Pny Usb Format Tool

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Previously, we showed you how to format a USB drive on Windows 10. The process is very straightforward and shouldn’t take more than a minute to complete. After formatting, you are supposed to get this success message:

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Pny Usb Format Tool

But, there may be times when Windows cannot format your flash drive. For example, you plug your drive into the port of a PC, you right click on the disk icon and select “Format”, but it popped up an error saying “Windows was unable to complete the format”.

Other times you may see this message: “The disk is write protected”…So, what’s wrong? Does that mean your USB drive is broken?

Not really!

In this article, we are going to show you how to fix this weird Windows not formatting error. All you need to do is follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Let’s get started.

Typical Errors When USB Can’t Be Formatted on Windows

Depending on the operating systems (Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP) you are using, the error messages may vary from case to case. Here are the common ones:

Format
  • The disk is write protected.
  • The USB disk is not formatted, do you want to format it now?
  • The USB drive is not initialized.
  • The operation did not complete because the media is write protected.
  • There is no disk in the drive. Insert the disk and then try again.
  • Windows refuses to format your USB key or access files.
  • Other force format error messages.

The possible causes for those formatting errors also vary. For example, the flash drive is corrupted due to improper ejection or an unexpected PC shutdown. There might also be compatibility issues between your flash drive and the PC.

Another common reason for that is file system error. For example, normally a new flash drive is initiated with FAT-32. It’s possible that you (or the person who uses it) might have reformatted it into NTFS or another file system.

Why file system matters?

You might wonder. We’d like to use an analogy a reader shared with us earlier.

A flash drive is essentially like a book, the data is the words in the book, the format is the paper that the words are printed on – different book publishers use different kinds of paper.

Now you understand. Let’s go back to the topic.

Before Formatting Your USB Drive

Make sure that you’ve already backed up the data stored on your flash drive. If you haven’t done so and the files stored inside are important to you, try using a data recovery software to see if it helps. Just connect your USB drive to the PC, then let a recovery program scan your USB drive to seek any recoverable items.

Also Read: Complete Guide to USB Flash Drive Data Recovery

Also, if you happen to have access to another computer, the first attempt you should take is try inserting the USB drive to that PC and then see if the drive can be accessed or formatted successfully. Sometimes this helps clear the compatibility or buffer issues. If that doesn’t help, follow the guide below.

How To Fix When Windows Was Unable to Complete The Format

Simply put, you go to Disk Management and re-format the drive. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Insert your flash drive into a PC.
  2. Move the cursor to the bottom left corner. Right-click on the Windows icon.
  3. Select Disk Management.
  4. Highlight the disk your flash drive represents, right click and choose New Simple Volume.
  5. Now select the formatting options, make sure under File System you choose FAT-32 or exFAT.
  6. Click “Next” to complete the rest procedure.

If this doesn’t work out, use the command line to initiate the drive. This video has more:

How To Format USB When Windows Says Disk Is Write Protected

Note: our PC is running Windows 10 thus all the screenshots below are taken based on Windows 10. If you’re on Windows 8.1, 7, Vista, or XP, they will look slight different.

Step 1: In the search bar, type “regedit” and click the regedit app icon to run it.

Step 2: In Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control.

Step 3: Right-click Control folder, select New > Key.

Step 4: Now rename the New Key #1 folder into StorageDevicePolicies.

Step 5: Right-click on StorageDevicePolicies folder, select New, and QWORD (64-bit) Value if your PC is running with a 64-bit version, or DWORD (32-bit) Value if it’s with 32-bit.

Hint: see this Microsoft article to check whether your computer is running a 32-bit version or 64-bit version.

Step 6: Now rename the New Value #1 folder into WriteProtect.

Step 7: Double click the WriteProtect folder, change the Value data: into “0” and Base to “Hexadecimal”, click “OK.”

Step 8: Close RegEdit by clicking the “X” icon.

Step 9: Open “This PC” (Windows 10) or “My Computer” (Windows Vista/XP), and refresh it 5 times without doing anything to your USB drive, and properly eject the flash drive.

Step 10: Now plug your USB drive again into your computer and format it to exFAT instead of FAT32.

Done!

Still Didn’t Work?

Kingston usb format tool download

It’s time to use a third-party utility. We recommend this one called HP USB Disk Format Tool, a program also recommended by SanDisk actually (see here).

First off, you need to download the utility from CNET. Then, install the utility on your Windows PC. Run the program and follow the tutorial in this video.

Note: Using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool will restore your flash drive to the original capacity and every bit of data will be erased permanently.

One more thing: USB flash drives are easy to go wrong, if you have important files to save, it’s best to use an external drive for backup and storage. Because it’s more reliable.

Pny Usb Format Tool

So that’s all we wanted to share in this article. How do you like this troubleshooting guide? Have you managed to fix the Windows unable to format USB?

Pny Usb Format Tool Sk6226ba

Let us know which formatting method worked for you, or which step you are stuck in.

Either way, leave a comment below.

Influenced by the startup culture in the Silicon Valley, Jessica loves building things from zero to one and is keen on following news related to the Big Five tech giants and many SaaS startups.

I am trying to reformat my PNY 4G USB flash drive. It says it is write protected. How can I get around that?

  1. How can I reformat my PNY 4GB USB there is problem of write protesion errer

  2. my pendrive 8gb sandisk cruzer blade usb device .can not formating asking files are write protected .how to format it .please solve my problem

    • 1. Start > search bar -> CMD and press enter
      2. type< diskpart
      3. type< list disk
      4. type< select disk # (# is the number of the USB key)
      5. typeregedit
      2.MyComputer->HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->SYSTEM->CurrentControlSet->Control -> StorageDevicePolicies
      3.Delete the StorageDevicePolicies in Your Registry.

  3. Dear Debra Zumbuhl,

    First of all, check if there is a physical write protection
    on/off tab or button on the drive. If there is none, you will have to boot in
    safe mode, and using the command prompt, format the drive to get past the write
    protection. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Find the letter of your drive.

    1. Shutdown your computer.

    2. Insert the drive into your computer.

    3. Turn on your computer and then immediately start pressing
    the F8 key. The Advanced Boot Options screen will come up.

    4. Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt by using the arrow
    keys and pressing enter.

    5. Windows will load it’s files.

    6. If your drive letter is F, type “F:” in the command
    prompt that appears, and press enter .

    7. Type “format F:” and press enter.

    8. You may be asked if you wish to force dismount the drive.
    If this happens, type “y” and press enter.

    9. Now a full format will start which will remove write
    protection from the drive.

    10. After the format finishes, you will need to type in an
    11 character or less name for the drive, or press enter to give the drive a
    blank name.

    Remember to substitute F with the letter of your drive, and
    please let me know if this works!

    Sincerely,

    Brian Bearsall

  4. On Windows7 Go to: Computer > Right click > Removable Disk > Format...

  5. Hello there have been a few similar questions in the past. Here are some links for you to read:

    //www.makeuseof.com/answers/format-write-protected-flash-disk/
    //www.makeuseof.com/answers/format-write-protected-pen-drive/
    //www.makeuseof.com/answers/remove-write-protection-usb-drive/
    //www.makeuseof.com/answers/flash-drive-writeprotected-format/
    //www.makeuseof.com/answers/format-usb-flash-drive/
    //www.makeuseof.com/answers/format-flash-disk-write-protected-due-virus-infection/

  6. How i can format a pen drive which is show error message write protected ?

  7. 1. Start > search bar -> CMD and press enter
    2. type< diskpart
    3. type< list disk
    4. type< select disk # (# is the number of the USB key)
    5. type< attributes disk clear readonly
    http://pario.no/2011/05/23/clear-read-only-flag-on-disk-in-windows-7-using-diskpart/