Why is the processor loaded when copying?

Question

linux

So, there is a laptop, on (in) it is installed linux mint 18.2. There is a partition in NTFS format (used together with windows), there is also a flash drive (fat32). And when copying from NTFS to FAT32, the processor is loaded by 80-95%. Is this how it should be or can it be fixed?

Answer 1

Depends on what you're looking at. top and htop show iowait as CPU load, while eg gnome-system-monitor doesn't. For the first two, the described situation is normal.
If the system does not start to slow down, then just hammer it, otherwise read this - In this connection, flash drives behave very strangely?