Many times we faced a big problem while using our USB drive, not only it doesn’t work but also when we try to format it with Windows we can’t. This could be due to a variety of issues, but there is always a solution before you have to throw it away, so we’ll show you what you can do to check that it still works before you throw it away.
Although USB sticks are a key technology to be able to physically transport our data safely, there is always a moment when they stop working, like any device. But it’s still important to make sure that it actually stopped working because it’s broken, not because the file system got corrupted and doesn’t allow us to format it.
How to Fix Unusable USB Drive with Windows Tools
Windows is an operating system that allows us to do quite a few things with the tools it includes, in this case we are going to focus on those that are used to modify hard drives.
Disc part
This application will allow us to force a cleaning and formatting of our USB key via the command line.
- To begin, we can write disc part In the Windows search bar it will always ask us to run it as administrator, so if we do not have these permissions we will not be able to open it.
- Once the application is open, just write the command in the terminal “disk list”which will show us all the available disks currently connected to our PC.
- After that, all we have to do is select our USB stick using the command “select disk n” replacement there not for him number of our USB keyalways being careful not to put 0, since this number represents the hard drive on which our OS is installed, as well as all the data (be careful).
- Once this is done, simply write “to do the housework» to start cleaning our USB drive, this will eliminate everything currently saved, as well as apply a basic format to it.
Now our disk is completely clean, but we still cannot use it, because we have to format it as if it were an internal disk, which will allow us to use it.
- To do this, simply left-click on the Windows icon and select “Disk Management“.
- After opening this window, the disks connected to our PC will appear with a graphical representation. To format our USB drive we must locate it and right-click on it. All we have to do is select “New simple volume” and another window will open where we can configure various parameters, such as the name, file system and even the size of our USB stick.
External Applications to Fix Unusable USB Drive
When our operating system tools do not work, we can opt for external applications designed for a specific purpose, in this case, formatting and establishing disk partitions.
GParté
This would be the standard application to use if we have a Linux system whose distribution is made for users. Thanks to its graphical interface it is easy to check what disks we have and, in turn, format them. It is also available on Windows, so we can also choose to use it if we have the Microsoft operating system.
Rufus
This is an extremely simple program for formatting removable disks and which allows the user to configure the necessary settings for this in just a few clicks thanks to its compact but useful interface. It is also useful if we need to create a USB stick bootable be able to use an operating system from an external hard drive.
FormatUSB
Its name says it all, and it is a simple but effective tool, which does not bring major complications than installing it, because after running it, its intuitive interface will guide us through the process so that we let’s have no problem. .
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