Why are USB sticks formatted FAT32 out of the box?

[cat___]

I bought a 64gb usb stick. It is pre-formatted to FAT32, and that can only store files with a max size of 4gb. Is that correct? Would converting it to NTFS be the smart thing to do or is there a reason for usb sticks coming formatted to FAT32 out of the box? (Other than backwards compatability?)

I always wondered about this.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

http://www.howtogeek.com/177529/htg-explains-why-are-removable-drives-still-using-fat32-instead-of-ntfs/

Just one word of caution, don't use a pen drive for storing backups, they are too unreliable for that. They should be used only for short-term storage such as when you want to transfer files from one PC to another.

For backups you need to use something more reliable such as an external hard drive or write-once optical discs.