In Windows, almost every problem has two solutions – the fast one, and the one even your grandmother could easily understand. Usually, I go for the fast one, especially because I like to keep my clicking to a minimum, as long as I can type in some commands to get the job done (I know, you may call me “command line freak,” I have nothing against it). Anyway, the problem with NTFS USB memory sticks is that… they don’t come this way out of the box, and formatting your little portable friend using the NTFS file system isn’t exactly a straightforward process.
OK, but why need your memory stick to be formatted using NTFS? Is FAT32 THAT BAD? No, don’t worry, if you’re usually moving around a moderate amount of medium-sized files, you shouldn’t worry about that, but when you try to move files larger than 4 GB… you may have a problem. A serious one, I tell you.
The problem is that, as long as you’ll be using FAT32, you’ll get the notorious “not enough free space on drive x” error when trying to accomplish the task described above, even when each of those glorious 16 GB of space (or more) available on your flash drive is absolutely empty!
The easy way to solve this problem is to bring up the command prompt window (Win key+R, type cmd, press Enter), and then use the convert command. To get to know all available options, just type convert /?, but for our task, typing convert x: /fs:ntfs (where x is the letter assigned to your flash drive) and pressing Enter should be enough! In my case, it was convert j: /f:ntfs, and it only took a few seconds for the operation to complete successfully.
As you can see in the image above, now my 8 GB A-Data flash drive uses the NTFS file system, and before moving on and talk about the long way you need to follow to accomplish the same thing, let’s take a quick look at the good and the bad parts of having a NTFS memory stick, shall we?
The good part is that you can save more files, create permissions for them (and for folders, of course), as well as copy files larger than 4 GB with ease. The bad part? Well, you’ll have to be careful to always remove the drive “safely” in order to avoid data loss, and writing speed on the drive will be a bit slower, although files will be read just as fast as before (to be honest, I didn’t notice a visible speed decrease).
Now, the long way to turn your USB drive into a NTFS USB drive, as I promised. First of all, be sure to backup your data, because this way of doing things includes formatting your drive, all right?
1. After inserting the drive into a free USB port and backing up your data, press the Win key+Break combo will give you access to System Properties;
2. In the System Properties window, select the Hardware tab, and then open the Device Manager;
3. Expand the Disk Drives branch;
4. Double click the flash drive you want to convert to NTFS, or right click it and choose Properties, if you really want to take it slow;
5. In the Properties window, open the Policies tab, and check Optimize for performance;
6. Press OK, and then you can easily format the USB drive using the NTFS file system, since this option wasn’t available before.
That’s all, folks! For any additional questions, or maybe your own speed tests results, be sure to drop a comment below. Now, you can finally enjoy your “brand new” NTFS USB memory stick! 
Why dont they make memory sticks as NTFS. I bought a 64Gb stick and found it impossible to convert. I tried both methods but neither would work. I got fed up in the end and gave it to a friend to keep photos on.
Harold
Thank you very much for your clear instructions. I’ve just bought a 16GB flash drive that came highly recommended by other purchasers on Amazon UK, many of whom recommended converting from FAT32 to NTFS but didn’t say how to do this. Your step-by-step guide helped enormously. THANK YOU!
This worked fine! Thanks.