A memory card is a convenient way to store information, which allows you to store up to 128 gigabytes of data. However, there are times when the drive needs to be formatted and standard tools cannot always cope with this. In this article, we will consider a list of programs for formatting memory cards.
The first program on this list is SDFormatter. According to the developers themselves, the program, unlike the Windows tools, gives maximum optimization of the SD card. Plus, there are some settings that allow you to slightly adjust the formatting for yourself.
Recoverx
Transcend's RecoveRx utility is not too different from the previous one. The only thing I would like to have in the program is more subtle settings. But there is data recovery when they are lost in the event of a memory card crash, which gives the program a small plus.
AutoFormat Tool
This utility has only one function, but it copes with it quite well. Yes, the process takes a little longer than usual, but it's worth it. And given that it was developed by the famous company Transcend, this gives it a little more confidence, even despite the lack of other functionality.
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
Another fairly popular tool for working with USB and MicroSD drives. The program also has formatting with a little customization. In addition, there is additional functionality, such as an error scanner on a USB flash drive. Anyway, the program is great for formatting a non-opening or freezing flash drive.
HDD Low Level Format Tool
This software is more suitable for HDDs, which can be seen even from the name. However, the program copes with simple drives. The program has three formatting modes:
- Conditional low level;
- Fast;
- Complete.
Each of them is distinguished by the duration of the process and the quality of mashing.
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 The point here is an outdated file system. Flash drives are formatted by default in the FAT32 file system, which is outdated ...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!
Many people have USB sticks. This is an indispensable attribute of a modern person who exchanges information, has his own computer or useful gadgets. Flash drives help us in everyday life, come in handy when you need to transfer data, make a multi-boot flash drive to resuscitate the operating system and restore the computer.
Why format a flash drive?
USB flash drives, like any complex electronic devices, tend to break or problems with performance. It happens that when a USB flash drive is connected, the computer does not detect it or does not see its contents, cannot format it, or an attempt to write data to a USB flash drive causes an error.
In addition, formatting a USB flash drive is necessary when you need to upload a file with a capacity of more than 4 GB to it. All removable media, by default, have the FAT32 file system format.
This allows you to connect the USB flash drive to various devices and equipment, since this electronic system is recognized by most electronic devices that work with removable storage media. FAT32 does not allow writing files larger than 4GB to the drive. In this case, you need to change the file system of the flash drive to NTFS.
How to format a USB flash drive in Winows using standard tools?
There is nothing easier. To format a USB flash drive and change its file system, you need to open “My Computer”, right-click to open the context menu, select the “Format” item, select the necessary parameters - the file system and formatting method (I select “Quick Format”) and click Start button.
If everything is ok with the USB flash drive, then Windows will successfully complete the formatting of the USB-drive and you will receive a message about the successful completion of formatting. 
What to do if the flash drive is not formatted?
If the flash drive is a mess and Windows cannot format it, you will either receive an error message, or for a long time the formatting window will not respond to user requests, and when you try to click on it with the mouse, it will turn gray and Windows will warn you that the process is not responding.
No one wants to lose a workable drive, so the question of resuscitating a flash drive and formatting it with third-party tools will be relevant. You will have to look for alternatives to format the USB drive.
Formatting a flash drive through the command line
The first alternative way to format a USB drive is to use the system command line. Everything is simple here. Open the command line by pressing the combination of Windows + R.
In the window that appears, you must enter the cmd command to invoke the command prompt and click OK.
In the command window, type the convert command (whose letter is the flash drive): / fs: ntfs, for example, convert h: / fs: ntfs and press "Enter".
If the process succeeds, you will receive a message that the formatting was completed successfully.
If Windows cannot perform formatting, you will receive an error message; third-party specialized programs for working with memory cards and USB drives will come to the rescue.
USB flash drive formatting software
The network has enough third-party utilities for working with memory cards and USB drives. Programs vary in functionality, but allow you to perform basic operations with removable media. For the most part, all third-party software is free, but there are also paid programs.
Swissknife - A utility designed to create and format partitions of a hard disk and removable media. Specially designed for people who want to make an external hard drive visible in different operating systems.
JetFlash Recovery Tool - Another popular program for working with removable drives and USB-drives. A program to restore the performance of USB-flash drives. If your flash drive is not readable or formatted, then the jetflash recovery tool, in most cases, will help solve this problem.
The program does not require activation and runs on any version of Windows. Using the transcend jetflash recovery tool, you can restore the performance of media that has been corrupted and fixes an operating system error with a USB flash drive if the USB flash drive is not detected or cannot be seen by the system.
Hard Disk Low Level Format Tool - Another utility for low-level formatting of flash drives and other disks. In some cases, it helps to fix errors in the USB drive.
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - A special utility from Hewlett-Packard for formatting memory cards and USB-flash drives. The program has a simple interface and is similar to the built-in Windows disk formatting capability.
SDFormatter - a program for formatting memory cards, especially SD cards.
Good time!
It’s not uncommon that all sorts of troubles occur with SD cards and USB flash drives: either they don’t read, then copying takes too long, then all sorts of errors appear (that formatting is required, etc.). Moreover, this sometimes happens for no reason ...
In this article, I want to recommend a dozen utilities that helped me more than once or twice. With their help, you can work with flash drives and drives from different manufacturers (Silicon Power, Kingston, Transcend, etc.), i.e. This is universal software. I think the material will come in handy for everyone who periodically encounters similar problems.
For testing and diagnostics
Crystaldiskmark
Very useful little utility. Allows you to quickly get data on read / write speed. It supports not only USB flash drives, but also classic HDDs, SSDs, external hard drives, etc. drives (which Windows sees).
Note: in most cases, they are guided by the first line of "Sec" (sequential read speed of the record). Read - read, Write - write.
USB Flash Benchmark
Developer's site: http://usbflashspeed.com/
Another utility for testing the speed of flash drives. It allows you to get not only some numbers, but also compare them with other drives (i.e. evaluate your flash drive with other device models). This can be done due to the fact that test results are stored on the website of the same name (along with flash drive models).
By the way! If you decide to buy a fast flash drive - just go to the site http://usbflashspeed.com/ and look at the top 10. So you can get what other people have already experienced!
H2testw
A small utility from German programmers. Designed to scan USB drives for their real volume (approx. : some flash drives, for example, Chinese manufacturers - come with a "fake" oversized volume) . In these cases, it is enough to drive the flash drive using H2testw, and then format it correctly.
How to find out the real volume of a flash drive and restore its working capacity (using H2testw) -
Flash memory toolkit
Flash Memory Toolkit is a good complex for servicing USB devices. Allows you to perform a range of the most necessary actions:
- testing drives for errors in reading and writing;
- data recovery from flash drives;
- viewing properties and characteristics;
- the ability to create backup flash drives;
- low-level drive speed test.
Flashnul
Developer's site: http://shounen.ru/
This program can diagnose and fix many program errors (especially when it is not clear what is happening with the flash drive: i.e. no errors are displayed). In addition, it supports almost all flash media: USB flash drives, CompactFlash, SD, MMC, MS, XD, etc.
Capabilities:
- read and write testing: the availability of each sector of the medium will be checked;
- checking the integrity of files located on a USB drive;
- the ability to make an image of the content on a USB flash drive (can be useful for data recovery);
- the ability to sector-by-sector image recording to a USB device;
- some operations can be performed for other types of media: HDD, CD, Floppy disk, etc.
Chipasy
A free and very simple utility for obtaining complete information about a flash drive. It is very useful in cases where on the flash drive the marking has been erased (or it was not there at all).
What data does ChipEasy provide:
- VID & PID;
- manufacturer;
- controller model
- serial number;
- firmware information;
- memory model;
- max. current consumption, etc.
Flash drive information
The utility is similar to the previous one. Allows for 2 clicks of the mouse to find out all the information about the drive (flash drive, memory card): model, controller, memory, etc.
For formatting and repair
HDD Low Level Format Tool
The program for low-level * formatting of hard drives, SD cards, flash drives and other drives. I would note its “unpretentiousness”: even if other utilities freeze when trying to access a USB flash drive (or they don’t see it), HDD Low Level Format Tool can help in most cases ...
Features:
- most manufacturers (Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, etc.) and interfaces (SATA, IDE, USB, SCSI, Firewire) are supported;
- formatting clears absolutely all information from the disk (partition table, MBR);
- recovering information from a disk after formatting with the HDD Low Level Format Tool - almost impossible!
Mydiskfix
A free small utility designed for low-level formatting of bad flash drives. It is useful in cases where your flash drive cannot be formatted with standard Windows tools, when the flash drive displays an erroneous volume, or a write error occurs.
Note: before formatting in MyDiskFix, you need to find out how many real-working sectors there are on your flash drive. This can be done, for example, using the H2Test utility (which was given above).
USB Disk Storage Format Tool
A small utility for formatting HDD / USB Flash drive (supported file systems: NTFS, FAT, FAT32). By the way, the USB Disk Storage Format Tool does not require installation, does not freeze if it works with bad flash drives, from which you need to wait for an answer for minutes (such as the standard formatting utility in Windows).
Features:
- fast and safe formatting of the drive;
- with full formatting through the utility, all data from the flash drive is deleted (subsequently, it will not be possible to restore any file from it);
- scan drive for errors;
- creating partitions with the FAT 32 file system larger than 32 GB;
- tested with 1000 of the most different flash drives (Compact Flash, CF Card II, Memory Stick Duo Pro, SDHC, SDXC, Thumb Drive, etc.), and various manufacturers (HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Toshiba, PNY, ADATA, etc. )
Format USB Or Flash Drive Software
Specialized utility for working with bad USB drives. Allows you to format and restore the flash drive. I would also note its very simple interface (see screen above), and the ability to work without installation.
Features:
- file system support: FAT, FAT32, eXFAT, NTFS;
- simple and convenient interface;
- the ability to fully and quickly format;
- the ability to "see" drives that the conductor refuses to "show";
- the ability to integrate into the Windows menu;
- compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10.
Transcend RecoveRx
Multifunctional program: allows you to recover files from flash drives, format them, and password protect. In general, this program is designed for flash drives from the manufacturer Transcend, but I can not help but note that the formatting option works for flash drives of another production.
RecoveRx is quite an omnivorous program: it supports USB flash drives, memory cards, MP3 players, external hard drives (HDD) and solid state drives (SSD).
JetFlash Recovery Tool
This utility will help in cases where standard Windows tools simply do not see the USB flash drive. Officially, only USB sticks from Transcend, JetFlash and A-DATA are supported (unofficially, much more).
Important! Keep in mind that the program in the process of repairing (restoring) a flash drive completely erases all data from it! If you have the opportunity to save something from a faulty flash drive - do it.
Features:
- simple and free utility (only 2 buttons!);
- compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10 (also works with older OS Windows XP, 2000 (other OS - operation is not guaranteed));
- only 3 manufacturers are officially supported: Transcend, A-DATA and JetFlash;
- automatic recovery of the drive (only 1 button needs to be pressed from the user);
- low system requirements;
- no utility installation required.
SD Formatter
Formatting a Canon SD Card in SD Formatter
This utility is designed to repair and restore memory cards: SD, SDHC, SDXC, microSD. The developers specifically oriented their product to the needs of photographers, video operators, and service technicians of similar equipment.
Drive recovery occurs in auto mode. Suitable in a variety of cases: for errors in the software, virus infection, crashes, due to improper use, etc.
Note: in the process of working with a flash drive - SD Formatter will delete all data from it!
D-Soft Flash Doctor
A small portable program for the diagnosis and repair of broken flash drives (low-level formatting, software reset). In addition, he is able to create images from flash drives / memory cards and record them on other storage media.
The program supports the Russian language (as a developer from Kazakhstan), and is compatible with all modern Windows 7, 8, 10 OS.
To recover files from a flash drive
R.Saver
Easy to use program to recover deleted files from various types of media: hard drives, memory cards, flash drives, etc. It can be used for various errors, file system crashes, after formatting, virus infection, etc.
Supports NTFS, FAT and ExFAT file systems. For residents of Russia (when used for non-commercial purposes) the program is free.
Important!
You can learn more about working with R.Saver in an article on how to recover photos from a microSD memory card or USB flash drive. -
Recuva
A program for recovering files from CCleaner developers (the famous utility for cleaning Windows from junk files).
Recuva allows you to work not only with the HDD, but also with USB flash drives, external drives, SSD, memory cards. The program is aimed at a novice user, so its use is very simple.
Features:
- all actions in the program are performed in steps;
- 2 modes for scanning drives;
- sorting files by their name, size, condition, etc .;
- the utility is free;
- russian supported;
- compatible with Windows XP, 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bits).
MiniTool Power Data Recovery
A very powerful program (with unique scanning algorithms) that will allow you to recover data from bad flash drives, memory cards, external disks, CD-ROMs and other drives. Popular file systems supported: FAT 12/16/32, NTFS.
From myself, I note that in my humble opinion, the algorithms of the program are actually different from other programs of this kind, because several times with its help it was possible to restore information when other software simply could not find anything ...
Note: in the free version of MiniTool Power Data Recovery, you can recover only 1 GB of information.
Addition!
In general, there are a lot of similar programs ( approx. : which can scan the drive and recover some deleted files). In one of my past articles, I have already cited a dozen of the most successful free products (most of them work not only with classic HDDs, but also with flash drives). I publish a link to the article below.
10 free programs for recovering deleted data: files, documents, photos -
That's all for now. Additions to useful and interesting utilities are always welcome.
Now many modern PC users are unaware of how often any program for formatting a hard drive rescued .
After all, it was necessary to format the hard drives regularly.
The fault is the imperfection of software products - both those that were used for the basic purposes of the user, and those that were used to perform maintenance operations on installed systems.
Background
Another aspect of the need for once frequent use of programs for formatting hard drives is a hardware problem. A small amount of media, frequent hardware errors and the like.
But strangely enough, over time, the need to format drives still remains even with the advent of modern solid-state drives. The formatting operation at the same time ceased to be an everyday norm, and if you want to format the hard drive, many users are at a loss as to how and in what way it can be done.
Fortunately, over time, the quality of software products designed for formatting hard drives, and their number has increased markedly. And now the user is not limited to built-in system utilities, but has access not only to third-party software products, but to entire software packages that allow you to perform not only formatting, but also several other useful operations, in particular, improving the hard drive’s condition and shelf life its operation.
Some of these funds belong to the category of shareware, part comes with a free license, and the rest, however, is only available with purchase. Each of them has its own advantages and we propose to consider several of the most frequently used and popular tools endowed with sufficient functionality.
Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition
A program for formatting a hard disk called Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition stands out against other similar software products by the ability to perform operations on virtual storage media. In addition, for those who still can not refuse to use Windows XP, it will provide the ability to support high-capacity disks of the order of 2 TB or more. But it also works on modern Windows 7 and 8.
An additional advantage of this complex is the support of the multiboot management function. This option will be useful to those who use several operating systems in test mode or simply require their parallel use.
The program interface is quite simple and understandable, and in some cases is simply irreplaceable. An example of this is the function of merging partitions without data loss, which is especially important when formatting partitions. At the same time, the user is given the opportunity to even convert partitions.
As for file systems, their supported number is quite large. They can be converted using this program one into another, in particular, NTFS to HFS.
Among other functionalities, there is copying and restoring disks, their merging, moving and resizing. And all this in the presence of a Russified shell.
Some may find the defragmentation function unnecessary in the kit, but absolutely everyone will like protection from system failures and the detection of bad sectors.
Fig. 1 - Window fragment of Paragon Partition Manager
EASEUS Partition Master
This program for formatting a hard disk has the advantage of having several versions with different functionality. Some of them are free, but Home Edition and Master Free deserve special attention of ordinary users.
The program has excellent functionality, accessible through the Russian-language software shell. It can run on a family of Windows operating systems, in particular, 7, 8, and 10 versions of both 32-bit and 64-bit, and some versions allow you to work through Linux.
The software product provides work with a wide range of heterogeneous drives, the most important of which are:
- hDDs
- sSD solid state drives
- USB stick
- memory cards in various designs.
Above them, you can carry out not only formatting, but also creating or changing partitions, for example, combining, deleting, copying and resizing.
The program has access to work with RAID arrays and provides user interaction with MBR and GPT. Some operations can be performed using the built-in wizards, which greatly facilitates the work of the user.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that each version of the product has its own limitations, in particular, on the maximum drive size. For example, in the Home Edition version it is 8 TB, and in Master Free - only 4 TB. It is also recommended that the user pay attention to the installation process, since along the way you can install unnecessary utilities.
Fig. 2 - Window fragment of the EASEUS Partition Master
Aomei Partition Assistant
A hard disk formatting program called Aomei Partition Assistant is a free product that has decent functionality. It provides a number of functions that are not available for other free products and therefore relates to a completely different class.
This software package, like the previous product, has a Russian-language shell and supports modern operating systems of the Windows and Linux family and, accordingly, file systems working under their control: FAT 12/16/32, NTFS, Ext2 / 3/4, exFAT / ReFS.
In parallel with working on physical media, the program also performs operations on virtual disks.
As for the special functionality, it is implemented in the form of access to disks invisible by other software. The program allows them to be tested, tested and a number of other useful operations. All this against the background of minimum system requirements, ranging from the processor version to the amount of available memory on the disk.
This software product is able to work even under such conditions when 128 drives are installed on the device and the volume size is 16 TB. It is also one of the few products that can work with SSHD, flash drives and flash cards. Is it worth mentioning that it supports UEFI Boot, and all the operations performed are performed without damaging the user information, assured by the creators?
Fig. 3 - Aomei Partition Assistant Window
MiniTool Partition Wizard
This program for formatting a hard disk is more modest, but much more popular, not only in the domestic space, but throughout the world. It is free and provides interaction under the control of the operating systems of the Windows family, including the latest versions of various bit sizes, and it also processes EXT disk partitions and Linux Swap.
The program interface has a Russified shell and provides work with partitions of more than 2 TB. It is quite simple and will be understandable even to a novice user. The functionality of the interface is quite wide and even includes newfangled migration from HDD to SSD.
And also the software product performs a number of basic operations with disks and their partitions, including their cloning, creation and modification. The operation of converting FAT / FAT32 file systems to NTFS with preserving the integrity of user data, which is complemented by the functionality for backing up stored information and a utility for recovering data from failures, can be considered additional. If desired, the user can test their disks by testing their performance.
Like some of the programs described above, this one can convert disks from MBR to GPT, and this is important when wearing a frequently used system partition. In parallel with this, it is possible to assign active sections and interact with them.
Fig. 4 - MiniTool Partition Wizard Window
HDD Low Level Format Tool
This hard disk formatting program belongs to a different category than the software tools discussed above. Therefore, it deserves special attention. This is not a large software package with wide functionality, but a small program that has in its set of functions only the possibility of low-level formatting.
A similar option provides the ability to restore the performance of storage media at specified settings. At the same time, this functionality applies to both hard drives and flash drives. The only problem for the user in this case is only the complete destruction of data on the media without the possibility of further recovery.
Unfortunately, other operations performed by this product with media are not provided.
Fig. 5 - HDD Window Low Level Format Tool
Acronis disk director
This program for formatting the hard disk is also quite interesting. Its feature is that it can be launched from any medium. So, it can be installed on a boot disk or flash drive, and even without a full operating system, be able to work with disk partitions.
Such functionality is especially important in emergency situations, when it is more important for the user to restore the system to working, and not just create an additional section for more convenient storage of data or installation of any game. The program’s functionality is suitable for working with disks both under Windows and under Linux. However, this product has one significant drawback that is noticeable when compared with the above programs - its cost.
In fact, this application belongs to the category of shareware products. After the specified trial period has elapsed, the user is offered two options - purchase a license or remove a software product. Therefore, it can be safely used and compared with other programs on a free basis, but for a limited time.
The rest is a complete tool for working with disks and their partitions with wide functionality. It includes all the basic operations for working with partitions, including formatting, and also allows the PC owner to view in general the information stored on these partitions.
Fig. 6 - Acronis Disk Director Window
Standard Windows Tools
When describing disk formatting programs, one cannot but mention the standard operating system tools available to users without downloading third-party software products. This can be done by the example of operating systems of the Windows family. A feature of these systems is that they have several tools for working with hard disks and their partitions at once.
The first tool is quite simple and this utility is available to the user from the Explorer program. In order to use it, for the logical partition of the hard drive, you can call the context menu, and select the "Format" item in it. After that, a form will be available in which you can specify the desired parameters for the formatting operation.
This functionality will be available for all logical partitions of the disk, with the exception of the active system disk. In this case, you need to use a slightly different tool, available exclusively from the command line. To work with him, you need special skills that are available exclusively to experienced users.
Important! To have access to them, a boot disk is required, as well as settings set in the BIOS that force the PC to boot from removable media, not from the hard drive, to provide the functionality necessary for the system. It is provided by a small utility called diskpart. But its main problem is that the user does not receive a high-quality visualization of the performed actions, and any error during their execution can cost the system’s performance.
This state of affairs also forces users to resort to using third-party software products.
Fig. 7 - Formatting utility window
Formatting a hard disk before installing Windows
In the video I will show you how to format the hard drive. This may come in handy when you reinstall the Windows operating system.
Emulators
