220-1101 Question 254
Single answerFlash drivesA technician is preparing a USB flash drive to transfer a 9 GB video file from a Windows 11 workstation to a conference room smart TV for playback. When the technician copies the file to the flash drive, Windows reports that the file is too large for the destination file system, even though the drive has 32 GB of free space. The technician wants the simplest solution that will allow the single file to be copied to the USB flash drive. Which of the following should the technician do?
- A
Reformat the USB flash drive with NTFS or exFAT
- B
Compress the video file into a ZIP archive before copying it
- C
Convert the video file from MP4 to AVI to reduce the file size
- D
Create a second partition on the USB flash drive and copy the file there
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
This scenario tests practical knowledge of USB flash drive file systems. FAT32 is widely supported on removable media, but it has a maximum file size of 4 GB. That means a single 9 GB video file cannot be copied to a FAT32-formatted drive, even if there is plenty of free space. The best practice is to reformat the drive with a file system that supports larger files, such as exFAT or NTFS. For removable flash drives used across different devices, exFAT is often preferred because it supports large files and offers better cross-platform and consumer electronics compatibility than NTFS in many environments. This aligns with common operating system storage documentation and standard technician troubleshooting practices for removable media.
- A. Correct.
Correct. A common reason Windows reports that a file is too large for the destination despite available free space is that the flash drive is formatted with FAT32, which has a maximum individual file size of 4 GB. Reformatting the drive as exFAT or NTFS removes that 4 GB file-size limitation and is the most direct fix. exFAT is especially common for removable flash media because it supports large files and broad compatibility with many consumer devices.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. ZIP compression does not guarantee that a 9 GB video file will shrink below 4 GB. Already-compressed media formats such as MP4 usually compress very little with ZIP, so this is not a reliable or simple solution.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Changing a file from MP4 to AVI does not inherently reduce file size. In many cases, AVI can produce a larger file depending on the codec and settings used. Container format alone does not solve the FAT32 file-size limitation.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Creating another partition does not bypass the per-file size limit of the existing file system. If the partition is also FAT32, the 4 GB maximum file size still applies. Partitioning affects storage organization, not the single-file limit imposed by FAT32.