How to reformat a USB Flash Drive?

**peshek77** · April 21st, 2007, 05:29 PM

I was installingn Windows on one of my machines. When it got to the "Partitions" screen I accidentally "REMOVED" my Cruzer Micro 1GB (SanDisk). Now it is "Unallocated Space" as it shows in the WIndows setup screen. The drive as it is unusable. I tried formatting to a FAT drive using the Windwos format, but it says "Unable to complete format."

Please, please, please... If anyone knows how to make it work again, please let me know. I bought it less than a month a go and to break it in such a lame way hurts me way too much!

Thank you.

**Ferrit** · April 21st, 2007, 08:55 PM

Have you looked at it in Disk management?
Right click my computer
Left side Disk management

**peshek77** · April 22nd, 2007, 12:42 AM

Originally Posted by Ferrit

Have you looked at it in Disk management?
Right click my computer
Left side Disk management

I just did... It doesn't show up. I am using Vista by the way. I can see it in My Computer, but when I click on it, it says "You need to format the disk in drive G: in order to use it. Do you wish to format now?" When I try to do that, it says the format was not completed.

I have no ideas what-so-ever.

**NooNoo** · April 22nd, 2007, 04:04 AM

Sounds like you removed the partition as well... did you try creating a partition? What format did you use, FAT or NTFS?

**Keith77mn** · November 4th, 2008, 01:07 PM

You need to go to the manufacturer's web site and get a low-level format utility.

**Niclo Iste** · November 4th, 2008, 03:09 PM

Thanks for the info but just wondering if anyone noticed we answered a post from a year ago. Sad to say but if I were them I'd have bought a new thumb drive already. I've formatted thumb drives with linux and caused them to be all kinds of useless. The solution I had was using a program like acronis to make a new partitioned space on the drive.

**NooNoo** · November 4th, 2008, 04:34 PM

OMG if you are going to present someone elses work as your own, please change it into your own words. If you want to post someone elses work, please credit the author.

And for the record OMG, Vista can't be installed on FAT, but can both read and write to it.

Vista does support usb/flash drives which are formatted with FAT from the manufacturer.

**Keith77mn** · November 5th, 2008, 04:30 PM

HaHa, wow is right. Peshek, I did, however have the identical issue of accidentally removing the "partition" of a PNY USB flash drive during a Windows install, rendering it useless. So I thought I would post the actual solution I found to this problem, which was to go to the PNY website, download, and run the low-level format utility they provide for this very problem. Too many blow-hard know-it-alls on the internet make it hard for people to use forums to find real answers these days.