How do I solve the "you need to format the drive" problem in Windows without formatting?
Install software such as Recuva or NTFS Undelete to recover files on the drive and, after recovering all you can, format it.DON'T FORMAT your drive before attempting a recovery because that would overwrite your files, which couldn't be saved anymore.Your files are still physically there but the operating system has problems accessing them on a logical level, because of hardware failure or software reasons.You could also try running chkdsk /r to repair your hard disk from command line.If you have troubles dealing with command line, keep in mind that you first need to move from your hard drive (C:) to your external hard drive, by entering its letter in a Command Prompt.If your external HDD has been assigned the letter F, for example, you simply want to enter this command after the prompt (without quotes): "F:"You'll see that now you'll have the letter F in the prompt (F:\>).The prompt, if you don't know about it, is :\>It means the system is ready for your input (you'll notice that the > looks like an arrow going out, towards an output) or, in other words, it's waiting for you to enter a command.After you made sure you're in the right drive (i.e. your external HDD), you can now run CHKDSK /R
When I try to format my flash drive it says "unable to format". Do you have any suggestions?
Is it showed as RAW under Disk Management?? It means the drive file system is damaged and needs to be formatted first. I'm afraid that you might loose everything stored on that drive. Try using professional USB Data recovery software that may pull off the data from such tragic instances. Later, go with formatting the drive and see if it may fixes everything. Windows Data Recovery SoftwareGood luck!!
How do I fix a pendrive "windows was unable to complete the format"?
See the following 2 articles for some techniques which can be used to recover severely messed up USB drives (logically speaking):Stop! Don’t throw that USB awayHow To Repair Corrupt USB Flash Drive
"Windows was unable to complete the format"?
One of my hard drive is divided into 2 partitions. One of the partitions used to have Windows XP installed on it, but I deleted the windows folder to make more space. Now I'm trying to format and join the partitions, but I keep getting "Windows was unable to complete the format". How do I format this partition? (I'm currently running Windows Vista)
How can we open a corrupted external hard drive without formatting on Windows 7?
You can't. Once the drive becomes damaged or being corrupted, internal file system won't allows any type of read or write actions. Using recovery programs before formatting is recommended if you've saved something useful on it and don't want it to be fade away permanently. I'd recommend formatting only after recovering your precious files. Else, you might lose the entire stored content. Good luck!!
Why is my 4GB flash drive only showing 1MB of max storage space?
I just got this 4GB flash drive and i formated it to FAT and now i only have 1MB of space on the drive, also I tried to format to NTFS and it says "windows is unable to complete format", and the only other format option is "exFAT", what can I do to try and get the full memory back on the flashdrive? also on a side note, i'm not the most computer competent so be very specific and try not to use too much technical jargon
I tried to format a flash drive and during the process I canceled it. The flash stopped working. Can it be repaired?
You can consider flashing your drive using the steps highlighted in this article.Solved! How to fix a write protected USB thumb drive
I cannot format my USB flash drive?
Sometimes you may not be able to format your drive using normal windows format option. This may be due to some background process running in the drive. This may be due to viruses. Here’s a simple method to Format ur drive. Find the below link http://mycompuhelp.blogspot.com/2011/01/...
How can I format C drive with out uninstalling deep freeze?
By formatting your C drive you will remove anything on it. You can only create a partition to format if you want to keep stuff on it but change part of it to say ntfs from fat 32. You can re-install windows or install another operating system without removing anything by simply overwriting the existing Windows folder in the case of Xp or if you want to install Win 7 or Vista, you can do so without formatting and anything you have now on the hard drive will still be there. If you have deep freeze and you can't save it before formatting the hard drive, Then just don't format. You don't say why you want to format but if it is to install Windows you don't need to wipe the drive or re-format it. Any games or programs will still be in Program files with Windows Xp or in Windows Old if you install 7 or Vista. There is one small drawback you need to overcome. Some of the stuff that is still on the drive may not work because it is not registered in the new registry. So before you install windows, Do this. Go to the start menu and click on Run. Type regedit in the slot. When regedit pops up, go to File at the top left and click on Export. This will create a file that you can save somewhere on the hard drive, like C:\OldRegisty, or you could put it on a flash drive. When you have installed your new windows, Go to regedit again and click on File and click Import. Load the file you saved and your registry will recognise all your old stuff. If you installed Win 7 or Vista put anything in the program files folder inside The windows old folder where your old stuff has been saved into the new Program files folder on C. If you have windows Xp, save anything inside My documents you need and anything on the desktop because If you re-install windows Xp it will delete things on your desktop and in your My documents folder. That was long winded and you might not even want to install windows. You said you can't alter drive C because you need administrator righs, but if you only have one hard drive C you can't format it from inside windows because it will erase windows!. You can only format a sole hard drive by booting from a disk. If you have 2 hard drives or partitions and your Windows is not on C, you can. Just log off and log back on as administrator if it's your computer.
Why does my hard drive label say one thing and disk management another?
Permanent storage/media manufacturers (such as hard disks, flash drives, and recordable DVDs) measure capacity in decimal, where 1KB = 1000 bytes, 1MB = 1000 KB and 1GB = 1000 MB. They always have. In contrast, Windows measures capacity in binary, where 1KB = 1024 bytes, 1MB = 1024 KB and 1GB = 1024 MB. This is how RAM (memory) capacity is measured. So when companies like Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung and Toshiba advertise a 320GB drive, they mean it has a capacity of 320,000,000,000 bytes. However when converted to binary that translates to 298.02322 GB (rounded, and you lose a tiny amount to formatting) It's just that measuring everything in binary became a widely accepted convention when Windows-based PC's became really popular, but that wasn't ever really accurate. Macs used to report drive capacity in binary too, but with the release of Snow Leopard started reporting in decimal, so you don't see the discrepancy. The amount of space you have available hasn't changed, though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_pref...