• Formatting a flash drive after booting. How to make a regular flash drive from a bootable one. A guide to returning a bootable flash drive to its normal state How to format a flash drive to make it bootable

    To create a bootable flash drive, we will use programs from both a third-party manufacturer and the built-in Windows command interpreter. Each method is different and has its own specifics, but I think that a simple end user will be able to cope with creating a bootable flash drive using any of the proposed methods:

    • how to make a bootable USB flash drive using the command line
    • how to make a bootable USB flash drive using UltraISO
    • how to make a bootable USB flash drive using Windows7 USB/DVD Download Tool

    If you are interested in information about creating a bootable USB flash drive for the Linux operating system family, then you can read the information at this link “bootable USB flash drive for Linux”.

    So, I propose to start creating a bootable flash drive in order, as defined in the above list, accordingly we proceed to the first method.

    BOOT FLASH DRIVE using the command line (method I)

    Next, we will use only those commands that we need when creating a bootable flash drive. Therefore, the figure below shows the sequential entry of commands to create a bootable USB flash drive. And please pay attention to the fact that the commands you enter are indicated by a red underline!

    Graphical representation of command input on the command line

    Now let's describe the previously entered commands:

    DISKPART- launch the program, a text-mode command interpreter that allows you to manage objects (disks, partitions or volumes) using scripts or directly entering commands from the command line.

    list disk- display a list of disk drives connected to a personal computer.

    select disk 1- select disk number “1”, since in our case it is a removable flash drive.

    clean- clears all data from removable media - flash drive.

    create partition primary- create a primary partition.

    select partition 1- select the created section.

    active- make the section active.

    format fs=NTFS- format the flash drive in the NTFS file system.

    assign letter=T- if necessary, you can assign a letter for the flash drive in this way.

    Exit- exit the DISKPART program.

    BOOTABLE FLASH DRIVE CREATED!

    NOTE: Once you have created a bootable USB flash drive, you need to transfer the operating system files to this removable media. Files must be transferred in unpacked form, do not under any circumstances simply add an operating system image, for example one *.ISO file, this WILL NOT WORK!!!

    You can see the complete list of Diskpart program commands in the following table:

    Table of commands of the "DISKPART" program

    TEAM EXPLANATION
    ACTIVE- Mark the selected section as active.
    ADD- Adding a mirror to a simple volume.
    ASSIGN- Assign a name or mount point to the selected volume.
    ATTRIBUTES- Working with volume or disk attributes.
    ATTACH- Attaches a virtual disk file.
    AUTOMOUNT- Enable or disable automatic mounting of basic volumes.
    BREAK- Splitting the mirror set.
    CLEAN- Clear configuration information or all data on the disk.
    COMPACT- Attempts to reduce the physical size of the file.
    CONVERT- Convert disk formats.
    CREATE- Create a volume, partition or virtual disk.
    DELETE- Delete an object.
    DETAIL- View object parameters.
    DETACH- Detaches the virtual disk file.
    EXIT- Shutdown DiskPart.
    EXTEND- Expand volume.
    EXPAND- Increasing the maximum available space on the virtual disk.
    FILESYSTEMS- Displays the current and supported file systems for the volume.
    FORMAT- Formatting a given volume or partition.
    GPT- Assigning attributes to the selected GPT partition.
    HELP- Display a list of commands.
    IMPORT- Import a disk group.
    INACTIVE- Marking the selected section as inactive.
    LIST- Display a list of objects.
    MERGE- Merging a child disk with its parents.
    ONLINE- Transferring an object marked as “offline” to the “online” state.
    OFFLINE- Transferring an object marked as “online” to the “offline” state.
    RECOVER- Update the status of all disks of the selected package. Attempting to rebuild disks of the wrong package and resynchronizing mirrored and RAID5 volumes with outdated plex or parity data.
    R.E.M.- Does not perform any actions. Used to comment scripts.
    REMOVE- Delete the drive name or mount point.
    REPAIR- Recovering a RAID-5 volume with a failed member.
    RESCAN- Search for disks and volumes on your computer.
    RETAIN- Placing a service partition on a simple volume.
    SAN- Display or set the SAN policy for the currently loaded OS.
    SELECT- Setting focus on an object.
    SETID- Changing the partition type.
    SHRINK- Reduce the size of the selected volume.
    UNIQUEID- Display or set the GUID Partition Table (GPT) code or Master Boot Record (MBR) signature of the disk.

    BOOT FLASH DRIVE using the UltraISO program (II method)

    The UltraISO program is designed for creating and editing disk images. When creating a bootable flash drive, we will use the built-in functions of this program.

    Open the program with administrator rights, as shown in the figure:

    Select the required operating system image to create a bootable USB flash drive, for example, the Windows Vista disk image is selected here:

    A pop-up window appears where you need to make sure that the removable media, the image file to be recorded and the recording method are correctly specified (it must be set in USB-HDD+ mode) and click the “burn” button

    After clicking the "Write" button, a "Hint" window will appear, prompting you to erase all information on the flash drive. Agree!

    Then the data will be written to the flash drive...

    And finally, after a certain time, the operating system image will be written to a newly created bootable USB flash drive for future installation.

    BOOTABLE FLASH DRIVE IS MADE!

    NOTE: Do not forget to set the BIOS input/output system to boot the primary device, that is, make sure that the computer boots from removable media - the bootable flash drive you created.

    BOOT FLASH DRIVE using Windows7 USB/DVD Download Tool (III method)

    The Windows7 USB/DVD Download Tool program created by Microsoft for burning operating system disk images to optical and removable media. When creating a bootable flash drive, we will sequentially follow all the instructions of the program.

    First, you need to download this program from the official Microsoft website. Then you need to install the program following the installer's instructions. After installing the program, a shortcut will appear on the desktop, as shown in the figure:

    Run it with "Administrator rights", right-click on the shortcut and click on the line "Run as administrator". The program will start, click the "Browse" button and select the operating system image *.ISO

    After you have selected the image of the system to be recorded, click “Next”, another window will appear where you will be asked to select the type of media - optical or removable. Since we have a removable storage device - a flash drive, select "USB device"

    We select our removable media from the proposed list, i.e. flash drive and press the "Begin copying" button

    After clicking the above button, the process of formatting the flash drive will begin...

    After some time, the process of writing the disk image data to the flash drive will continue.

    We wait some time for the image to be recorded, and eventually we will get 100%, and here we are The bootable flash drive is created!

    NOTE: Do not forget to set the BIOS input/output system to boot the primary device, that is, make sure that the computer boots from removable media - the bootable flash drive you created.

    Hello everyone friends. In this article, I want to tell you how to format a flash drive in different ways so that you can choose the most optimal one for yourself. A flash drive today is the most common and convenient carrier of a wide variety of information. But after a certain period of time, it is necessary to carry out the formatting procedure, for a number of different reasons:

    — quick deletion of all files on the media

    - cleaning flash drive from viruses

    — errors appear when writing or reading

    - slow operation of the carrier

    - the need to create a bootable USB flash drive

    Formatting will also be useful if, for example, you want to copy a file larger than 4 GB to a flash drive, then you need to format it from FAT32 format to NTFS format.

    As you can see, there can be a lot of options for carrying out this operation; let’s look at the difference between quick and full formatting (this will be discussed later in the article).

    With quick formatting, only the file allocation table itself is cleared; if desired, deleted data can be restored. With a full format, all data is completely destroyed (overwriting with zeros), and, as a rule, this process takes longer than with a quick format.

    That's it, we're done with theory, let's start practicing, and I'll tell you how to format a flash drive.

  • Formatting a flash drive using built-in Windows tools
  • Via command line
  • Using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

    Advice! Before formatting, be sure to copy files that are important to you to your hard drive or other removable storage device.

    How to format a flash drive - 3 ways

    1) Using built-in Windows tools

    Insert your removable drive into your computer and open the My Computer window, you can also press the key combination:

    In the window that appears, right-click on your media icon and select Format.

    In the new window, set the necessary parameters:

    Capacity – service information about the media size is displayed here; it does not change.

    File system– you can select the file system type from the drop-down list (NTFS, FAT32, exFAT). I advise you to choose the type - NTFS.

    Cluster size is left unchanged.

    Restore default settings– this button returns the settings to standard, we do not touch it.

    Volume label – here you can specify any name that will be displayed when you connect the flash drive to the computer.

    Check the box next to Quick cleanup if you need to urgently clear the storage media. If the flash drive is slow and constantly slows down, or it is infected with viruses, then uncheck this box.

    Click the Start button and in the next window confirm your actions by clicking OK.

    After a short period of time, a message should appear indicating that formatting is complete.

    2) Formatting a flash drive using the command line

    Press the key combination:

    or the Start - Run button, and enter the command - cmd to open the command line.

    In the window that appears, enter the following command:

    format H: /FS:NTFS /Q /V:My_Fleshka

    format H: is a command that starts formatting removable media designated by the specified letter. To find out which letter is used by your flash drive, open My Computer.

    /FS:NTFS – this command sets the type of file system that will be used after formatting the flash drive. In this example it is NTFS.

    /Q – this part of the command means quick formatting; to completely delete data, we do not use it.

    /V:My_Fleshka – volume label, or name that will be assigned to your media.

    and press Enter.

    The following message will appear:

    where we also press Enter.

    That's it, the formatting process has started, wait a while until a message like this appears.

    3) How to format a flash drive using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

    The program, unzip it and run the exe file (it does not require installation) as Administrator (right-click on the file and select Run as Administrator).

    A window will appear in which you need to select the file system when formatting, and also specify the name of the flash drive. Select the formatting method – Quick (check the box) or Full clear (uncheck the box), and click the Start button.

    A warning window will appear, click the Yes button and the formatting process with the specified settings will begin.

    Depending on the selected formatting method, after a certain period of time a window will appear with the formatting result, in which you must click OK.

    Now you know how to quickly format a flash drive and avoid problems associated with removable media.

    And that’s all I have, bye everyone!

    • The article describes how to format a flash drive for installing Windows 10 using the tools built into the operating system and using various third-party tools.

    File system

    There is a lot of debate online on the topic “What file system format of a flash drive is needed to unpack the image with Windows 10 installation files?” Let's consider the question.


    Some recommend NTFS as a file system (FS) that can work with documents larger than 4 GB. Others, including Microsoft, say that you need to format your USB drive to FAT32. Who is right, because the OS has any markup?

    On new computers that use modern GPT and UEFI disk partitions instead of an outdated BIOS, installing Windows 10 is only possible from USB drives with FAT32.

    Old BIOSes “do not understand” GPT markup; they need MBR. And to obtain a master boot record on the hard drive with the OS installed, the flash drive must be partitioned in NTFS. If you have an NTFS flash drive, it is difficult to install Windows 10 on a GPT drive.

    Standard method and third-party program

    You can format a flash drive using both built-in Windows tools and third-party utilities.

    Conductor

    The method is only relevant for computers that support EFI booting (UEFI is used instead of BIOS), on which the OS is installed on a disk with GPT partitioning. Once modified, the contents of the installation image can be unpacked or copied to a USB drive without creating a boot record on it.

    1. Connect a drive with a capacity of 4 GB or more (and if the image takes up more, 8 GB or more) and make sure that important data is copied from it.

    2. Open the context menu of the media and call the “Format...” command.

    3. Select the target file system, enter the volume label, check the “Fast…” option and click “Start”.

    4. Confirm deleting the data and then changing the drive layout.


    The flash drive is ready. All that remains is to write the contents of the ISO file onto it.

    Rufus

    1. Launch the program (the portable version does not require installation) and select the flash drive in the “Device” list.

    Be sure to download the program from the developer’s official website https://rufus.ie.

    2. In the Boot method field, select Non-boot image.

    3. Select the target system and computer drive partition scheme.

    4. Depending on them, specify the file system.

    5. Activate the “Quick Format” option (the rest of the data is not so important) and click “Start”.

    Working with other utilities for creating a new file system on flash drives is no different. The main thing is to choose the right type of file system.

    I will show you 4 ways to help you make a bootable USB flash drive. It is usually needed to install Windows OS or for a program if it runs before the system boots.

    There are many programs to solve this problem, but sometimes you can get by using the system. I will provide instructions that will help you make a bootable USB flash drive with any version of Windows or program. 4 methods, 2 universal and 2 for specific OS.

    But before that you need to prepare. You will need:

    1. Flash drive with a capacity of 4 GB or more.
    2. Image ( iso) operating system or program for which a bootable USB flash drive will be created.

    Before creating a bootable USB flash drive, be sure to format it to avoid errors.

    Bootable USB flash drive in Windows OS

    You can do without third-party programs and do everything in Windows. To do this you will have to use a number of commands. I will demonstrate only the most necessary ones.

    First clear your device of all files. To do this, go to the execution line ( Win+R) from the Start menu >> Run, and then enter the command diskpart as in the image below.

    In the window that appears, enter list disk to see all devices for further work with them.


    In my example, there were 2 devices:

    1. 0 - hard drive.
    2. 1 - flash drive.

    It is very easy to distinguish a flash drive from hard drives by size. Select it with the command select disk 1.

    Be careful, there may be another number instead of 1.



    After this, you need to create a primary partition. To do this, enter create partition primary.


    Select a section by entering select partition 1 and activate it with the command active.



    Then set the letter to the carrier ( automatically) by entering assign and finish the job Exit.


    Now be sure to download the files to the USB flash drive unpacked. If you just copy the iso file, nothing will work.

    If you don’t understand something, you can watch a video on how to do it using a real example.

    Bootable USB flash drive for Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

    Download and install the USB/DVD Download Tool. It is made specifically for working with Windows 7 files and is absolutely free. Most likely it won't work with others. Just 4 simple steps to create.

    Please note that if you use an image not from the official Microsoft website, problems or errors may occur.


    Provide the path to the iso file and proceed to the next step.


    Then select “USB device” for a flash drive or “DVD” for a disk.


    Select a flash drive and start copying. It must have at least 4 GB of free space.


    Then wait until it is written to the device and you will receive a ready-made bootable USB flash drive.


    The instructions are also available in video format.

    Bootable USB flash drive for all images in UltraIso

    This is a paid program with a free trial period. Download it from the official website and install. It is multifunctional and in Russian. Suitable for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10.

    You can watch an example of installing Windows XP in the video. With other versions of systems, everything is done similarly.

    Once launched, select a trial period.


    Then open the image in the program.


    Now in the “Bootboot” tab, select the image entry as shown in the example below.


    Settings are set here.

    1. Disk drive- flash drive.
    2. Image file— here check whether the path is specified correctly.
    3. Recording method- be sure to use USB-HDD+. Otherwise, in some cases it will not work.

    After checking all the settings, start recording.


    Wait for it to finish. Time to finish is shown on the right.

    Under no circumstances remove the flash drive until the process is completed.


    If completed successfully, you will see a completion message. After this, the bootable USB flash drive will be ready. Just close the window and enjoy.


    Additional method for Windows XP

    Download the free DirectGrub utility and unpack the archive. No installation required. Select the iso file, flash drive and click “Start” as in the image below.


    Wait while the files are copied. After successful completion, a window will appear.

    I hope you don’t have any questions and everything turned out well.

    What did you use to create a bootable USB flash drive?

    The process of formatting a flash drive is not much different from formatting an HDD or SSD drive. Next, we will look at the best ones (such as USB Disk Storage Format Tool). We also mention a USB drive, available in any Windows operating system.

    Content:

    The guide will help you understand the many formatting options. I will explain what each individual parameter does and which one is best suited for your USB flash drive. And if the standard method does not help, we will select an alternative utility for formatting the flash drive.

    What is formatting?

    Formatting refers to the processing of a storage medium associated with organizing the structure of this storage medium. The source can be a hard drive (HDD), SSD, flash drive (usb flash drive), SD card or other solid-state device. Formatting changes the structure of access to digital information.

    How to format an SD memory card? SD cards have special formatting features. We have written instructions on how to format a memory card. We are talking about the SDFormatter tool (download), specially designed for formatting flash drives and SD cards in Windows and Mac OS.

    Two facts need to be kept in mind:

    1. When formatting a flash drive, all data stored on it is destroyed. Files can only be restored using special recovery utilities, but a successful result cannot be guaranteed.
    2. when you format a flash drive or HDD, the system checks for structural errors and, in some cases, corrects them.

    Low-level formatting of a flash drive is a type of formatting in which the surface of a USB drive is laid out into sectors used for further recording of service information. Low-level formatting is performed using special utilities, which we will discuss later in the article. We will also tell you how to format a flash drive using their tools.

    As a rule, users do not want to understand the formatting options of the program. But in vain: after all, the settings are responsible for the performance of the flash drive and the read/write speed. The optimal parameters depend on the model of the device that will be formatted and on what you plan to do with the flash drive, what tasks to perform: launch applications, use it as an OS boot, to store all kinds of data, etc.

    How to quickly format a flash drive in Windows 7 - Windows 10

    Tip of the day. Sometimes formatting allows you to restore the functionality of a flash drive, mark it up correctly, copy files to it - as a result, it becomes writable even after Windows has stopped detecting it or has stopped reading data. This is especially important to consider if Windows cannot format the flash drive and the user has to look for third-party tools.

    Windows OS has a standard utility for this case, so you don’t need to look for third-party formatting tools. Whether you are using Windows XP, Windows 7, 8 or Windows 10, the steps described are essentially the same.

    1. Insert the flash drive into the USB port
    2. Go to Explorer (Start > My Computer)
    3. Right-click on the USB drive, select “Format” from the context menu
    4. Determine the file system type - FAT or NTFS
    5. To format the drive, make a selection and click the "Start" button
    6. Confirm that you really want to erase all data on the drive
    7. Flash drive is formatted

    You need to understand what each of these options is responsible for. Flash drive formatting options that can be changed in the standard "Format" utility:

    • Capacity: flash drive size in GB. Every time you format a drive, check the capacity: this will help you avoid mistakes.
    • File system. The type of file system, in many situations, is not important. However, if you specify FAT rather than NTFS, you will not be able to write files larger than 4 GB to the flash drive. If you choose a rare type of file system, be prepared for the fact that your flash drive will not be detected on other operating systems and computers. However, in Windows OS the choice is limited only to NTFS and (ex)FAT.
    • Cluster size. Read about what a cluster is and what size you need to specify here.
    • Volume label: conventional name of the flash drive. It does not affect anything, but it is advisable to assign a memorable label in order to navigate in Explorer and the operating system.
    Interface of the flash drive system formatting utility in Windows 8

    What is the best format to format a USB flash drive?

    In Windows 7, you can choose from four main file systems: NTFS, FAT, FAT32 and exFAT. You will not see FAT and FAT32 file systems in the list of available files if the total capacity of the flash drive or disk is more than 32 GB.

    Advantages of a file system NTFS:

    • writing and reading data larger than 4 gigabytes and up to the maximum allowed partition size.
    • ability to create large partitions on a USB flash drive - more than 32 GB
    • formatting a flash drive in NTFS is easier than in FAT
    • effective compression of information and, accordingly, saving occupied space on a flash drive.
    • Better use of available space = less need for fragmentation.
    • support for on-the-fly file encryption thanks to the EFS encrypted file system (Windows Professional OS).

    Advantages of file systems FAT and FAT32:

    • FAT is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X operating systems
    • files take up less space on a USB drive than NTFS.
    • FAT formatting is available in any OS
    • Fewer disk write/rewrite operations = more efficient use of available memory.

    Pros of the file system exFAT:

    • Read/write large files > 4 gigabytes in size to a USB flash drive.
    • partitioning > 32 GB.
    • rational use of space = optimization of fragmentation.

    So, let's draw conclusions. FAT and FAT32 are suitable for drives smaller than 32 GB and if you do not need to store files larger than 2 and 4 GB.

    Due to the nature of the file system, NTFS is not recommended for flash drives, even if their capacity is > 32 GB. A compromise solution would be the exFAT file system. It combines the significant advantages of FAT and NTFS (large file sizes are supported). Thus, the exFAT file system is optimal for formatting flash drives.

    FAT and FAT32 are the only file systems that guarantee cross-platform compatibility. NTFS is not supported on Linux and requires third-party applications to work on Mac. exFAT, on the other hand, is supported on Snow Leopard and later versions of Mac OS, but requires drivers on Linux as well.

    If you have to choose between FAT and FAT32, choose the latter - especially if you are dealing with a 2 GB flash drive or less. This is useful for improving compatibility and speed.

    What cluster size should I specify in the settings?

    The "Cluster Size" option in the formatting settings sets the appropriate size. The file system records the status of each cluster: free or busy. Once a file or part of a file is written to the cluster, it enters the "busy" state - regardless of whether there is space available.

    Consequently, large clusters are impractical in terms of using space on a flash drive (disk).

    With smaller clusters, however, the flash drive slows down as each file is broken into smaller pieces. Copying files takes much longer.

    Fortunately, the situation can be corrected using a flash drive formatting program. Additionally, the optimal cluster size depends on the purpose of the USB drive.

    Cluster size in NTFS

    If you store small files on a flash drive or run programs from a flash drive, a smaller cluster size will help save space. On a 1 TB external hard drive, it is advisable to select a cluster of 64 kilobytes in size.

    Cluster size when formatting a flash drive in fat32

    If you store large files on disk, a large cluster size is preferable: a flash drive will work faster. For flash drives less than 500 MB, select a 512 byte (FAT32) or 32 KB (FAT) cluster.

    What label should I choose for the name of the flash drive?

    A volume label is just a name. It's not required, so anything will do. However, there are several rules that you need to follow, depending on the file system in which you intend to format the flash drive.

    • maximum 32 characters
    • will be displayed in UPPERCASE and LOWERcase letters as you entered.
    • maximum 11 characters
    • the label will be displayed in capital letters

    Quick or Full Format?

    In typical formatting cases, files are deleted from the disk, and the disk is checked for bad sectors. Full formatting will be useful for diagnosing recording errors.

    Quick formatting only deletes files and does not search. Therefore, use the quick option if you do not have time to check flash drive errors.

    Selecting a program to format a flash drive

    Windows cannot always format a flash drive correctly. Standard formatting is not a panacea for a flash drive if the service information on the storage device has been damaged. Unfortunately, it is more difficult to recover data on a flash drive if it is damaged in this way. One solution to the problem is to download to your computer a proprietary program for formatting a flash drive (if available) on the memory manufacturer’s website. We recommend contacting support and asking the manufacturer how to clean a flash drive and whether they have programs for full formatting.

    So, how to format a flash drive? Let's look at the best programs for formatting flash drives, more or less universal tools. If desired, you can easily find other alternatives, free and proprietary utilities offered by suppliers.

    Tip of the day. When formatting a flash drive, save important files on your computer. All data on the formatted media will be permanently deleted.

    JetFlash Recovery Tool

    JetFlash Recovery Tool is a universal solution. This program for formatting flash drives will be useful if:

    • Errors and failures detected on the USB flash drive
    • the information on the flash drive is not readable
    • need to format the flash drive

    Install JetFlash Recovery Tool and try to force format the USB drive using it. The flash drive application works with A-DATA and Transcend media, but other options are possible. We warn you: the utility is not “omnivorous” and can easily reject your USB device.

    JetFlash Recovery Tool can be downloaded from the official website. Install it on your computer according to the instructions included with the program.

    Utility for formatting a USB flash drive Disk Storage Format Tool

    The free USB Disk Storage Format Tool allows you to quickly and correctly format a USB flash drive for Windows. In this case, you can specify the media file system: FAT, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS.

    Main functions of the utility:

    • Allows you not only to format a flash drive, but also to erase all data on a flash drive that cannot be formatted in the traditional (system) way.
    • USB Disk Storage Format Tool removes any traces of malware and viruses that may have infected the flash drive.
    • Finding and correcting reading errors and bad blocks on a flash drive.
    • Create a volume label (name) for USB drives.
    • Create a partition in FAT32 with a capacity of more than 32 GB.
    • Low-level formatting of a flash drive of the required model (Kingston, HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Transcend, Corsair, etc.)
    • It’s easy to monitor the formatting process: just check the Verbose option.

    USB Disk Storage Format Tool has been successfully tested on thousands of storage devices (Compact Flash, CF Card II, Memory Stick Duo Pro, Thumb Drive, Pen Drive). USB Disk Storage Format supports drive brands such as SanDisk, Kingston, Transcend, Corsair, HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Toshiba, PNY, Verbatim, LaCie, Panda, Seatech, SDKSK9, Silicon Power, IronKey and HDE.

    There is also a Pro version of the USB Disk Storage Format Tool. With its help, you can create bootable flash drives, perform low-level formatting, and change the cluster size.

    Formatting a flash drive using the HDD Low Level Format Tool

    HDD Low Level Format Tool – a utility for low-level formatting of hard drives running Windows. Allows you to read SMART data and extract service information about Data storage devices.

    However, HDD Low Level Format Tool supports not only hard drives, but also memory cards and flash drives (SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash) - you may need a card reader to connect them.

    HDD Low Level Format Tool will erase data from SATA, IDE, SAS, SCSI or SSD at a low access level. The utility also works with any USB and FIREWIRE external drive, as well as SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash flash drives.

    Supported brands: Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum, Western Digital and others not listed here.


    Utility for formatting HDD flash drive Low Level Format Tool

    Program for formatting a flash drive HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

    A very simple utility for correctly formatting a flash drive in FAT32 and NTFS format. The main function is to help the user quickly select options and format the flash drive on the computer by pressing one button.

    The utility for a USB flash drive is distributed free of charge, the installer can be downloaded for Windows OS.

    In addition, through the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool you can create a bootable Windows USB flash drive (which other similar formatters cannot do).

    Program interface for formatting flash drives HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

    How to format a flash drive on Mac OS

    The HP USB Format Tool application allows you to format a flash drive in the Mac operating system. However, to do this you need to perform a number of intricate steps:

    1. Install the Parallels Desktop emulator on your computer
    2. Install Windows on Mac OS
    3. Format a flash drive for Mac OS X via emulated Windows

    Kingston USB Format Tool – format a flash drive without settings

    This program does not contain any settings at all. To format, you need to specify the device (USB flash drive) and file system.

    The developers on the site indicate that the FAT file system will avoid conflicts with other operating systems and will not affect the performance of the flash drive.

    The program works under Windows 7 and Windows 10 and earlier versions of the OS.

    Therefore, if you have a Kingston flash drive and for some reason it has become slow, try this program: perhaps it will solve the problem.

    Answers to questions

    I'm having problems with my flash drive. SmartBuy 64 gig. At first, the flash drive occasionally “disappeared”, then disappeared completely.... after lying around for 3 weeks, it appeared and allowed itself to be formatted (from fat32 to NTFS). It worked for 2 weeks and disappeared again..... SmartBuy technical support specialists “don’t know and can’t help with the problem”... The utility for formatting a flash drive Low Level Format Tool works as it should, the usual one (both Windows and special utilities) - some goes to the end and writes that Windows cannot complete the formatting (this is usually in NTFS), and some immediately refuse (and this is in exFAT).

    So: I have thoughts that the flash drive has been “shortened” due to bad blocks, and therefore programs for formatting the flash drive do not reach the very end - so they refuse to make the final recording on the media.

    Please recommend a program for correct low-level formatting of a flash drive that does not check for errors at the end. Something like that program that the Chinese use to “make” LARGE flash drives out of small ones.

    Answer. Try the following programs: JetFlash Recovery Tool, USB Disk Storage Format Tool, HDD Low Level Format Tool. Pay attention to utilities that perform low-level formatting. The name may indicate that these programs are designed for hard drives - however, some of them work similarly with flash drives, allowing you to format them.

    There is such a flash drive Name: DT 101 II (USB2.0)

    VID&PID: Vid_0951&Pid_1625
    Speed: high speed

    Vendor Description: Kingston
    Product Description: DT 101 II
    Serial Number: 000AEB91EBF5F97155120907

    The capacity of the flash drive is determined by the system as 16 GB. It is formatted, but when writing a file larger than 4 GB it says that there is no space.

    Answer. You need to format the flash drive to NTFS. You can record files larger than 4 GB on it. However, as we have already noted, exFat (Extended File Allocation Table) is the best option for a flash drive.

    How to format a flash drive to ntfs? Use USB Disk Storage Format Tool or HDD Low Level Format Tool. Built-in Windows tools will also help you format the drive to ntfs.

    Good day. I have a Transend flash drive, the problem is that it either works or doesn’t, formatting it doesn’t help. You dump the files on the computer from which you dumped it, it opens, you insert it into another and there is only a “shortcut” and it weighs 1 kb. Today I formatted it in fat32, reset the movie, watched half of the movie on TV, I thought everything was going to work out, but I was happy too early, the video stopped and that’s it, it doesn’t play anymore. I just don’t know what problem this is related to in your article. Please help, thanks in advance!!

    A friend brought a Micro Sd Jeef 64GB. The flash drive worked properly. After some time, the error “The disk is write protected” appeared. I tried all the treatment methods, the formatting does not work and gives the same error. On his phone the flash drive is displayed on mine, no. All files can be pulled out, but not uploaded. How to format a flash drive so that files can be copied to it?

    I bought an SD card a month ago. When I put it in the slot, I went into the settings and it was shown that the memory capacity was only 128 MB, although in reality there was 14.7 GB of memory. I tried to format it several times in different ways (using programs for formatting a flash drive, described in the article), but it still couldn’t be fixed. Everything is fine with the device because... the remaining volumes of SD cards were displayed normally.

    I have a problem with the micro SD card of the 4 GB transend phone. photos and videos are no longer recorded on it, the information is not deleted. I tried to reformat it to the desired format (fat 32), but it doesn’t format. only in ex fat, but after that the information on the card does not disappear, and the format remains the same fat 32. I tried all the options, formatting with the command line, various utilities, scanned for viruses, also corrected errors and bad sectors through Windows, everything remains the same as before. The formatting program from the company of the same name also did not help. Tell me, can anything be done in this case, or is the card completely dead?

    The flash drive was fully working, I tried to write Windows 10 onto it via ultraISO, formatted it before that, after which it is now empty (there are no files at all), there is nothing left from the old 32 GB: occupied, free, capacity is now 0 bytes. When checking for errors through properties/information, the message: The disk cannot be checked because it is inaccessible. How to reformat a flash drive to return it to 32 GB of capacity?

    The problem is that even after completely formatting the flash drive, the files remain. There is a second protected partition on the flash drive - how to remove it? Standard Windows tools and formatting utilities do not see it. Flash drive 16 GB, visible 14 GB. This partition was seen by the AOMEI Partition Assistant 6.6.0 program, but there was no option to delete it.

    There is an Apacer AH223 flash drive. The owner encrypted it with some kind of program. Which one he doesn’t know. As a result, all the information can be easily read and copied, but it cannot be formatted. HDD Low Level Format Tool, Diskpart did not help.

    MicroSD 32gb - I can view the contents, but I cannot delete or format. I used different programs for formatting. What is the best way to format the flash drive (if possible) to fix it?

    My Xiaomi formatted the flash drive in my phone, now it can’t be read on my phone or on my computer. I tried to format it through the computer, now it doesn’t show anything at all, it says insert card. What to do????

    My Xiaomi formatted the SD card in the phone, now it can’t be read on the phone or on the computer. I tried to format it through the computer, but now it doesn’t show anything at all, it says “insert card.” What to do?

    In short, I have a 32GB flash drive, and one of my friends formatted it from ntfs to fat, and plus, write protection appeared from somewhere. I have no idea how to format it back to ntfs (possible data loss) and remove write protection.

    A double-sided flash drive (USB-micro USB) was no longer detected both on the computer and on the phone: the chipset program was considered to be: 090C and pid: 1000, I tried to format it with the flash doctor program and the process lasted 2 days, upon completion it was not even detected by the chipset program, please tell me the solution.

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