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YahooA USB flash drive is a portable data storage integrated with a USB (universal serial bus) interface. It is low cost, low power consumption and small in size, making it handy for everyone to carry. The USB can be used as a replacement for a floppy disk, Zip drive disk, or CD/DVD. Also, it does not require rebooting when attached to a computer.
However, USB flash drives are just like other data storage which should be reformatted to keep its entire memory space clean and workable. If you bought your USB drive with its software for reformatting, then use it. Read its manual regarding the steps to take if you are using the software specific for your USB. If you don't have a specific software for your USB, then the steps below would be your best guide for reformatting your USB flash drive.
WARNING: Reformatting your USB flash drive will remove ALL of its data. If you have an important file on your USB that you want to keep, copy it to another drive or any data storage that can accommodate its space.
Click "My Computer" on your Start Menu or simply double click on the "My Computer" icon if you have it on your computer desktop. This will show you the available drives on your computer.
Insert the USB flash drive that you want to reformat. On your "My Computer" Windows Explorer, a USB icon will appear after you have inserted the USB. Right click on it and left click on "Format" so the format window will appear.
Under the "Capacity" label is a drop-down box where you can specify how much memory space the drive can hold. By default, it usually has only one option.
Under the "File System" label is a drop-down box where you can specify the File System of the drive. File System is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data to a drive. I recommend you format your USB with an NTFS File System because it's more efficient than Fat32, but either way is fine.
Under "Volume Label" is a textbox for you to provide the name of your flash drive.
Under the "Format Options" label are additional formatting choices. I recommend you uncheck the quick format option and instead choose "long format" to wipe out all data on your drive, as well as repair any system problems found on your drive. Long format reads all sectors of your drive.
- Quick Format - This deletes entries from the file allocation table and leaves the actual files intact.
- Enable Compression - This system will compress the files when not in use.
- Create and MS-DOS start-up disk - This will allow you to boot from your disk.
Click the "Start" button to begin formatting your drive. The time to finish formatting will vary depending on how much space is available on your drive. You'll know when it's done because a prompt box will appear telling you it's finished.
Take note that when you are done reformatting, all your files or data on your USB drive are deleted.
