How to format a flash memory card with small cluster size.
IMPORTANT - Backup all the data in your memory card before formatting because all the files will be erased. Preferably create a image of the memory card on computer hard disk using a backup tool like Windows Backup or Norton Backup and restore it after format.
Instructions for Microsoft Windows -
1) Connect your phone to a computer with USB cable so that it becomes a removable hard-drive (or pendrive). Many phones can function as a web cam, a pendrive or a modem. So the user has to choose the appropriate function when phone is plugged into the USB port. If you cannot do this, take out the microSD card and plug it into a USB Card Reader. This discussion also applies to memory cards of other types that might be used by the phone.
2) Click on "Start" and goto "Control Panel" > "Administrative Tools" > "Computer Management". In "Computer Management" select "Storage" > "Disk Management"
3) Locate the microSD card in the list of drives. Right-click on the microSD card and select "Format."
4) Click "Yes" to confirm that you want to format the disk. Note that formatting a disk erases any data present on the drive.
5) Input a name for the disk into the "Volume Label" field. This is optional.
6) Click the drop-down menu and select "FAT32" as the "File System" type.
7) Click the "Allocation Unit Size" (Cluster Size) drop-down menu. Choose appropriate cluster size. There is a trade-off between a small cluster size and a large FileAllocationTable (FAT) size. As cluster size is reduced, the number of entries in FAT table increases. Large FAT table size increases RAM memory requirement on the phone and increases file access times. So for 2,4 GB cards cluster size of 4 kilobytes can be used and for 8+ GB cards cluster size of 8 kilobytes can be tried.
8) Click "OK" button to perform the format.
If your phone supports more than one memory card, then one card can be formatted with a small cluster size & used to store small files. The other card can be formatted with default cluster size and used to store larger size files like mp3 files and video files.