My USB drive used to be originally 8GB when I bought it.
I'm trying to reformatted in Windows 7 by right clicking on the drive and selecting Format...
. But the capacity only shows 250MB.
Is there something I can do to get the original size back? Maybe it got partitioned in a weird way?
The flash drive is a SanDisk Cruzer Micro 8GB. I got it from Wal-Mart but this is the same drive.
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Micro-Flash-SDCZ6-8192-A11/dp/B000UZN2ZK
Best Answer
You should try BootIce. BootIce is a portable, free utility designed to directly customize and fix drives at a deep level. It is able to edit, restore, install and backup MBR, PBR, partitions and sectors of drives.
CAUTION: Because of its powerful capabilities, using this program can render your drive non-functional. There is no Reverse option to recover from changes made through use of this utility. Always use caution when using BootIce and make sure you know what you're going to do is the way to what you want to accomplish before attempting to make use of its functions.
As I happen to have a flashdrive with this same problem, I'll add a walkthrough below with the precise steps on how to fix it. But first, a bird's eye view of the problem in My Computer:
Compare that to the results in DiskPart:
The drive's original size is 32GB, however incorrectly shows as only 242MB. To correct this, proceed as follows:
How to recover a flashdrive's full capacity using BootIce
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Boot-Manager-Disk/Bootice.shtml
Extract the .rar file into a location of your choice. As BootIce is a portable program, you can run it from flashdrive or external HD.
Verify the drive you have is the one with the problem. ATTN: Deleting partitions will erase all data. Make sure you back up any important files or data you do not want to lose before proceeding.
Insert the verified USB with the issue into your computer's USB port.
You will need Administrator access to run BootIce as it requires formatting priviledges. Right click BootIce and select Run as Administrator.
Congratulations, your drive is now ready for use!