Fast and safe utility for formatting SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards. The program also supports working with other types of external storage media (external HDD, USB-flash drives, digital cameras, etc.)

Program description

The SD Card Formatter tool is quite simple and intuitive for users with any skill level. After a simple installation procedure, the utility is immediately ready for use and does not require any settings.

After starting SD Card Formatter in the main window of the program you need to specify the desired memory card for formatting from the drop-down list. After selecting a storage device, technical information about the media will be displayed.

When formatting an SD card, two modes are available:

• Quickformat  (Quick format)
  • In this mode, the data on the SD card physically remains, but the space on the memory card is marked as unused. The advantages of this type of formatting are the fast execution process, and the disadvantages are the ability to restore confidential information after losing a memory card.
• Overwriteformat  (Full format / overwrite)
  • This mode during the formatting process records zero values \u200b\u200bover the entire available space of the external information medium. The procedure may take a long time depending on the size of the SD card, but data recovery is subsequently impossible.

Before formatting, you can also specify a new “label” for the SD card. After formatting the memory card is completed, SD Card Formatter will display a detailed report on the status of the storage device (available capacity, file system type, cluster size).

Flash drives are a very popular accessory for storing important information or for transferring data between multiple computers when there is no way to transfer them in other ways. Despite the high reliability and the possibility of multiple recordings, under the influence of various factors, chips and memory partitions are worn out, as a result of which various crashes and malfunctions can occur, and information can be read and written with errors. As a result, the system may require you to format the USB flash drive and not open it. You can try to check the disk for errors or restore data and continue to use.

An extreme measure of restoring the performance of a flash drive is low-level formatting.

But when everything is already so bad that neither recovery nor normal formatting helps, only low-level formatting will help. It will help to fully restore the functionality of the flash drive, as well as get rid of errors and crashes. In this article, we will examine in more detail what constitutes low-level formatting of a flash drive, as well as software that can help with this.

It’s worth starting with how the organization of the file system is arranged. The entire file system is divided into tracks and sectors (the so-called clusters) having a certain size, which, in turn, are combined into sections or directories. Depending on the file system used, their principle of organization and location may vary. All service information is recorded in the memory of the controller, which manages requests for access to the desired location in memory. When you transfer data to media, the file is split into pieces with the cluster size and written to a specific sector of the disk. When reading, the controller accesses the desired sector, and you get access to the data.

If, for some reason, the arrangement of sectors is lost, for example, when writing or reading a large amount of data, you pulled the USB flash drive out of the connector, the controller cannot correctly access the desired sector, since that section is damaged. Low-level formatting allows you to delete the memory sectors located on the disk, and to clear the control information of the controller. In other words, you do a complete reset of the firmware of the flash drive or memory card and erase the file system. To continue using the flash drive, you will need to format it in the usual way.

Why else do low-level formatting?

• Complete cleaning of various malicious files that have fallen on the USB flash drive, especially if they cannot be deleted in the usual way using antivirus or recovery.
• The most reliable and complete deletion of sensitive and sensitive data in order to exclude the possibility of restoring it using special software.
• Prevention of errors in the presence of bad sectors and junk files that interfere with normal operation.
• To restore the boot sector, that is, if the USB flash drive is physically healthy, and the system cannot access the files.

In order to be able to perform such a procedure, you will need special software. Consider some of the best utilities that can help you with this. Usually they all support all the basic models of drives, but since some of them may have their own peculiarities, in such cases you will have to limit yourself to a utility sharpened for use with devices of a specific manufacturer.

Overview of the best utilities

Very powerful and advanced utility for low-level formatting of flash drives and other storage media. The program is capable of resuscitating them from almost any, most hopeless state (well, except perhaps in addition to unrecoverable physical damage to microchips and controllers), as well as completely erasing absolutely any information without the possibility of recovery. The program completely erases the partition table of the disk, and then marks it on a new one.

Features of the program:

• Full support for almost any model of flash drive or disk from popular manufacturers.
• Compatible with all possible connection interfaces.
• Detailed report on the work done.
• Limited features of the free version and no restrictions on the paid one.

How to use the utility?

1. Download the installation file from the site, run it.
2. At the first start, click the Continue for free button.
3. Find your flash drive in the list of displayed media and double-click on its name with the mouse.
4. Select Low-Level Format - Format This Device - Yes from the list of possible operations.
5. After the procedure, open Windows Explorer, right-click on the USB flash drive and select "Format".
6. After that, you can use your flash drive.

An excellent utility for carrying out low-level formatting with a Russian-language interface and minimum requirements for computer resources. The program does not even need to be installed, since it works in a portable mode. How to use it?

1. Download and run the installation file of the program.
2. In the main window, place the cursor on the disk you want to format, click the "Recover media" button.
3. Wait for the process to finish, click the Finish button.
4. Format the media in the usual way through Windows Explorer.

Utility designed for use with media JetFlash, Transcend, A-Data. Maybe lucky, and get to restore another flash drive. What are the features of the app?

• Full portability.
• The minimum number of buttons is only two - “Start” and “Exit”.
• Work in the cloud, so the load on the computer is the smallest.

You need to download the installation file, run it and click the "Start" button. Very simple and fast.

SP USB Flash Drive Recovery Software

A proprietary utility from the well-known manufacturer of portable drives Silicon Power. Nevertheless, even if your device’s flash drive from another manufacturer uses standard device identifiers, you can safely use it. For this you need:

1. Download the installation file and run it.
2. Select your flash drive from the list.
3. Press the start recovery button.

In a couple of seconds, everything will work as expected.

Since Kingston has a significant share of the portable media market, it also offers its customers a utility to restore the usability of USB drives. It is also not overloaded with functions, has the most necessary functions and practically does not load the system. To format a USB flash drive using this utility, you need:

1. Download it and save it in a folder on your hard drive.
2. To open the archive, click the Unzip button in the opened automatic unpacker and select the folder where you want to save the unpacked files.
3. Go to the folder where you unpacked the utility and run the program file.
4. Select your flash drive from the list of drives and folders and click Format.
5. Wait until the program finishes its work to start using your flash drive.

Universal application for formatting flash drives from different manufacturers. It is completely free and is very effective in dealing with damaged partitions and sectors. In addition to formatting, the program is equipped with the following functions:

• Support for almost all existing manufacturers and models.
• Work on all the most modern versions of the Windows operating system.
• Check and correct errors.
• Quick formatting.
• Deep and traceless deletion of all recorded data.
• Detailed log of work operations.

To use the program:

1. Download the program and run it.
2. Select a USB flash drive and file system format from the list.
3. Think of a name for the disc.
4. Click Format disk.
5. Wait for the end of the procedure.

Conclusion

Despite the abundance of software, low-level formatting should be done with caution, since there is a risk of permanent damage. Then you have to go and buy a new medium. In the comments, we ask you to write which program you were able to format your USB drive.

Low level flash drive formatting- This is marking the flash device into sectors for recording service information necessary for its operation. This process completely erases the information from the drive and subsequently, it is impossible to recover. Therefore, this action is advisable to carry out in cases where it is necessary to prevent the confidential information from entering third parties or to block damaged sections of the flash drive so that they are not recorded (and the flash drive is not dull).

Important:  without special need, it is highly undesirable to resort to these actions!

How to make low-level flash drive formatting?

Formatting our flash drive using a low level will help us.

Download and install the program. Run it and select “Continue for free” (1):

This will allow you to use the program for free.

In the window that appears, you will see a list of storage devices connected to your computer and available for formatting. Select your USB flash drive from the list provided (1.10) and double click on it.

A new window opens with information about the flash drive. You will need the “Low-level format” tab (2), click on it. Here, the actions performed by our utility during formatting will be displayed.

To start formatting, click the “Format this device” button (3):

You will see a warning about the destruction of all information on the selected medium, click "Yes":

Formatting starts, the current process of which you can observe by indicator (4) (a filled bar). You can also see formatting details (5) below the indicator.

You will learn about the end of formatting by indicator (6) - it will be completely filled, and by the inscription “100% complete” (100% completion) (7) below the bar:

Now you can close the program.

Low-level formatting deleted all data on the media, including the media file system. So you can’t get on such a device. Therefore, to resume normal operation of the flash drive, after low-level formatting, high-level formatting must be performed. Before that, you need to decide on.

Find out which fs is right for you? Go to formatting! How this is done - I already wrote, read below:

I think you figured it out and successfully conducted low-level formatting of the flash drive.

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

Content:

The guide will help you understand the many formatting options. I will explain what each individual parameter is responsible for and which one is best 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?

By formatting is meant the processing of a storage medium related to the ordering of the structure of this storage medium. The source can be a hard disk (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 formatting features. We wrote instructions on how to format a memory card. It's about the SDFormatter tool (download), specially designed for formatting flash drives and sd cards in Windows and Mac OS.

Two facts must be kept in mind:

1. when formatting a flash drive, all data that is stored on it is destroyed. Files can only be recovered with special resuscitation utilities - and a successful result cannot be guaranteed.
2. when you format a USB flash drive or HDD, the system checks for structure errors and, in some cases, corrects them.

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

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

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

Tip of the day. Sometimes formatting allows you to restore the flash drive, mark it correctly, copy files to it - as a result, it becomes writable even after Windows is no longer detected or has stopped reading data. This is especially important to consider if Windows cannot format the USB flash drive and the user has to look for third-party tools.

In Windows, a standard utility is stored for this case, so you do not need to look for third-party formatting tools. Are you using Windows XP, Windows 7, 8, or Windows 10, the described actions are essentially the same.

1. Insert the USB flash drive into the usb port
2. Go to Explorer (Start\u003e My Computer)
3. Right-click on the USB drive, select “Format” in the context menu
4. Determine the type of file system - FAT or NTFS
5. To format a disk, make a selection and click the "Start" button
6. Confirm that you really want to erase all data on the disk
7. Flash drive formatted

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

• Capacity: flash drive size in GB. Each time, formatting the drive, check the volume: this will avoid an error.
• File system. The type of file system, in many situations, is not fundamental. However, if you specify not NTFS, but FAT, you will not be able to write files\u003e 4 GB in size to a USB flash drive. Having chosen a rare type of file system, get ready for the fact that your flash drive will not be detected on other operating systems and computers. However, in Windows, the choice is limited only to NTFS and (ex) FAT.
• Cluster size. Read here what cluster is and what size you need to specify.
• Volume Label: Conditional name of the flash drive. It does not affect anything, but it is advisable to assign a catchy mark to navigate in Explorer and the operating system.

   The interface of the system formatting utility flash drives in Windows 8

In what format is it best to format a usb flash drive?

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

File System Benefits NTFS:

• writing and reading data larger than 4 gigabytes and up to the maximum allowable partition size.
• the 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 data compression and, accordingly, saving space on a flash drive.
• more efficient use of available space \u003d less fragmentation.
• support for file encryption on the fly thanks to the encrypted file system EFS (OS Windows Professional).

File System Benefits FAT and FAT32:

• FAT is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
• files take up less space on a USB drive than on NTFS.
• FAT formatting is available in any OS
• less disk write / rewrite operations \u003d more efficient use of available memory.

Pros of the file system exFAT:

• reading / writing to a USB flash drive large files\u003e 4 gigabytes in size.
• partitioning\u003e 32 GB.
• rational use of space \u003d optimization of fragmentation.

So, we draw conclusions. FAT and FAT32 are suitable for drives of less 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\u003e 32 GB. A compromise is the exFAT file system. It combines the significant advantages of FAT and NTFS (large file size is 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 the installation of third-party applications to run on a Mac. exFAT, on the other hand, is supported on Snow Leopard and later versions of Mac OS, but Linux also requires drivers.

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

What cluster size to specify in the settings

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

Therefore, large clusters are inappropriate from the point of view of using space on a flash drive (disk).

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

Fortunately, the situation can be corrected using the flash drive formatting program. In addition, the optimal cluster size depends on the destination of the USB drive.

  Cluster Size in NTFS

If you store small files on a flash drive, 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 64 kilobyte cluster.

  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 cluster of 512 bytes (in FAT32) or 32 KB (FAT).

  What label to choose for the name of the flash drive?

The volume label is just a name. It is optional, so anything will do. However, there are several rules that you must follow, depending on the file system in which you are going to format the USB flash drive.

• maximum 32 characters
• will be displayed in CAPITAL and lowercase letters as you entered.

• maximum 11 characters
• the label will be displayed in capital letters

  Fast or full formatting?

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 write errors.

With fast formatting, only files are deleted and no search is performed. Therefore, use the quick option if you do not have time to check for flash drive errors.

  Choosing a program for formatting a flash drive

Windows cannot always format a USB flash drive correctly. Standard formatting is not at all a panacea for a flash drive if service information on the storage device has been corrupted. Unfortunately, recovering data on a USB flash drive with such damage is more difficult. One of the solutions to the problem is to download a proprietary program for formatting the flash drive (if available) onto the computer from the memory manufacturer’s website. We recommend that you contact the support service and ask the manufacturer how to clear the USB flash drive and whether they have programs for full formatting.

So, how to format the USB flash drive? Consider the best programs for formatting flash drives, more or less universal tools. If desired, you can easily find other alternatives, free and proprietary utilities that suppliers offer.

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

  JetFlash Recovery Tool

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

• errors detected on usb stick
• information on the flash drive is not readable
• need to format the flash drive

Install the JetFlash Recovery Tool and try to force the usb drive to be formatted using it. The flash drive application works with A-DATA and Transcend media, but other options are possible. Warning: 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 the computer according to the instructions that came with the program.

  USB Disk Storage Format Tool USB Flash Drive Formatting Utility

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

The main functions of the utility:

• It allows not only formatting the USB flash drive, but also erasing all data on the flash drive, which cannot be formatted in the traditional (system) way.
• USB Disk Storage Format Tool removes any traces of malware and viruses that could infect the USB flash drive.
• Search and correction of reading errors, bad-blocks on a flash drive.
• Create a volume label (name) for USB drives.
• Creating a partition in FAT32 with a capacity of more than 32 GB.
• Low-level formatting of the flash drive of the required model (Kingston, HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Transcend, Corsair, etc.)
• It is convenient to observe the formatting process: just tick the option Verbose.

The 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 such drive brands 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 it, you can create bootable flash drives, perform low-level formatting, and resize the cluster.

  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, retrieve service information about Data storage devices.

However, the 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 level of access. 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 to format a USB flash drive HDD Low Level Format Tool

  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 USB flash drive on the computer by pressing a single button.

The utility for the usb flash drive is distributed for free, the installer can be downloaded for Windows.

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

  The interface of the program for formatting flash drives HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

How to format a USB flash drive on Mac OS

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

1. Install Parallels Desktop Emulator on a Computer
2. Install Windows on Mac OS
3. Format USB flash drive for Mac OS X via emulated Windows

Kingston USB Format Tool - format a USB 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 the file system.

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

The program runs on Windows 7 and Windows 10 and earlier versions of the OS.

Therefore, if you have a Kingston flash drive and for some reason it began to work slowly, try this program: maybe it will solve the problem.

  Answers on questions

I have problems with the flash drive. SmartBuy 64 gig. At first, the flash drive occasionally "disappeared", then completely disappeared .... after a detachment of 3 weeks - it appeared and gave itself to format (from fat32 to NTFS). I worked for 2 weeks and again failed ..... SmartBuy technical support specialists "do not know and cannot 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 of them immediately refuse (and this is in exFAT).

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

Please advise a program for the correct low-level formatting of a flash drive that does not check for errors at the end. Something like the program that the Chinese "make" of small flash drives BIG.

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 state that these programs are intended for hard drives - however, some of them work similarly with flash drives, allowing them to be formatted.

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 in NTFS. You can write 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 in ntfs? Use the USB Disk Storage Format Tool or HDD Low Level Format Tool. Windows built-in tools will also help format the drive in ntfs.

Good day. I have a Transend flash drive, the problem is that it works, then it doesn't, formatting does not help. You drop the files on the computer from which you reset it sees it opens, insert it into another and there is only a "shortcut" and it weighs 1 kb. Today I formatted it in fat32, I dropped the film, I looked at the TV set on the floor of the film, I thought everything was working out, but I was happy about the video, it stopped and everything no longer plays. I just don’t know what kind of problem this is in your article. Please help, thank you in advance !!

A friend brought a Micro Sd Jeef 64GB. The flash drive worked properly. After a while, the error “Disk is write protected” appeared. I tried all methods of treatment, formatting does not pass, it gives the same error. On his phone, the flash drive is displayed on my no. Files can all be pulled out but not thrown. How to format a USB flash drive so that files can be copied to it?

I bought an sd card a month ago. When I put it in the connector, I went into the settings and it was shown that the memory capacity was only 128 MB, although there really was 14.7 GB of memory. I tried several times to format it differently (with the flash drive formatting programs described in the article), but it still could not be repaired. Everything is in order with the device. the remaining volumes of sd cards were shown normally.

i have a problem with a micro SD card phone transgender 4 GB. Photos and videos on it stopped being recorded, information is not deleted. I tried to reformat it to the desired format (Fat 32), it is not formatted. only in ex fat, but after the information on the card does not disappear, and the format remains the same fat 32. I tried all the options, format it with the command line, various utilities, scanned for viruses, also fixed errors and bad sectors through windows, everything remains As before. The program for formatting the company of the same name also did not help. Tell me, can I do something in this case, or did the card completely die?

The flash drive was fully operational, tried to write windows 10 to it via ultraISO, formatted it before, after which it is now empty (there are no files at all), nothing was left from the old 32 GB: busy, free, the capacity is now 0 bytes. when checking for errors through the properties / information caption: Unable to check the drive, because it is not available. How to reformat a flash drive to return it to 32 GB of volume?

The problem is that even after fully formatting the flash drive, the files remain. There is a second secured partition on the flash drive - how to delete it? Standard Windows tools and formatting utilities do not see it. Flash drive 16 GB, visible 14 GB. I saw this section with AOMEI Partition Assistant 6.6.0, but there is no way to delete it.

there is a flash drive Apacer AH223. The owner has encrypted it with some kind of program. Which one does not know. As a result, all the info is easy to read and copy, but cannot be formatted. HDD Low Level Format Tool, Diskpart did not help.

MicroSD 32gb - I can view the contents, I can not delete and format. Used different programs for formatting. What is the best way to format a flash drive (if possible) in order to fix it?

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

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

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

A USB flash drive (usb-micro usb) double-sided ceased to be detected both on the computer and on the phone: the chipset program was considered to be: 090С and pid: 1000, I tried to format the flashdock with the program and the process lasted 2 days, at the end it was not even determined by the chipset program, tell me the solution.

If you have a large flash drive and sometimes you need to write to it a file larger than 4GB (HDTV video or game image for example), but it will not be recorded, although there is enough space! The point here is an outdated file system. Flash drives are formatted by default in the FAT32 file system, which is outdated ...

The FAT32 file system appeared with the release of Windows 95 OSR2 and was a good choice at that time. However, at that time, the average volume of a computer’s hard drive was about 1 GB. Therefore, no one was going to lay in the file system redundant for its time features.

NTFS is more modern, although it also has a lot of criticism, but there is still no choice, because with NTFS flash drive will work correctly on all computers. To format in a new format, we need a special utility:

The utility does not require installation and starting it, we immediately see the program window.

Before you click on Start, remember that all files on the USB flash drive will be destroyed!

In the Device section, you need to select your USB flash drive.   It is important, since on some systems hard drives are defined as "removable devices" and also fall into this list. There was a case in my memory when instead of a flash drive we formatted a hard drive ... let us leave this case without comment. I do not recommend including compression - this is normal NTFS compression that does little good.

In the File system section, we select NTFS itself - for the sake of this, everything was started.

You can also check the Quick Format checkbox, although this does not matter for a flash drive. Formatting without a tick is exactly the same.

Now about the pitfalls that you may meet:

1. It so happens that the program produces a formatting error - this means, unfortunately, that your flash drive will still work under FAT32 until the end of days. I am the owner of such a "good" flash drive. With the help of various tricks, I managed to format it under NTFS, but the read / write speed was less than that of a floppy disk. Although, in addition to his unfortunate flash drive, I did not meet others with such a problem. And this is not a defect of a specific instance, but rather a defect of the series, because due to circumstances I had 3 flash drives of this model during the year.

2. You will only need to remove the USB flash drive with NTFS using safe extraction, because Compared to FAT32, it is more moody and even if the window with writing files to the USB flash drive has already disappeared. Files can be recorded for some time (5-10 seconds). True, as practice shows, while the flash drive indicator is not active, it can be easily pulled. The only thing that will pester is the desire of OSs such as Windows Vista and Windows 7 to certainly check your flash drive for errors.

On this I bow. I wish you huge flash drives and great interesting files on them!

Programs