Format FS=FAT32 Quick: Full and Comprehensive Guide on Use It
Do you want to format your hard drive to FAT32 via "format fs=FAt32 quick" command? You come to the right place!
This article will define the meaning of "format FS=FAT32 quick" and guide you on achieving it using Diskpart and PowerShell. The article will also outline an alternative tool to Diskpart called Qiling Partition Master that you can use to format your computer's hard drive, USB drive, and other storage media.
What Does "Format FS=FAT32 Quick" Mean?
The term "format FS=FAT32 quick" is a drive formatting command on Windows that allows you to quickly delete data from a USB drive, hard drive, or other storage media and rebuild it to a FAT32 file system compatible across many devices.
We use the term "quick format" because it takes place within the shortest time possible and doesn't check for hard drive sectors before the formatting. A quick format to FAT32 mostly happens when your current file system, i.e., NTFS or exFAT, is incompatible with the device you want to use (for example, a gaming console or smart device).
In the next sections, we'll see how to format a drive to FAT32.
How Long Does Format FS=FAT32 Take?
The time taken to format your current file system to FAT32 varies heavily. Depending on many factors, it could take you seconds, minutes, or even a few hours. The main factors that affect the duration of formatting a drive to FAT32 include the following:
- The size of the drive: More often than not, it takes additional time to format a larger drive than a smaller one. Since a larger drive contains more data to undergo processing, it will generally take longer to format to FAT32.
- Nature of data fragmentation: When formatting your drive to FAT32, the data in it has to undergo defragmentation. If your drive contains highly fragmented data, the formatting process will generally take longer.
- Computer speed: Another factor that may impact the format of FAT32 is the speed of your computer processor. If your computer is fast, it will take a few minutes to format your drive to FAT32. For slower computers, however, expect to practice patience because it may take a few minutes or hours before the formatting process completes.
Besides, there is also a link for you if you have problems, such as:
Knowing the factors that affect the speed of formatting your drive to FAT32, we'll show you how to carry out the process in the next sections.
How to Use "Format FS=FAT32 Quick" in Diskpart?
The easiest and most convenient way to format FAT32 quickly is using Diskpart. This is a built-in tool on Windows and only requires you to take note of a few commands. Below are the steps to format a drive to FAT32 using Diskpart:
Step 1. Open Command Prompt and click "Run as administrator."
Step 2. On the Command Prompt window, type the command "diskpart" and press Enter to launch the Diskpart Utility.
Step 3. Type the following command and hit Enter to list the available drives on your computer: list disk
Step 4. Next, select your target USB drive by pasting the following command and press Enter (replace "1" with the correct numbering for your drive): select disk 1
Step 5. Type "List partition" and press Enter to clear data from the selected drive.
Step 6. Type "Select partition 1" and replace 1 with the correct number of your drive.
Step 7. Paste the following command to format your drive to FAT32 quickly: format FS=FAT32 quick
Step 8. To assign your formatted drive a letter, paste the following command (replace "h" with the drive letter you prefer): assign letter=h
Step 9. Lastly, type "exit" to close and exit Diskpart. You've now formatted your drive to FAT32!
Next, let's see how to use the format fs=FAT32 quick command in PowerShell.
How to Use "Format FS=FAT32 Quick" in PowerShell?
Another free method to format your drive to FAT32 is using Windows PowerShell. This method is quite adaptive since it supports drives larger than 32GB. PowerShell is mostly applicable in situations where Diskpart fails. Below are steps to format a drive to FAT32 using PowerShell:
Step 1. Right-click on the Windows logo on the bottom, left of the screen and choose "Windows PowerShell (Admin)."
Step 2. On the popup displayed, click "Yes" to open Windows PowerShell.
Step 3. Next, paste the following command and hit Enter (ensure you replace "D" with the correct letter for your USB drive): format /FS:FAT32 D:
Step 4. When the process completes, type "exit" to close PowerShell. You've now formatted your USB drive to FAT32 and made it more compatible!
You can use the command in Diskpart and PowerShell. It might be difficult, isn't it? I am glad to tell you that you have a third choice! There is a professional format tool that can allow you to perform a quick format easily and efficiently. Let's continue.
Professional Alternative to Diskpart Format FS=FAT32 Quick [Easier & Simpler]
Although Diskpart is a great tool to format your USB drive to FAT32, it may not work efficiently at all times (especially when dealing with drives larger than 32GB). As a result of this, there exists an alternative professional tool called Qiling Partition Master Free that makes it easier and simpler to format drives to FAT32 or any other file system.
Below is a comparison table between Diskpart and Qiling Partition Master. It shows that Qiling Partition Master is better than Diskpart because it's fast, secure, and allows you to format or reformat hard drive through very simple steps.
| Aspect | Diskpart | Qiling Partition Master |
|---|---|---|
| Format Speed | Moderate | Faster |
| Safety | Safe | Very secure |
| File System Format | FAT32, NTFS | FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, ext2/3/4 |
| Operation Difficulty | Complex because it entails many commands | Rather easy |
| Tech Support | Not available | Available |
Now, let's see how to use Qiling Partition Master to format.
Step 1. Run Qiling Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose "Format".
Step 2. In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click "Proceed".
Step 3. Then you will see a warning window, click "Yes" in it to start formatting the partition on your hard drive.
However, Qiling Partition Master still gets many other functions. Let's read more about it.
What Makes Qiling Partition Master a Nice Choice?
Below are additional features that make this software efficient in disk partition management:
- Quick partition new disk: Qiling Partition Master provides a quick way to create partitions on a brand-new hard disk. You can set them to MBR or GPT.
- Format/wipe partitions: This tool allows you to wipe all the data on a disk and format it.
- Convert FAT32 to NTFS and vice versa: If the file system on your drive isn't compatible with the system you want to use, Qiling Partition Master allows users to format the disk to a compatible file system.
- Extend system partition: This software allows you to utilize any free or unallocated space on your drive by extending the system partition.
- Create/delete a partition: You can choose to delete a partition if you no longer need it. You can also create a new partition based on the unallocated space.
From the above descriptions, it's easy to note that Qiling Partition Master is the best alternative to Diskpart regarding disk management. It allows you to perform more disk operations on your device fast and conveniently. Download it to try.
Conclusion
This article has shown us that the two primary ways to format a disk to FAT32 entail using the Diskpart Utility or Windows PowerShell. Both techniques are easy to use, provided you apply the relevant commands. If you want an alternative software that allows you to format your drive to FAT32 easily, we recommend Qiling Partition Master.
This software allows you to convert your drive from NTFS to FAT32 and vice versa. It lets you quickly partition new disks, format/wipe partitions, extend system partitions, and create/delete partitions. Please don't hesitate to download and install Qiling Partition Master on your device today.
FAQs About Format FS=FAT32 Quick
Want to know more about how to format FS=FAT32 quickly? You can read through the following questions.
1. What is format fs=NTFS quick?
The term "format FS=NTFS quick" means to format a given hard drive or USB drive from any other file system to NTFS using the quick format technique. It doesn't take much time and could range from a few minutes to less than an hour. Normally, you'll run this command by opening Disk Utility or using Windows PowerShell.
1. What to do when format fs=FAT32 is stuck at 0%?
This issue mostly happens due to disk, hard drive, or file system errors. To address it, you can try the following solutions:
- Check for disk errors using Qiling Partition Master.
- Run CHKDSK to check for any errors.
- Use Diskpart to format and clean your disk.
- Format your external hard drive using a third-party tool like Qiling Partition Master.
2. What is the difference between full format and quick format?
A quick format lets you delete files and data from a hard drive or USB drive without checking the drive sectors. It generally takes a shorter time. On the other hand, a full format must check for drive sectors when deleting files and data, taking considerable time before completion.
3. Why is format fs=FAT32 taking a long time?
Format FS=FAT32 may take longer because of factors like:
- Having a larger drive
- A drive contains highly fragmented data
- A slow computer speed
One solution to making the formatting process consume less time is boosting the speed of your computer. You can close other programs running in the background to ensure your system dedicates more CPU to formatting your drive to FAT32.
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