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| Thread ID: 102130 | 2009-08-08 04:46:00 | Formatting a Flash Drive | johcar (6283) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 799254 | 2009-08-08 04:46:00 | I have 2 brand new 8GB Kingston DataTravelers (bought on GraysOnline - also got 3 x 4GB drives at the same time which work perfectly). When I plug the 8GB drives into the Vista laptop, the drivers install (on first insert) successfully, then I am prompted to format the disk before I can use it. So I agree to the format (initially leaving it as FAT) and then I get a message that all the data will be erased (since it hasn't been used before that's not an issue). OK'd the warning and then almost instantly get a pop up saying: "Windows was unable to complete the format". When I repeat this performance using NTFS as the format, I get the same result. Same result also if I use the Disk Management console, rather than clicking on the drive in Explorer. In the Disk Management console, the flash drive can be seen with a message: "8MB RAW Healthy (Primary partition)" - I assume it's saying 8MB rather than 8GB because it is unformatted... Does anyone have any ideas how I can get these drives formatted (and maybe why they aren't formatting in the first place)? |
johcar (6283) | ||
| 799255 | 2009-08-08 04:50:00 | Do they have write protect switches / tabs on them? | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 799256 | 2009-08-08 04:53:00 | No switches | johcar (6283) | ||
| 799257 | 2009-08-08 04:57:00 | Did either come with a program to partition them?? If they did, use the program or partition them in disk management | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 799258 | 2009-08-08 05:04:00 | No, they just came in clear plastic envelopes with a card insert in the back of them describing the product. No additional software.... | johcar (6283) | ||
| 799259 | 2009-08-08 06:09:00 | Well partition them in disk management. Or go to the kingston site and see if there's any software specifically made for them. So you can format / partition them | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 799260 | 2009-08-08 06:58:00 | Disk management console doesn't work - won't format them, although you can see the drive. Have already been to the Kingston site, couldn't find any partitioning tools, so logged a support call with them. No doubt, it will take until Tuesday to get a reply.... Thanks anyway Speedy. EDIT: Tried formatting on an XP machine to see whether it was Vista-specific, but same result... :( |
johcar (6283) | ||
| 799261 | 2009-08-08 07:23:00 | Try Gparted. Download the iso and burn to a CD sourceforge.net To me this sounds like a dead flash drive. 99.99% of flash drives come preformatted. |
Blam (54) | ||
| 799262 | 2009-08-08 10:05:00 | Try Gparted. Download the iso and burn to a CD sourceforge.net To me this sounds like a dead flash drive. 99.99% of flash drives come preformatted. It does seem odd - these are both brand-new and arrived the same time as 3 x 4GB drives from the same manufacturer - which work perfectly and did not require formatting. I think that rather than download a 100MB ISO at this point, I will wait to see what Kingston say. The Gparted option I will hold back as a last resort. It shouldn't be this difficult to use a flash drive! Thanks blam. |
johcar (6283) | ||
| 799263 | 2009-08-08 11:15:00 | Try formatting them in a different PC, I don't think you will be able to format them in NTFS, so you should try FAT. Sounds like it isn't making a proper connection. |
radium (8645) | ||
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