Download a program to format your tablet. The best program for low-level formatting of hard drive and USB devices - review. What cluster size should I specify in the settings?

A memory card is convenient way information storage, which allows you to save up to 128 gigabytes of data. However, there are times when the drive needs to be formatted and standard means they can't always cope with this. In this article we will look at a list of programs for formatting memory cards.

The first program on this list is SDFormatter. According to the developers themselves, the program, unlike Windows tools, provides maximum optimization of the SD card. Plus, there are some settings that allow you to slightly adjust the formatting to your liking.

RecoverRx

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 fine-tuning. But there is data recovery if it is lost in the event of a memory card failure, which gives the program a small plus.

AutoFormat Tool

This utility has only one function, but it does it quite well. Yes, the process takes a little longer than usual, but it's worth it. And considering that it was developed by the famous company Transcend, this gives it a little more credibility, even despite the lack of other functionality.

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Another pretty one popular instrument for working with USB and MicroSD drives. The program also has formatting with a little customization. In addition, there is also additional functionality, for example, an error scanner on a flash drive. And in general, the program is great for formatting a flash drive that won’t open or freezes.

HDD Low Level Format Tool

This software is more suitable for HDD drives, as can be seen even from the name. However, the program can also cope with simple drives. The program has three formatting modes:

• Conditional low-level;
• Fast;
• Complete.

Each of them differs in the duration of the process and the quality of mashing.

Nowadays, many modern PC users have no idea how often any formatting program could help out in the past. hard drive.

After all, hard drives had to be formatted regularly.

This is all due to the imperfection of software products - both those that were used for basic user purposes and those that were used to perform maintenance operations on installed systems.

Background

Another aspect of the need for the once frequent use of formatting programs hard drives– problems with the hardware. Small media volume, frequent hardware errors and the like.

But oddly enough, over time, the need to format disks still remained, even with the advent of modern solid-state drives. At the same time, the formatting operation has ceased to be an everyday norm, and if it is necessary to format a hard drive, many users are at a loss as to how and in what way it can be done.

Fortunately, over time, both the quality of software products designed for formatting hard drives and their number have increased noticeably. And now the user is not limited to built-in system utilities, but has access not just to third-party software products, but to entire sets of software tools that allow you to perform not only formatting, but also several other useful operations, in particular, improving the condition of the hard drive and its service life.

Some of these tools are classified as shareware, some come with a free license, and the rest are only available upon purchase. Each of them has its own advantages and we propose to consider several of the most commonly used and popular tools with sufficient functionality.

Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition

A program for formatting a hard drive called Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition stands out from other similar software products in its ability to perform operations on virtual storage media. In addition, for those who still cannot give up using 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 operating systems.

An additional advantage of this complex is its support for multi-boot management functions. This option will be useful for 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 it is simply irreplaceable. An example of this is the function of merging partitions without losing data, which is especially important when formatting partitions. In this case, the user is given the opportunity to even convert partitions.

As for file systems, the number of them supported is quite large. They can be converted from one to another using this program, in particular, NTFS to HFS.

Among other functionality, there is copying and restoring disks, merging them, moving them and resizing them. And all this in the presence of a Russified shell.

Some may find the defragmentation function in the package superfluous, but protection against system failures and detection bad sectors Absolutely everyone will like it.

Rice. 1 – Paragon Partition Manager window fragment

EASEUS Partition Master

This program for formatting a hard drive has the advantage of having several versions with different functionality. Some of them are free, but the Home Edition and Master Free versions deserve special attention from ordinary users.

The program has excellent functionality, accessible through the Russian language shell software. It can work under family control Windows operating systems, in particular, versions 7, 8 and 10, both 32-bit and 64-bit, and some versions allow you to run through Linux.

The software product provides work with a wide range of heterogeneous drives, the most important of which are:

• HDDs;
• solid state drives SSD;
• USB flash drives;
• memory cards in various designs.

You can not only format them, but also create or change sections, for example, merging, 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 built-in wizards, which greatly facilitates the user’s work.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that each version of the product has its own restrictions, in particular, on the maximum storage size. For example, in the Home Edition it is 8 TB, and in Master Free it is only 4 TB. The user is also recommended to pay attention to the installation process, since unnecessary utilities can be installed along the way.

Rice. 2 – EASEUS Partition Master window fragment

Aomei Partition Assistant

A program for formatting a hard drive called Aomei Partition Assistant is a product that is distributed free of charge, but has decent functionality. It provides a number of functions that are not available in other free products and therefore belongs to a completely different class.

This software package, like the previous product, has a Russian-language shell and supports modern operating systems Windows family and Linux and, accordingly, working under their control file systems: FAT 12/16/32, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, exFAT/ReFS.

In parallel with work 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 to other software. The program allows you to check them, test them and a number of other useful operations. All this against the backdrop of minimal system requirements, ranging from the processor version to the amount of available disk memory.

This software product is able to work even under such conditions when the device has 128 disks installed 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 operations performed are performed without damaging user information, according to the creators?

Rice. 3 – Aomei Partition Assistant Window

MiniTool Partition Wizard

This program for formatting a hard drive is more modest, but much more popular, not only in the domestic space, but throughout the world. It is free and provides interaction under Windows operating systems, including the most latest versions of various bit sizes, and also processes EXT disk partitions, as well as Linux Swap.

The software interface has a Russified shell and provides work with partitions with a capacity of more than 2 TB. It is quite simple and will be understandable even for a novice user. The functionality of the interface is quite wide and even includes the new-fangled migration from HDD to SSD.

The software product also performs a number of basic operations with disks and their partitions, including their cloning, creation and modification. An additional operation can be considered the conversion of FAT/FAT32 file systems to NTFS while maintaining the integrity of user data, which is complemented by functionality Reserve copy stored information and a data recovery utility after failures. 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 a frequently used device wears out. system partition. In parallel with this, it is possible to assign active sections and interact with them.

Rice. 4 – MiniTool Partition Wizard Window

HDD Low Level Format Tool

This program for formatting a hard drive belongs to a different category than those discussed above software. Therefore, it deserves special attention. This is not a large software package with wide functionality, but a small program that only has the ability to low level formatting.

This option provides, with the given settings, the ability to restore the functionality of storage media. Moreover, this functionality applies to both hard drives and flash drives. The only problem for the user in this case is the complete destruction of the data on the media without the possibility of further recovery.

Unfortunately, there are no other operations that this product can perform with media.

Rice. 5 – HDD Low Level Format Tool window

Acronis Disk Director

This program for formatting a hard drive is also quite interesting. Its peculiarity is that it can be launched from any media. So, you can install it on a boot disk or flash drive and even without a full-fledged operating system be able to work with disk partitions.

This functionality is especially important in emergency situations, when it is more important for the user to restore the system’s functionality, and not just create an additional partition for more convenient storage of data or installation of a game. The program's functionality is suitable for working with disks running both Windows and Linux control. However, this product has one significant drawback, which 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 expired, the user is offered two options - purchase a license or remove the software product. Therefore, it can be safely used and compared with other programs on free of charge, but for a limited time.

Otherwise, this is a full-fledged 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 the information stored on these partitions in a general way.

Rice. 6 – Acronis Disk Director window

Standard Windows OS Tools

When describing programs for formatting disks, one cannot fail to mention standard operating system tools that are available to users without downloading third-party software products. This can be done using the example of operating systems of the Windows family. The peculiarity of these systems is that they have several tools for working with hard drives and their sections.

The first tool is quite simple and this utility is available to the user from the Explorer program. In order to use it, for logical hard section disk, you can call up the context menu and select “Format” from it. After this, a form will become available in which you can specify the desired parameters of the formatting operation.

This functionality will be available for all logical disk partitions, except for the active one system disk. In this case, you need to use a slightly different tool, accessible exclusively from the command line. Working with it requires special skills that are only available to experienced users.

Important! To access them you must have boot disk, as well as exhibited in BIOS settings, forcing the PC to boot from removable media, and not from the hard drive, in order to provide the functionality necessary for the system. This is provided by a small utility called diskpart. But its main problem is that the user does not receive high-quality visualization of the actions being performed, and any error in their execution can cost the functionality of the system.

This state of affairs forces users to resort to using third-party software products.

Rice. 7 – Formatting utility window

Formatting your hard drive before installing Windows

In the video I will show you how to format HDD. This may come in handy when you reinstall the operating system. Windows system.

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

Content:

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

Formatting refers to the processing of a storage medium associated with organizing the structure of this storage medium. The source can be a hard drive (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 special formatting features. We have written instructions on how to format a memory card. We are talking about the SDFormatter tool (download), specially designed for formatting flash drives and SD cards in Windows and Mac OS.

Two facts need to be kept in mind:

1. When formatting a flash drive, all data stored on it is destroyed. Files can only be restored using special recovery utilities, but a successful result cannot be guaranteed.
2. when you format a flash drive or HDD, the system checks for structural errors and, in some cases, corrects them.

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

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

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

Tip of the day. Sometimes formatting allows you to restore the functionality of a flash drive, mark it up correctly, copy files to it - as a result, it becomes writable even after Windows has stopped detecting it or has stopped reading data. This is especially important to consider if Windows cannot format the flash drive and the user has to look for third-party tools.

Windows OS has a standard utility for this case, so you don’t need to look for third-party formatting tools. Whether you are using Windows XP, Windows 7, 8 or Windows 10, the steps described are essentially the same.

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

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

• Capacity: flash drive size in GB. Every time you format a drive, check the capacity: this will help you avoid mistakes.
• File system. The type of file system, in many situations, is not important. However, if you specify FAT rather than NTFS, you will not be able to write files larger than 4 GB to the flash drive. If you choose a rare type of file system, be prepared for the fact that your flash drive will not be detected on other operating systems and computers. However, in the OS Windows choice limited to NTFS and (ex)FAT only.
• Cluster size. Read about what a cluster is and what size you need to specify here.
• Volume label: conventional name of the flash drive. Doesn't affect anything, but it's advisable to assign a memorable label to navigate in Explorer and operating system.

What is the best format to format a USB flash drive?

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

Advantages of a file system NTFS:

• writing and reading data larger than 4 gigabytes and up to a maximum permissible size section.
• 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 compression of information and, accordingly, saving occupied space on a flash drive.
• Better use of available space = less need for fragmentation.
• support for on-the-fly file encryption thanks to the EFS encrypted file system (Windows Professional OS).

Advantages of file systems FAT and FAT32:

• FAT is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X operating systems
• files take up less space on a USB drive than NTFS.
• FAT formatting is available in any OS
• Fewer disk writes/rewrites = more efficient use of available memory.

Pros of the file system exFAT:

• Read/write large files > 4 gigabytes in size to a USB flash drive.
• partitioning > 32 GB.
• rational use of space = optimization of fragmentation.

So, let's draw conclusions. FAT and FAT32 are suitable for drives smaller 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 > 32 GB. A compromise solution would be the exFAT file system. It combines the significant advantages of FAT and NTFS (large file sizes are 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 installation third party applications to work on Mac. exFAT, on the other hand, is supported on Snow Leopard and later versions of Mac OS, but requires drivers on Linux as well.

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

What cluster size should I specify in the settings?

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

Consequently, large clusters are impractical in terms of using space on a flash drive (disk).

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

Fortunately, the situation can be corrected using a flash drive formatting program. Additionally, the optimal cluster size depends on the purpose of the USB drive.

Cluster size in NTFS

If you do not store large files on a flash drive, you 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 cluster of 64 kilobytes in size.

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 512 byte (FAT32) or 32 KB (FAT) cluster.

What label should I choose for the name of the flash drive?

A volume label is just a name. It's not required, so anything will do. However, there are several rules that you need to follow, depending on the file system in which you intend to format the flash drive.

• maximum 32 characters
• will be displayed in UPPERCASE and LOWERcase letters as you entered.

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

Quick or Full Format?

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 recording errors.

Quick formatting only deletes files and does not search. Therefore, use the quick option if you do not have time to check flash drive errors.

Selecting a program to format a flash drive

Windows cannot always format a flash drive correctly. Standard formatting is not a panacea for a flash drive if the service information on the storage device has been damaged. Unfortunately, it is more difficult to recover data on a flash drive if it is damaged in this way. One solution to the problem is to download to your computer a proprietary program for formatting a flash drive (if available) on the memory manufacturer’s website. We recommend contacting support and asking the manufacturer how to clean a flash drive and whether they have programs for full formatting.

So, how to format a flash drive? Let's look at the best programs for formatting flash drives, more or less universal tools. If desired, you can easily find other alternatives, free and proprietary utilities offered by suppliers.

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

JetFlash Recovery Tool

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

• Errors and failures detected on the USB flash drive
• the information on the flash drive is not readable
• need to format the flash drive

Install JetFlash Recovery Tool and try to force format the USB drive using it. The flash drive application works with A-DATA and Transcend media, but other options are possible. We warn you: 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 your computer according to the instructions included with the program.

Utility for formatting a USB flash drive Disk Storage Format Tool

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

Main functions of the utility:

• Allows you not only to format a flash drive, but also to erase all data on a flash drive that cannot be formatted in the traditional (system) way.
• USB Disk Storage Format Tool removes any traces malware and viruses that could infect the flash drive.
• Finding and correcting reading errors and bad blocks on a flash drive.
• Create a volume label (name) for USB drives.
• Create a partition in FAT32 with a capacity of more than 32 GB.
• Low-level formatting of a flash drive of the required model (Kingston, HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Transcend, Corsair, etc.)
• It’s easy to monitor the formatting process: just check the Verbose option.

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 drive brands such 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 its help, you can create bootable flash drives, perform low-level formatting, and change the cluster size.

Formatting a flash drive using the HDD Low Level Format Tool

HDD Low Level Format Tool is a utility for low-level formatting of hard drives running Windows. Allows you to read SMART data and retrieve service information about Data storage devices.

However, HDD Low Level Format Tool supports not only hard disks, 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 access level. 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.

Program for formatting a flash drive HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Very simple utility to correctly format the flash drive in FAT32 and NTFS format. The main function is to help the user quickly select options and format the flash drive on the computer by pressing one button.

The utility for a USB flash drive is distributed free of charge, the installer can be downloaded for Windows OS.

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

How to format a flash drive on Mac OS

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

1. Install the Parallels Desktop emulator on your computer
2. Install Windows on Mac OS
3. Format a flash drive for Mac OS X via emulated Windows

Kingston USB Format Tool – format a 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 file system.

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

The program works under Windows 7 and Windows 10 or more earlier versions OS.

Therefore, if you have a Kingston flash drive and for some reason it has become slow, try this program: perhaps it will solve the problem.

Answers on questions

I'm having problems with my flash drive. SmartBuy 64 gig. At first, the flash drive occasionally “disappeared”, then disappeared completely.... after lying around for 3 weeks, it appeared and allowed itself to be formatted (from fat32 to NTFS). It worked for 2 weeks and disappeared again..... SmartBuy technical support specialists “don’t know and can’t 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 immediately refuse (and this is in exFAT).

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

Please recommend a program for correct low-level formatting of a flash drive that does not check for errors at the end. Something like that program that the Chinese use to “make” LARGE flash drives out of small ones.

Answer. Try it 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 indicate that these programs are designed for hard drives - however, some of them work similarly with flash drives, allowing you to format them.

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 to NTFS. You can record 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 to ntfs? Use USB programs Disk Storage Format Tool or HDD Low Level Format Tool. Built-in Windows tools They will also help you format the drive to ntfs.

Good day. I have a Transend flash drive, the problem is that it either works or doesn’t, formatting it doesn’t help. You dump the files on the computer from which you dumped it, it opens, you paste it into another and there is only a “shortcut” and it weighs 1 kb. Today I formatted it in Fat32, reset the movie, watched half of the movie on TV, I thought everything was going well, but I was happy early, the video stopped and that’s it, it doesn’t play anymore. I just don’t know what problem this is related to in your article. Please help, thanks in advance!!

A friend brought Micro Sd Jeef 64GB. The flash drive worked properly. After some time, the error “The disk is write protected” appeared. I tried all the treatment methods, the formatting does not work and gives the same error. On his phone the flash drive is displayed on mine, no. All files can be pulled out, but not uploaded. How to format a flash drive so that files can be copied to it?

I bought an SD card a month ago. When I put it in the slot, I went into the settings and it was shown that the memory capacity was only 128 MB, although in reality there was 14.7 GB of memory. I tried to format it several times in different ways (using programs for formatting a flash drive, described in the article), but it still couldn’t be fixed. Everything is fine with the device because... the remaining capacities of the SD cards were displayed normally.

I have a problem with the micro SD card of the 4 GB transend phone. photos and videos are no longer recorded on it, the information is not deleted. I tried to reformat it to the desired format (fat 32), but it doesn’t format. only in ex fat, but after that the information on the card does not disappear, and the format remains the same fat 32. I tried all the options, format with command line, various utilities, scanned for viruses, also corrected errors through Windows and bad sectors, everything remains the same. The formatting program from the company of the same name also did not help. Tell me, can anything be done in this case, or is the card completely dead?

The flash drive was fully working, I tried to write Windows 10 onto it via ultraISO, formatted it before that, after which it is now empty (there are no files at all), there is nothing left from the old 32 GB: occupied, free, capacity is now 0 bytes. When checking for errors through properties/information, the message: The disk cannot be checked because it is inaccessible. How to reformat a flash drive to return it to 32 GB of capacity?

The problem is that even after completely formatting the flash drive, the files remain. There is a second protected partition on the flash drive - how to remove it? Standard Windows tools and formatting utilities do not see it. Flash drive 16 GB, visible 14 GB. This partition was seen by the AOMEI Partition Assistant 6.6.0 program, but there was no option to delete it.

There is an Apacer AH223 flash drive. The owner encrypted it with some kind of program. Which one he doesn’t know. As a result, all the information can be easily read and copied, but it cannot be formatted. HDD Low Level Format Tool, Diskpart did not help.

MicroSD 32gb - I can view the contents, but I cannot delete or format. Applied different programs for formatting. What is the best way to format the flash drive (if possible) to fix it?

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

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

In short, I have a 32GB flash drive, and someone I knew formatted it from ntfs to fat, and plus, write protection appeared from somewhere. I have no idea how to format it back to ntfs (possible data loss) and remove write protection.

Flash drive ( USB-micro USB) double-sided was no longer detected both on the computer and on the phone: the chipesi program was considered to be: 090C and pid: 1000, I tried to format it with a flash doctor program and the process lasted 2 days, upon completion it was not detected even by the chipesi program, please tell me the solution.

Question from a user

Hello.

Tell me how you can format a memory card if the phone refuses to do it, and Windows, when you try to format it, just freezes and nothing happens. The card in the phone works, everything seems to be in order...

Michael.

Good day.

In this article I will look at several options for formatting memory cards. I think both the author of the question and other users will find one of the methods that will work for them...

I also note that formatting may be necessary in cases where: you want to completely delete all information from the memory card (for example, you decided to sell your smartphone), you are going to change the file system, you bought a large flash drive and the phone does not see it (on a PC you can format the flash drive into a smaller one) volume).

So, let's get down to business...

Option 1: in the device itself (phone, camera, etc.)

In my opinion, all devices (at least those that I have met) that use memory cards can format them to suit themselves. Android smartphones and cameras are no exception.

I'll look at how this happens on an Android phone below:

1. go to "Settings";
2. select the "Memory" section;
3. Next, you need to open the “Formatting a memory card” subsection;
4. Please note that this operation will delete all information on your SD card.

Despite the simplicity of the method, it has certain disadvantages:

1. cannot be selected when formatting file system(by default, the memory card will be formatted in FAT32);
2. you cannot give a name to the drive, specify cluster sizes;
3. When formatting, the phone often produces various errors and the process does not complete successfully. When you try to perform the operation again, the device may report that it no longer “sees” the drive. In general, it’s still torture...

Note! You can learn about the difference between the FAT, FAT32, NTFS file systems from this article (see the first part) -

Option 2: Windows tools

If your phone/camera (or other device) is “buggy” and cannot correctly recognize and format the card, then simply remove it from the device and connect it to your laptop/PC directly.

Any modern laptop has a card reader, usually located on the side panel of the device.

If you do not have a card reader on your laptop/computer that reads SD memory cards, you can purchase one at any computer store.

I will say more, now such adapters can be ordered in Chinese online stores for mere pennies (and even if you use cashback...).

Note: best Chinese online shopping(where is the cheapest equipment) -

After connecting the memory card to your laptop (PC), go to "My Computer" (press the combination Win+E and select the required one from the menu on the left) and right-click on the memory card. Select an option from the pop-up menu "Format...", see screenshot below.

If you don't see your memory card in My Computer(or the operation cannot be completed, for example, formatting freezes) - go to disk management .

To open in Windows control disks, you need:

1. press the buttons simultaneously Win+R ;
2. enter the command diskmgmt.msc and click OK.

To format a drive: select it from the list, right-click on it, and specify this operation in the context menu (see example below). Next you will see a standard window with entering the disk name, specifying the file system, etc.

Option 3: formatting using special. programs

When you are dealing with glitchy memory cards, the formatting of which causes errors and freezes, it is best to use a special card for this operation. utilities. They will instantly help you format your SD card and clear all information from it!

In addition, according to many developers of such utilities, they work much better with drives and perform formatting operations with higher quality than Windows or Android tools (thanks to which many errors can be avoided).

To help!

Programs for repairing USB flash drives, SD cards (diagnostics and testing, formatting, recovery) -

A specialized tool for formatting the most various cards SD/SDHC/SDXC memory. The utility is very compact, simple, and works in all versions of Windows 7/8/10.

After installation and launch, your first action is to correctly indicate the letter of the connected memory card. See the "Drive" item in the screenshot below.

HDD Low Level Format Tool

Enough popular program for low-level formatting of failed drives. Often it brings back to “life” even those memory cards on which the last one was lost...

Peculiarities:

• supports interfaces: S-ATA (SATA), IDE (E-IDE), SCSI, USB, Firewire;
• allows you to format drives of all popular brands: Western Digital, Samsung, Toshiba, Seagate, Quantum, etc.;
• full compatibility and support for card readers (SD cards, respectively).

After installing and launching the utility, select the drive you want to format in the main window and click the button Continue .

Formatting a flash drive // ​​Format This Device

After formatting is completed in this utility, Windows will prompt you to format the flash drive again (since the utility performed a low-level operation). I note that after such an operation, all data on the memory card will be deleted, and you can restore something even with the help of special tools. software will no longer work.

AutoFormat Tool

Another specialized utility for quick formatting problematic flash drives and memory cards. A utility from the well-known manufacturer Transcend (but it works not only with drives from this manufacturer!).

It is very simple to use: after starting the program, first select the disk (Disk Drive item), then indicate the type of drive (in our case SD), set the drive name (Format Label), and press the start button. After some time, the operation will be performed.

PS

1) Please note that there is a small lock on memory cards: if it is set to LOCK(closed) - then you will not be able to delete anything from it, or format it.

2) If your computer does not recognize or does not see flash card (microSD, miniSD, SD), I recommend reading this article:

That's all.Good luck to all!

Good time!

It’s not uncommon for all sorts of troubles to happen with SD cards and USB flash drives: sometimes they can’t be read, sometimes copying in progress too long, then various kinds of errors appear (what, what formatting is required, etc.). Moreover, this sometimes happens out of the blue...

In this article, I want to recommend a dozen utilities that have helped me out more than once or twice. With their help you can work with flash drives and drives different manufacturers(Silicon Power, Kingston, Transcend, etc.), i.e. This is a universal software. I think the material will be very helpful to everyone who periodically faces similar problems.

For testing and diagnostics

CrystalDiskMark

A very useful little utility. Allows you to quickly obtain read/write speed data. Supports not only USB flash drives, but also classic HDDs, SSDs, external hard drives and other drives (which Windows sees).

Note: in most cases, they are guided by the first line “Sec” (sequential read record speed). Read - reading, Write - writing.

USB Flash Benchmark

Developer website: http://usbflashspeed.com/

Another utility for testing the speed of flash drives. 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 the test results are saved on the website of the same name (along with flash drive models).

By the way! If you are thinking of buying a fast flash drive, just go to the website http://usbflashspeed.com/ and look at the top 10. This way you can acquire what other people have already experienced in practice!

H2testw

A small utility from German programmers. Designed to scan USB drives for their actual capacity (approx. : some flash drives, for example, from Chinese manufacturers, come with a “fake” inflated volume) . In these cases, it is enough to run the flash drive using H2testw, and then format it correctly.

How to find out the real capacity of a flash drive and restore its functionality (using H2testw) -

Flash Memory Toolkit

Flash Memory Toolkit is a good service package USB devices. Allows you to perform a whole range of the most necessary actions:

1. testing drives for errors when reading and writing;
2. data recovery from flash drives;
3. viewing properties and characteristics;
4. the ability to create a backup flash drive;
5. low-level drive speed test.

Flashnul

Developer's website: http://shounen.ru/

This program can diagnose and fix many software errors(especially when it is unclear what is happening with the flash drive: that is, no errors are displayed). In addition, it supports almost all flash memory media: USB flash drives, CompactFlash, SD, MMC, MS, XD, etc.

Possibilities:

1. reading and writing testing: the availability of each sector of the media will be checked;
2. checking the integrity of files located on a USB drive;
3. the ability to make an image of the contents on a flash drive (may be useful for data recovery);
4. possibility of sector-by-sector recording of an image to a USB device;
5. Some operations can be performed for other types of media: HDD, CD, Floppy disk, etc.

ChipEasy

A free and very simple utility for obtaining complete information about a flash drive. It is very useful in cases where the markings on the flash drive itself have been erased (or there were none at all).

What data does ChipEasy provide:

1. VID
2. manufacturer;
3. controller model;
4. serial number;
5. firmware information;
6. memory model;
7. Max. current consumption, etc.

Flash Drive Information

The utility is similar to the previous one. Allows you to find out all the information about the drive (flash drive, memory card) in 2 clicks: model, controller, memory, etc.

For formatting and repair

HDD Low Level Format Tool

A 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 flash drive (or don’t see it), the HDD Low Level Format Tool can help in most cases...

Peculiarities:

1. Most manufacturers (Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, etc.) and interfaces (SATA, IDE, USB, SCSI, Firewire) are supported;
2. formatting clears absolutely all information from the disk (partition table, MBR);
3. Recovering information from a disk after formatting using HDD Low Level Format Tool is almost impossible!

MyDiskFix

A free small utility designed for low-level formatting of failed flash drives. It is useful in cases where your flash drive cannot be formatted using standard Windows tools, when the flash drive shows the wrong volume, or a recording error occurs.

Note: before formatting in MyDiskFix, you need to find out how many actual working sectors are on your flash drive. This can be done, for example, using the H2Test utility (which I cited above).

USB Disk Storage Format Tool

A small utility for formatting HDD/USB Flash drive (file systems supported: NTFS, FAT, FAT32). By the way, the USB Disk Storage Format Tool does not require installation, and does not freeze if it works with faulty flash drives, from which you need to wait minutes for a response (like, for example, the standard formatting utility in Windows).

Peculiarities:

• fast and safe formatting of the drive;
• at full formatting the utility deletes all data from the flash drive (later, not a single file from it can be recovered);
• scanning the drive for errors;
• creating partitions with the FAT 32 file system larger than 32 GB;
• tested with 1000 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

A specialized utility for working with faulty USB drives. Allows you to format and restore the flash drive. I would also note its very simple interface (see screenshot above), and the ability to work without installation.

Peculiarities:

• file system support: FAT, FAT32, eXFAT, NTFS;
• simple and convenient interface;
• possibility of full and quick formatting;
• the ability to “see” drives that the explorer refuses to “show”;
• possibility of integration 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 protect them with a password. In general, this program is intended for flash drives from the manufacturer Transcend, but I can’t help but note that the formatting option also works for flash drives from other manufacturers.

RecoveRx is a fairly “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 flash drive. Officially supported USB flash drives are only from Transcend, JetFlash and A-DATA (unofficially - much more).

Important! Keep in mind that during the process of repairing (restoring) a flash drive, the program produces complete removal all the data from it! If you have the opportunity to save something from a faulty flash drive, do so.

Peculiarities:

1. simple and free utility(only 2 buttons!);
2. compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10 (also works with older OS Windows XP, 2000 (other OS - operation is not guaranteed));
3. Only 3 manufacturers are officially supported: Transcend, A-DATA and JetFlash;
4. automatic recovery of the drive (the user only needs to press 1 button);
5. low system requirements;
6. 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 targeted their product to the needs of photographers, videographers, and service specialists for such equipment.

The drive is restored in auto mode. Suitable for a variety of cases: software errors, virus infections, failures, due to improper use, etc.

Note: while working with a flash drive, SD Formatter will delete all data from it!

D-Soft Flash Doctor

Small portable program for diagnosing and repairing broken flash drives (low-level formatting, soft reset). In addition, it can create images from flash drives/memory cards and write them to other storage media.

The program supports the Russian language (since the developer is from Kazakhstan), and is compatible with all modern Windows 7, 8, 10 operating systems.

To recover files from a flash drive

R.Saver

Easy to use recovery software deleted files With various types media: hard drives, memory cards, flash drives, etc. Can be used for various errors, file system failures, 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 the article on how to recover photos from MicroSD cards memory or USB flash drive -

Recuva

File recovery program from the developers of CCleaner (the famous utility for Windows cleaning from junk files).

Recuva allows you to work not only with HDD, but also with USB flash drives, external drives, SSD, memory cards. The program is aimed at the novice user, so its use is very simple.

Peculiarities:

1. all actions in the program are performed step by step;
2. 2 modes for scanning drives;
3. sorting files by their name, size, status, etc.;
4. The utility is free;
5. Russian is supported;
6. 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 damaged flash drives, memory cards, external drives, CDs and other drives. Popular file systems are supported: FAT 12/16/32, NTFS.

I would like to note on my own that, in my humble opinion, the program’s algorithms are actually different from other programs of a similar kind, because several times with its help it was possible to recover information when other software simply did not find anything...

Note: in free version MiniTool Power Data Recovery can only recover 1 GB of information.

Addition!

In general, there are quite a lot of similar programs ( approx. : which can scan the drive and recover some of the deleted files). In one of my previous articles, I 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 am posting a link to the article below.

10 free programs to recover deleted data: files, documents, photos -

That's all for now. Additions to useful and interesting utilities are always welcome.