“Windows was unable to complete the format” – Can’t format flashdrive!

fat32formattingntfsusbusb-flash-drive

I have a 8GB Sandisk Cruzer USB flash drive that I had ruined a while back trying to make it bootable. Anyway now when I click on it I get a message that it needs to be reformatted to be used. So when I try to do that, the formatting starts and suddenly ends with the message "Windows was unable to complete the format".

This happens no matter which file system I choose (NTFS, FAT32, exFat) and also which computer I try this on. I am now on a Windows 7 32-bit OS and before tries it on a Vista Home Basic machine.

Anyone know any way around this issue?

Best Answer

You could also go the hard way, using the GParted Live CD. If gparted is unable to format, then the drive is broken (that's my opinion and not necessary true, but I can't think of something else in that case).

Related Solutions

8GB stick thinks it’s a 4GB one

I think the USB drive is going haywire, I'd recommend that you stop using it.

Ubuntu reports 4 instead of 8 GB:

$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb
Disk /dev/sdb: 3763 MB, 3763600896 bytes
116 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1022 cylinders, total 7350783 sectors
(...)

And if you look at fdisk's output more closely you will notice that the start and end sectors make no sense at all and don't match the total number of sectors on the Cruzer:

Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   ?  4281232757  1652651905   833193222+  6d  Unknown
/dev/sdb2   ?  1141509631  1685422960   271956665   66  Unknown
/dev/sdb3   ?  1937007983  1937010555        1286+  65  Novell Netware 386
/dev/sdb4      2885681152  2885736393       27621    0  Empty

Something's wrong with the USB flash drive. I don't see how you can get your 8 GB back.

Windows – Reusing a USB flash drive with a hidden partition

For your specific case, SanDisk has a free U3 Removal Tool download available on their website.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

8GB stick thinks it’s a 4GB one

Windows – Reusing a USB flash drive with a hidden partition

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