them. The next thing is, if the seller is unknown will they take them back and return your money. You haven't said where you bought them so I'm going to assume it was from a seller that you don't know is trustworthy or not.

hsehestedt said:

As someone with 100+ flash drives, I always, without exception, run a "Fake USB Flash Drive" test on any new drive.

Fake Flash Test: 7 Free Tools to Check Real Capacity

Counterfeit computer products, including flash memory storage, have become increasingly common in recent years. While all types of flash memory storage,

www.raymond.cc

Click to expand...

I think @newmann is more concerned about the drives containing a virus that will infect the computer when plugged in. If they had a computer running Linux they could use that to check if anything is loaded on the flash drives.

Winuser said:

I think @newmann is more concerned about the drives containing a virus that will infect the computer when plugged in. If they had a computer running Linux they could use that to check if anything is loaded on the flash drives.

Click to expand...

Yes that is what I meant by that. Do you use linux on another machine?

newmann said:

Yes that is what I meant by that. Do you use linux on another machine?

Click to expand...

I do use Linux but only in a VM. If I was in a situation like you're in, I would have to plug the flash drive into my Windows computer before I could access it in Linux.

For us non-linux types, you also boot from another thumb drive that is configured with your Windows distribution, open a command prompt when you reach the first static screen, unplug that thumb drive, plug in the thumb drive in question, from the command prompt open disk management, and finally clean and format that thumb drive.

hsehestedt said:

For us non-linux types, you also boot from another thumb drive that is configured with your Windows distribution, open a command prompt when you reach the first static screen, unplug that thumb drive, plug in the thumb drive in question, from the command prompt open disk management, and finally clean and format that thumb drive.

Click to expand...

And newbies know how to do that?

Winuser said:

And newbies know how to do that?

Click to expand...

If not, they can ask or do a search. Tons of tutorials both on how to create a Windows install disk and how to open a command prompt. I didn't feel a compelling need to get long winded and explain what is already well documented.