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How do you Format a RAW USB Flash Drive under WinXP

Discussion in 'Windows OS' started by richelm, Nov 28, 2004.

Page 3 of 6

  1. Mictlantecuhtli TS Special Forces Posts: 4,916   +9

    One low-cost (or free) thing to do this would be to download a Linux live CD, boot to it, and wipe the USB stick with dd command. Does that sound too difficult?

    The drive shredder utilities I found for "Windows" seem to be bootable floppies, so you'd need drivers for USB devices before using them, gets even more difficult if you ask me.
    Mictlantecuhtli, Dec 7, 2005
    #41

  2. dark_destiny Newcomer, in training

    that mean I need to buy Linux live CD and use that to format my USB stick? :knock:
    also can you show me step by step of doing this because I want my USB stick come back please?
    dark_destiny, Dec 7, 2005
    #42

  3. osram Newcomer, in training Posts: 90

    well im glad running around with my iAudio U2 from cowon systems as i read this.

    1GB of storage.. perfect mp3-flash-player software and its just wonderful. i can only recommend this one.

    Also there is a special nifty glorious reset button on this unit. so u can simply reset the player yourself when having problems. ^^

    i can only laff @ the people with the sticks. you belong into the woods evil woodelves!
    now i can finally print my own t-shirt: "dont laff thai!"
    osram, Dec 7, 2005
    #43

  4. Mictlantecuhtli TS Special Forces Posts: 4,916   +9

    Here's how I wiped my Kingston DataTraveler Elite:

    1. Download BG-Rescue Linux (I got the bootable CD image)

    2. Burn / write it, boot from it.

    3. Reply yes to use USB 2.0 support.

    4. dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1k will fill the stick with zeroes.

    5. fdisk /dev/sda to create a new partition to it.

    6. press n to create new partition, p = primary, 1 = first one. Enter twice for the size.

    7. press t to change the partition type, type b for FAT32.

    8. press w to write changes and exit.

    9. mkfs.fat32 /dev/sda1 will create a FAT32 partition to the stick.

    10. Reboot to Windows.
    Mictlantecuhtli, Dec 7, 2005
    #44

  5. dark_destiny Newcomer, in training

    I download disk 2 and I can't open it do I need disk 2???
    dark_destiny, Dec 9, 2005
    #45

  6. t_bird1199 Newcomer, in training

    Hey Tedster, how do i exactly delete the old partition and create a new one. You see, i have a 512 Mb flash drive/mp3 player and i formatted it and now it only claims to have 118 Mb. How do i restore it to 512 Mb. I followed you up to the part of going to the disk management on the computer. But what do i do after that? I would really appreaciate the help. Thanks

    t_bird1199
    t_bird1199, Dec 13, 2005
    #46
     

  7. Tedster Techspot old timer..... Posts: 10,047   +11

    Tedster, Dec 13, 2005
    #47

  8. cryptkeeper Newcomer, in training

    THE answer to formating your flash usb drive 128mb

    simply follow theses steps
    1.right click on my computer
    2.choose manage
    3.select disk magement
    and then look for disk 1 removeable drive
    4.right click and choose partion
    5.then just follow the wizard

    later brought 2 you by illusions ent.
    cryptkeeper, Dec 24, 2005
    #48

  9. cryptkeeper Newcomer, in training

    THe Answer to formating our usb drive 128mb

    Please Help.
    simply follow theses steps
    1.right click on my computer
    2.choose manage
    3.select disk magement
    and then look for disk 1 removeable drive
    4.right click and choose partion
    5.then just follow the wizard

    later brought 2 you by illusions ent.
    cryptkeeper, Dec 24, 2005
    #49

  10. skali Newcomer, in training

    formatting new drive/usb/external hdd under winxp

    i've just bought a notebook hdd and put it into my sarotech casing.*pling* and now i've got an usb hdd. after browsing for information since my winxp didn't recognize my new hdd, i've came across here: http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/nst-350u2.htm and it had helped me a lot! it turns out that using computer management in winxp (already there!) is easy!. ;) try it my friends!! peace :giddy:
    skali, Jan 23, 2006
    #50

  11. 8578706 Newcomer, in training

    i was able to fix my sandisk 512 mb using killdisk
    8578706, Jan 23, 2006
    #51

  12. Tribal-Phoenix Newcomer, in training Posts: 118

    noone of those advice helped... using kill disk it jurt gave me an error for every sector, windows management thing said it was write protected too, all this crap happened after i used truecrypt to make an encrypted partition on my usb. any advices ?
    Tribal-Phoenix, Jan 30, 2006
    #52

  13. ebi1060 Newcomer, in training

    help me to format my falsh USB disk

    i have a 512meg Joger falsh disk that i can not format it! i use a software named "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool" but when i want to format it i recive a error "the disk is write protected" even i can not format it via win XP SP2!! please help me! ia cant delete files or copy a file in it!! :dead:
    ebi1060, Feb 18, 2006
    #53

  14. Tribal-Phoenix Newcomer, in training Posts: 118

    i brough mine to the store and they said its a hardware glitch.
    Tribal-Phoenix, Feb 18, 2006
    #54

  15. AlexM15 Newcomer, in training

    Okay, so I've got a weird situation. I did something to my USB drive (not even sure what) and here's what happens. When I plug it in to my computer, the computer finds it, but doesn't allow me to do anything with it. I've tried the killdisk thing and the drive is 'unavailable' or something. and the HP fixer said there was no room on the drive (and it also recognized it as a 0, yes zero, mb drive. I've tried the computer management thingy and it's not even listed, though if you open My Computer, its listed there. And to top it all off, whatever's wrong with it causes my computer to freak out because once its plugged in, svchost.exe freaks out and is doing something to take up anywhere between 40-80 percent of my CPU power.

    ANY help would be a god send. Thank you!!!
    AlexM15, Feb 24, 2006
    #55

  16. Tedster Techspot old timer..... Posts: 10,047   +11

    Tedster, Feb 25, 2006
    #56

  17. Diego Olea Newcomer, in training

    Hello, I tried KillDisk but this get stuck after recognition of USB devices, do you know how to work around ? Thanks.
    Diego Olea, Mar 13, 2006
    #57

  18. Suckaa Newcomer, in training

    Pls Help me..

    I've got the same problem as u guyz got. I've a brand new 512MB MP3 USB FLash drive which is not even worth a penny now. I botched up by formatting it. Now it shows only 242 MB. I've tried all the methods that you guys have mentioned. But None of those helped. I've tried Killdisk., Hp software(Which was the culprit). and Disk management in Win Xp.

    Hope u guyz can Sort out..!

    Thnx in advance..
    Suckaa, Mar 18, 2006
    #58

  19. Tedster Techspot old timer..... Posts: 10,047   +11

    Tedster, Mar 18, 2006
    #59

  20. Haus Newcomer, in training

    Worked!

    Nice knowledge of Windows... didn't even know that utility exsisted. Thanks a bunch!
    Haus, Mar 23, 2006
    #60
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