How to format a flash drive through the command line and what are the ways?

Removable USB flash drives have to be formatted quite often, not only to completely clean them from the available information, but also to create bootable media or in the event of file system corruption due to some malfunctions. And not always built-in tools of Windows-systems can cope with such task. Therefore, the question of how to format a USB flash drive via Windows 7 command line, previous or subsequent versions, becomes very relevant. In this case, you can offer users three basic options for action, two of which are very similar to each other.

The main problems when formatting the USB flash drive with Windows

The most common problem that Windows users face when trying to format a removable media is that the process seems to be started first, but it does not reach the end.

Even if you select any standard settings, the system reports that Windows can not produce or finish formatting. Why is this happening? Yes, only because the drive has a software or physical damage. No matter how good Windows-system, fix the situation with regular methods does not work.

Next, the problem of how to format a USB flash drive via the command line (Windows 10 will be applied or XP, it's absolutely unimportant - the methods offered work in all operating systems of this type). But first you need to consider a few key points.

Which format should I prefer?

So, before deciding how to format a USB flash drive through the command line, you should determine the type of file system that will be installed on it after the process is completed. Since we are talking about Windows, systems for Linux and Android will not be considered.

Thus, there are only two options: either FAT32 or NTFS. What to choose? First, pay attention to the amount of memory flash drive. If it does not exceed 4 GB, you can use FAT32. In the case of a larger size, you will have to select NTFS, since the first version of the file system does not define large volumes. Rather, the device itself determines, but sets for any drive the maximum size is just at 4 GB.

Secondly, if you create a bootable media for computers where a new UEFI system is installed instead of the aging BIOS, NTFS will not be possible, since such systems are not recognized by this system initially.

Next, we'll talk about how to format the USB flash drive in NTFS via the command line or apply similar actions with the FAT32 selection. Immediately I want to upset all lovers of the simplest methods that tend to use the standard format command without using additional attributes: this approach will prove ineffective.

How to completely format the USB flash drive via the command line using the format command and its main attributes?

Now directly about formatting. The format command for the simplest case needs to be applied not only with the indication of the removable media, under which it is registered in the system, but also adding additional attributes.

For example, the user needs to format the USB flash drive via the command line in FAT32, and the media in the system is indicated by the letter F. In this case, the full command will look like this: format / fs: fat32 F: / q (in the above image, drive letter I).

What do the characters in this line mean? The first is the command to start the formatting process, the second is responsible for selecting the file system (in this case FAT32), F is the drive letter, the "/ q" attribute indicates that when formatting the volume label (the future name of the media to be displayed in the system) You do not need to create it and you can do the formatting, so to speak, quickly. If you need an NTFS file system, it is indicated on the line itself instead of FAT32. After entering the command, the system prompts you to insert the device into the port, and after that you will need to press the enter key and wait for the process to finish.

How to format a USB flash drive through the command line with the quick addition of a volume label

The second method proposed for review allows you to immediately add a volume label without using additional commands after the formatting process is completed.

In this case, the problem of how to format a USB flash drive via the command line in this way is solved by using the attribute "/ v" (short for English Volume) instead of the "/ q" attribute, after which the desired media name is indicated via a colon. The formatting command itself is also slightly modified.

For the flash drive from the previous example, the command looks like this: format F: / fs: fat32 / v: NAME (in this case NAME is a user-defined name, you can leave the / q operator). Next - the same actions as in the first example.

Using the diskpart sequence

Finally, the longest method to solve the problem, how to format the flash drive via the command line. And if using the first two methods errors can be given, which will be discussed a little later, then this technique provides almost a 100% guarantee of successful execution of the process.

First, the diskpart command is written to the console, after which it will be necessary to enter the list disk line and select the desired device (all partitions are denoted by numbers, so you can determine the desired volume by the size). Then select flash disk N (N is the number of partition number).

Now the main stage. In some cases, when the media may contain errors or restrictions in terms of the actions applied to them, you may first need to clear the "Read-only" attribute with the attributes disk clear readonly command. This will avoid mistakes in the future. After that, you need to clear the media from all contents. To do this, use the clean command.

Next on the media, create a primary partition (create partition primary), and only then type formatfs = fat32 (or ntfs) directly. This will be full formatting. If you want to perform a quick formatting, additionally a quick attribute is specified in the line with a space. After the process is completed, the exit command is applied. When creating bootable media in the intermediate stage, the additional commands select partition primary and active are added.

What should I do if I get a format error?

But with formatting, you can get an error. In particular, this applies when the drive in the system is RAW format, which appeared due to some software failures, which is not recognized in Windows.

To fix the problem, you can first check the device from the command console by writing chkdsk F: / x / f / r there, but you can also prefer special utilities, among which the palm tree belongs to such software packages as HDD LLF (Low Level Format - Lower level) and R.Saver.

Short summary

Briefly summarizing, it can be noted that the first two methods are very simple, but they should be used only with full confidence in the absence of software crashes and physical damage on the media. But the third method is unique, and it should be used without fail, if after formatting it will be necessary to create a bootable medium (even using the most powerful applications for it), and also for situations where standard formatting is impossible.