USB stick won't format

[Josh-H]

My mate's USB stick one day corrupted and said it needed reformatting but in XP when you try to format it it just errors with:

http://www.grabup.com/uploads/68a0188dc19190b3a50d47e421a4b7ca.png?direct

http://www.grabup.com/uploads/992fdd6072a785b7c2c067dd08cdc0f8.png?direct

In Mac OS X it just gets stuck there saying partitioning.

Help?

In XP I've also tried going to administrative tools and reformatting it from disk management but no luck there either.

:\

+REP to good helpers.

[DrLacero]

Don't use quick format, it's the format equivelant of adding files to the recycle bin. If you're still having problems.

Alternatively, install a small distro and force a format using:

fdisk /dev/sda
mkfs -t vfat /dev/sda1

(I haven't used linux in a long time, let someone else confirm if it's right)

Merged by Johno! (Forum Moderator): Posts merged due to forum lag.

[Josh-H]

Don't use quick format, it's the format equivelant of adding files to the recycle bin. If you're still having problems.

Alternatively, install a small distro and force a format using:

fdisk /dev/sda
mkfs -t vfat /dev/sda1

(I haven't used linux in a long time, let someone else confirm if it's right)

Merged by Johno! (Forum Moderator): Posts merged due to forum lag.

Would Ubuntu work as I've already got a cd of that?

[Recursion]

Try: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/330/HP_USB_Stick_Formatting_Tool.html

and yes, Ubuntu would.

[Josh-H]

Ubuntu commands didn't work:

http://www.grabup.com/uploads/c9859d1dfad8898614f67f00a2d23985.png?direct
http://www.grabup.com/uploads/c9859d1dfad8898614f67f00a2d23985.png

[Recursion]

Its not sda, thats the first hard drive. I'm not sure what the mount point is, also make sure that your VMWare is giving Ubuntu access to that USB drive.

[Josh-H]

vmware is 100% giving ubuntu access.

[Stephen!]

I would just say the USB drive is broken.

[Josh-H]

I would just say the USB drive is broken.

It's still showing up in xp, os x & linux though showing its size etc. Just won't format.

Windows even reports it as healthy.

[Recursion]

Try the HP Program I linked to.

[Fehm]

Theres an incredibly simple solution.


buy a new one.
:P

[Josh-H]

Theres an incredibly simple solution.


buy a new one.
:P

Thanks? It's not even my usb stick...

Also it wasn't exactly cheap as it's 16gb.

HP program didn't work.

[Recursion]

Is it write locked? :P

Try Parted Magic (http://www.partedmagic.com/) - Direct download link. (http://rubenal.com/felipe1982/partedmagic/pmagic-1.9.iso)

or try DiskPart (http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/diskpart.mspx?mfr=true)