Formatting a usb flash drive

[zatka]

hi guys,

how do u format a usb flash drive in windows or linux?
i have tried it thro' disk administration in windows, it completes 100% and then pops up a msg saying ' the format could not be completed.'
is there any utility to do that? pls tell me of it as i am not able to use my flash drive.
whenever i put the stik in usb port of my pc, windows asks me to format the drive. if i say yes it says windows was unable to format the drive.

pls help me out.
thanks in advance.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to TechSpot
On the desktop, doubleclick "My Computer", rightclick on your flashdrive, click on Format, in "File System" select FAT or FAT32, under Format Options click "Quick Format" and click "Start".

Or, HP has a format-util, most likely it will work on any flashdrive.
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/hpcpqdt/us/download/20306.html

Another one here: X-format
http://www.knctech.com/download/usd/X-Format-Setup-series3000.exe

Check the website of that drive, they may have a format-util as well.

 

[feyikiz]

Formatting a LG 256MB USB FLASH MEMORY

I need help to format a 256 MB LG USB Flash Memory.

Thanks for interests. :wave:

 

[Rick]

Sounds like a bad flash drive.

This is a certainty, but very likely...

 

[questionhog]

When checking the format success in My Computer>Rt click on the usb drive>properties>policies>write caching>safe removal>do you optimize for quick removal OR performance?

 

[Tedster]

https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic45834.html

 

[questionhog]

I did read 45834 before I posted. It didn't address the "quick removal" vs "performance" choice as I read it. These are choices for write caching using Windows or Windows plus the flash drive as I understand it.

 

[Tedster]

I've had quite a few flash drives and I have never had one ask me for optimization...... just STOP the drive before unplugging it - always.

 

[questionhog]

I will certainly Stop before removing, thanks
I still wonder about My Computer>Rt click on the usb drive>properties>policies tab?

 

[Phantasm66]

Linux treats Flash drive just like SCSI disk, and should have no problems formatting.

Try downloading the HP USB Flash Drive Format Tool from here:

http://www.thepcspy.com/articles/hardware/bootable_usb_flash_drive

 

[SNGX1275]

Once a flash drive is formatted you shouldn't format it again without a really good reason. I would guess a majority of times someone has a flash drive issue it spawned out of a reformatting attempt. There is no reason to format these things at all, simply delete the files.

 

[zerafatjou]

usb formating

hello I am happey to accept me as a member of your group,I have problem to format my kigston usb datatraveler 4.o GB in windows Xp, windows prompt "couldn't complete formating" pls help me to solve the problem
thanks
zerafatjou

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Zerafatjou, in the future you are better off starting your own thread. That said, take a look at this utility: http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197.

 

[DelJo63]

it completes 100% and then pops up a msg saying ' the format could not be completed.'

this is a symptom that the flash drive is larger than the maximum FAT32 formatting
XP can perform (Max = 32gb). Been there, done that.

You mentioned Lunix as a formatting platform -- that is how I got mine formatted.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Jobeard, that post was from 2004 .