Flash Drive and USB ports...

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Hi all,

I want to buy a flash drive (or memory stick, if you prefer) to use with my late 2009 iMac which I just acquired. I have a couple of these flash drives already but they are from the time when they first appeared on the market. One is 512 MB (yes, that's right, mega-bites) and the other 2GB. Nowadays, it seems a challenge to find one of these gizmos under 16GB.

But the devil is in the details: my iMac has 4x USB ports but from the arcane Apple/Mac speak in the technical specs the ports all seem to be 2.0. There is another layer of arcania with hi-speed and super-speed which I have no idea about but I'll guess super speed is faster than hi-speed (which sort of makes hi-speed be actually be low-speed). I assume it's not very chic to say 'low-speed' in various tech circles, making hi-speed a sort of technical oxymoron.

My question is if I buy a flash drive that is a 3.0 device, is it true that it won't run any quicker than a 2.0 device because my iMac USB ports are all 2.0 (is that correct?) so it would be best for me to buy a 2.0 Flash Drive device, as I plan on keeping this machine for a while.

What are reliable, well-made devices and brands that might fit my needs? (I already have a SanDisk flash drive, which I like and seems very good but with very limited storage space).

After reading on-line, there seems to be some controversy if these flash drive devices need to be formatted or not upon initial use. I read an article stating they work better and more efficiently if formatted. Of course, I have no idea about any of this.

Thanks for your comments and advice in adv.,

Bob M.
 

dtravis7


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If your Mac's USB ports are USB 2.0 that is the maximum speed things will run at. USB 3 drives will work fine but at USB 2 speeds.
 
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You can use any flash drive you want with your iMac. I would suggest letting your mac format the USB drives first - especially the older ones. Format them as either FAT32 or ExtFAT. But if they are USB flash drives that are 2.0 or 3.0 it will not matter. As Dennis said, the 3.0 drives will work with the 2.0 ports on your iMac but at the slower speed.

FYI - Fat32 has a file size limit under 4GB while ExtFAT does not and can handle 4GB+ files.

Lisa
 
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First and foremost, as Iclev says, reformat the flash drives, using FAT32 I suggest. THEN start putting stuff on them. USB2<>3 is one of the most enduring features of the technology, it just works, albeit at what I've found to be minimally different speeds.
 
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Thanks for the helpful comments.

How do I go about formatting the Flash Drive? Is there a program I should use? or something in a pull-down menu that does the formatting?

It seems the 3.0 flash drives are about $1 more than the 2.0 flash drives of the same spec. I've been looking at San Disk and PNY Elite.

Bob M.
 
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krs


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Couple of comments:
1. If one wants to use FAT32 formatting, why reformat at all? All the Flash drives I ever bought were already formatted in FAT32
2. And as to FAT32 formatting, doesn't that limit you as to the number of characters for a file or folder name? I have run into that a few times. If I use the flash drives myself or with other Mac users, I always format them in Mac format - I only use FAT32 if the flash drives have to be read on a Windows machine.
3. Iclev posted that one can use any flash drive with the 2009 iMac - is that really true? The capacity of flash drives has increased to 1 TB, con a 10 year old Mac really handle that.
From a practical point of view the statement "can handle any flash drive" is probably true, but it would be good to know what the limit is for the 2009 iMac (if there is a limit)
 
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Well, I did buy a SanDisk USB Flash Drive 16GB at a very economical price. I'm not a power user and it'll be all I'll ever need. I don't ever use Windows type machines, only Macs - my iMac and my MacBook. I have many friends who use flash drives and most just plug them in after buying and start copying/moving files without any formatting first (I've asked around).

After reading a little more about it, it seems formatting a flash drive does two things: 1) it first erases the flash drive completely, then 2) it sets up a file type format that the user chooses (like FAT or FAT32 or exFAT or others). It seems to me that if you buy a brand new flash drive, it is most probably pre-erased (no files on it) and if you don't format it and just start using it, it must choose a default file type format. So I guess I'd like to know what that default file format is and I'd assume it would be a good choice for Mac computers. Is that reasonable assumption make?

Thanks,

Bob M.
 

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Formatting a drive will erase all of the contents on it. Most of these such drives come formatted as FAT 32 because it can be used with both Macs and PCs when formatted that way. Many of these drives come with some software on them (usually encryption software that is of little use to Mac users).

If you are sure you will only be using it with Macs go ahead and format it as Mac format.
 
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The iMac is USB2 so it will be slow. USB3 was introduced with the 2012 models.
 
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Couple of comments:
1. If one wants to use FAT32 formatting, why reformat at all? All the Flash drives I ever bought were already formatted in FAT32
2. And as to FAT32 formatting, doesn't that limit you as to the number of characters for a file or folder name? I have run into that a few times. If I use the flash drives myself or with other Mac users, I always format them in Mac format - I only use FAT32 if the flash drives have to be read on a Windows machine.
3. Iclev posted that one can use any flash drive with the 2009 iMac - is that really true? The capacity of flash drives has increased to 1 TB, con a 10 year old Mac really handle that.
From a practical point of view the statement "can handle any flash drive" is probably true, but it would be good to know what the limit is for the 2009 iMac (if there is a limit)

1. There are a lot of manufacturers that put their apps on the drive for backing up or whatever. I never use them and want the space. It also does not hurt to be sure!
2. All newer versions of OS and Windows recognize longer file names and will read either FAT32 or ExtFAT formatting.
3. I have a 2009 Macbook running High Sierra and it will read USB flash drives ExtFat formatted - I have an external 2TB it reads just fine. As long as it is running a more current OS that is. Now you go back to the days of DOS (8 character - 1 byte file name limits) and even your older versions of OS or Windows and Yes, you may run into file name limits and file size limits. But that is a longer discussion. Currently a file name can be 255 characters in most operating systems - but I have never figured out why it would be necessary. And encrypted files is a different kettle of worms.

Lisa
 
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Well, I did buy a SanDisk USB Flash Drive 16GB at a very economical price. I'm not a power user and it'll be all I'll ever need...

If I had a dollar for every time I said or thought that I could have retired years ago! My first recollection was when I bought a 20 megabyte hard drive and decided I would never need more storage than that!

Sorry - I am not poking fun - it made me smile when I read it. ;D

Lisa
 

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I just tried giving a USB flash drive formatted for FAT32 a longer file name - does not work,

Once I get to the 12th character I get this message:
The name "123456789012" can't be used.
Try using a name with fewer characters, or with no punctuation marks.
 

Rod


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FAT32 Formats are (or have been in the past) limited to about 10 charecters. If you are only going to use it with aMac device why not make it Mac OS Extended (Journalled)?


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If the flash drive is going to be used only on your iMac, format using Disk Utility and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
 

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Must have been too slow or you were typing at the same time harry. The only thumb drives I have not formatted Mac OS are the few I use for TV programs. For that I have used FAT32 in the past but I'm thinking of changing to ExFat because of the 4Gb file size limitation. A recent movie I was watching was over the 4Gb and stopped about 3/4 of the way through, then started again after a minute or so but the sound track was out of sync.
 

krs


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If the flash drive is going to be used only on your iMac, format using Disk Utility and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

I personally do that.

I was just commenting on this statement in post #11
2. All newer versions of OS and Windows recognize longer file names and will read either FAT32 or ExtFAT formatting.
which was a reply to my comment in post #7
And as to FAT32 formatting, doesn't that limit you as to the number of characters for a file or folder name?
 

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