Today I want to tell you about such a wonderful program as. What's so wonderful about it? - you ask. And the fact that with its help you can (data from a flash drive after formatting) or a disk, and the most interesting thing is that this program is available to any Windows user via the command line, in other words, it does not require installation. And don’t let the phrase “command line” scare you – using it is much more convenient and simpler than it seems at first glance.

So, after we have inserted the flash drive into the USB connector, we launch the command line. To do this, click Start and in the search bar we write cmd, and press Enter.

In the command line that appears, we write, thereby launching the disk management program. Click Enter.

In the list of devices we find our flash drive - it can be recognized by its size. In my case it's Disc 6. Therefore, next we write the command. If your flash drive is number 4, then you need to enter the command. If the number is 2, then , accordingly. Click Enter.

Then enter the command clean, which will delete all files from a flash drive or disk. Click Enter.

Then we enter the command. Thus, select the specified section and move the focus to it. Click Enter.

Then we execute the command. The system marks the partition as active. Click Enter.

Now it is necessary. It can be quick or complete. Full formatting is done with the command format fs=NTFS. If you don’t want to wait and time is running out, then we do quick formatting with the command format fs=NTFS QUICK. Click Enter.

We are waiting for the formatting to finish.

Now you need to assign a letter to the flash drive. We do this using the command assign. Click Enter.

The flash drive is automatically assigned a letter, and then the media automatically starts.

Now you can shut down the program. Enter the command exit and press Enter.

The last thing to do is to copy the distribution files of the operating system (the one for which we made a bootable flash drive) to, in fact, our flash drive. After this, our flash drive will be bootable and will boot absolutely everywhere, on any device. With its help, you can install your operating system anywhere.

I would like to note that with the help of the program you can carry out many manipulations with both hard drives () and flash drives. The example discussed today is only a small part of all the possibilities. I will consider other commands and examples of working with this program in the following articles.

Also read on this topic:

Formatting a flash drive to NTFS
How to recover data from a flash drive after deleting or formatting? How to change disk size in Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8. Free program EaseUS Partition Master Free How to create a bootable UEFI USB flash drive to install Windows 8.1 and 10?
How to freeze a row in Excel? How to create a disk image using Daemon Tools?

Hello everyone friends. In this article, I want to tell you how to format a flash drive in different ways so that you can choose the most optimal one for yourself. A flash drive today is the most common and convenient carrier of a wide variety of information. But after a certain period of time, it is necessary to carry out the formatting procedure, for a number of different reasons:

— quick deletion of all files on the media

- cleaning flash drive from viruses

— errors appear when writing or reading

- slow operation of the carrier

- the need to create a bootable USB flash drive

Formatting will also be useful if, for example, you want to copy a file larger than 4 GB to a flash drive, then you need to format it from FAT32 format to NTFS format.

As you can see, there can be a lot of options for carrying out this operation; let’s look at the difference between quick and full formatting (this will be discussed later in the article).

With quick formatting, only the file allocation table itself is cleared; if desired, deleted data can be restored. With a full format, all data is completely destroyed (overwriting with zeros), and, as a rule, this process takes longer than with a quick format.

That's it, we're done with theory, let's start practicing, and I'll tell you how to format a flash drive.

Formatting a flash drive using built-in Windows tools

Via command line

Using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Advice! Before formatting, be sure to copy files that are important to you to your hard drive or other removable storage device.

How to format a flash drive - 3 ways

1) Using built-in Windows tools

Insert your removable drive into your computer and open the My Computer window, you can also press the key combination:

In the window that appears, right-click on your media icon and select Format.

In the new window, set the necessary parameters:

Capacity – service information about the media size is displayed here; it does not change.

File system– you can select the file system type from the drop-down list (NTFS, FAT32, exFAT). I advise you to choose the type - NTFS.

Cluster size is left unchanged.

Restore default settings– this button returns the settings to standard, we do not touch it.

Volume label – here you can specify any name that will be displayed when you connect the flash drive to the computer.

Check the box next to Quick cleanup if you need to urgently clear the storage media. If the flash drive is slow and constantly slows down, or it is infected with viruses, then uncheck this box.

Click the Start button and in the next window confirm your actions by clicking OK.

After a short period of time, a message should appear indicating that formatting is complete.

2) Formatting a flash drive using the command line

Press the key combination:

or the Start - Run button, and enter the command - cmd to open the command line.

In the window that appears, enter the following command:

format H: /FS:NTFS /Q /V:My_Fleshka

format H: is a command that starts formatting removable media designated by the specified letter. To find out which letter is used by your flash drive, open My Computer.

/FS:NTFS – this command sets the type of file system that will be used after formatting the flash drive. In this example it is NTFS.

/Q – this part of the command means quick formatting; we do not use it to completely delete data.

/V:My_Fleshka – volume label, or name that will be assigned to your media.

and press Enter.

The following message will appear:

where we also press Enter.

That's it, the formatting process has started, wait a while until a message like this appears.

3) How to format a flash drive using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

The program, unzip it and run the exe file (it does not require installation) as Administrator (right-click on the file and select Run as Administrator).

A window will appear in which you need to select the file system when formatting, and also specify the name of the flash drive. Select the formatting method – Quick (check the box) or Full clear (uncheck the box), and click the Start button.

A warning window will appear, click the Yes button and the formatting process with the specified settings will begin.

Depending on the selected formatting method, after a certain period of time a window will appear with the formatting result, in which you must click OK.

Now you know how to quickly format a flash drive and avoid problems associated with removable media.

That's all I have, bye everyone!

To create a bootable flash drive, we will use programs from both a third-party manufacturer and the built-in Windows command interpreter. Each method is different and has its own specifics, but I think that a simple end user will be able to cope with creating a bootable flash drive using any of the proposed methods:

• how to make a bootable USB flash drive using the command line
• how to make a bootable USB flash drive using UltraISO
• how to make a bootable USB flash drive using Windows7 USB/DVD Download Tool

If you are interested in information about creating a bootable USB flash drive for the Linux operating system family, then you can read the information at this link “bootable USB flash drive for Linux”.

So, I propose to start creating a bootable flash drive in order, as defined in the above list, accordingly we proceed to the first method.

BOOT FLASH DRIVE using the command line (method I)

Next, we will use only those commands that we need when creating a bootable flash drive. Therefore, the figure below shows the sequential entry of commands to create a bootable USB flash drive. And please pay attention to the fact that the commands you enter are indicated by a red underline!

Graphical representation of command input on the command line

Now let's describe the previously entered commands:

DISKPART- launch the program, a text-mode command interpreter that allows you to manage objects (disks, partitions or volumes) using scripts or directly entering commands from the command line.

list disk- display a list of disk drives connected to a personal computer.

select disk 1- select disk number “1”, since in our case it is a removable flash drive.

clean- clears all data from removable media - flash drive.

create partition primary- create a primary partition.

select partition 1- select the created section.

active- make the section active.

format fs=NTFS- format the flash drive in the NTFS file system.

assign letter=T- if necessary, you can assign a letter for the flash drive in this way.

Exit- exit the DISKPART program.

BOOTABLE FLASH DRIVE CREATED!

NOTE: Once you have created a bootable USB flash drive, you need to transfer the operating system files to this removable media. Files must be transferred in unpacked form, do not under any circumstances simply add an operating system image, for example one *.ISO file, it WILL NOT WORK!!!

You can see the complete list of Diskpart program commands in the following table:

Table of commands of the "DISKPART" program

TEAM	EXPLANATION
ACTIVE	- Mark the selected section as active.
ADD	- Adding a mirror to a simple volume.
ASSIGN	- Assign a name or mount point to the selected volume.
ATTRIBUTES	- Working with volume or disk attributes.
ATTACH	- Attaches a virtual disk file.
AUTOMOUNT	- Enable or disable automatic mounting of basic volumes.
BREAK	- Splitting the mirror set.
CLEAN	- Clear configuration information or all data on the disk.
COMPACT	- Attempts to reduce the physical size of the file.
CONVERT	- Convert disk formats.
CREATE	- Create a volume, partition or virtual disk.
DELETE	- Delete an object.
DETAIL	- View object parameters.
DETACH	- Detaches the virtual disk file.
EXIT	- Shutdown DiskPart.
EXTEND	- Expand volume.
EXPAND	- Increasing the maximum available space on the virtual disk.
FILESYSTEMS	- Displays the current and supported file systems for the volume.
FORMAT	- Formatting a given volume or partition.
GPT	- Assigning attributes to the selected GPT partition.
HELP	- Display a list of commands.
IMPORT	- Import a disk group.
INACTIVE	- Marking the selected section as inactive.
LIST	- Display a list of objects.
MERGE	- Merging a child disk with its parents.
ONLINE	- Transferring an object marked as "offline" to the "online" state.
OFFLINE	- Transferring an object marked as “online” to the “offline” state.
RECOVER	- Update the status of all disks of the selected package. Attempting to rebuild disks of the wrong package and resynchronizing mirrored and RAID5 volumes with outdated plex or parity data.
R.E.M.	- Does not perform any actions. Used to comment scripts.
REMOVE	- Deleting a drive name or mount point.
REPAIR	- Recovering a RAID-5 volume with a failed member.
RESCAN	- Search for disks and volumes on your computer.
RETAIN	- Placing a service partition on a simple volume.
SAN	- Display or set the SAN policy for the currently loaded OS.
SELECT	- Setting focus on an object.
SETID	- Changing the partition type.
SHRINK	- Reduce the size of the selected volume.
UNIQUEID	- Display or set the GUID Partition Table (GPT) code or Master Boot Record (MBR) signature of the disk.

BOOT FLASH DRIVE using the UltraISO program (II method)

The UltraISO program is designed for creating and editing disk images. When creating a bootable flash drive, we will use the built-in functions of this program.

Open the program with administrator rights, as shown in the figure:

Select the required operating system image to create a bootable USB flash drive, for example, the Windows Vista disk image is selected here:

A pop-up window appears where you need to make sure that the removable media, the image file to be recorded and the recording method are correctly specified (it must be set in USB-HDD+ mode) and click the “burn” button

After clicking the "Write" button, a "Hint" window will appear, prompting you to erase all information on the flash drive. Agree!

Then the data will be written to the flash drive...

And finally, after a certain time, the operating system image will be written to a newly created bootable USB flash drive for future installation.

BOOTABLE FLASH DRIVE IS MADE!

NOTE: Do not forget to set the BIOS input/output system to boot the primary device, that is, make sure that the computer boots from removable media - the bootable flash drive you created.

BOOT FLASH DRIVE using Windows7 USB/DVD Download Tool (III method)

The Windows7 USB/DVD Download Tool program created by Microsoft for burning operating system disk images to optical and removable media. When creating a bootable flash drive, we will sequentially follow all the instructions of the program.

First, you need to download this program from the official Microsoft website. Then you need to install the program following the installer's instructions. After installing the program, a shortcut will appear on the desktop, as shown in the figure:

Run it with "Administrator rights", right-click on the shortcut and click on the line "Run as administrator". The program will start, click the "Browse" button and select the operating system image *.ISO

After you have selected the image of the system to be recorded, click “Next”, another window will appear where you will be asked to select the type of media - optical or removable. Since we have a removable storage device - a flash drive, select "USB device"

We select our removable media from the proposed list, i.e. flash drive and press the "Begin copying" button

After clicking the above button, the process of formatting the flash drive will begin...

After some time, the process of writing the disk image data to the flash drive will continue.

We wait some time for the image to be recorded, and eventually we will get 100%, and here we are The bootable flash drive is created!

NOTE: Do not forget to set the BIOS input/output system to boot the primary device, that is, make sure that the computer boots from removable media - the bootable flash drive you created.

You can install Windows 10 from any media that has the Windows installation program on it. The storage medium can be a USB flash drive that meets the parameters described below in the article. You can turn a regular flash drive into an installation drive using third-party programs or the official application from Microsoft.

Preparation and characteristics of the flash drive

The flash drive you use must be completely empty and work in a certain format; we will achieve this by formatting it. The minimum size to create a bootable flash drive is 4 GB. You can use the created installation media as many times as you like, that is, you can install Windows 10 on several computers from one flash drive. Of course, you will need a separate license key for each of them.

Preparing a flash drive

The flash drive you choose must be formatted before you begin placing the installation software on it:

Second formatting method

There is another way to format a flash drive - through the command line. Expand the command prompt using administrator rights, and then run the following commands:

1. Enter one by one: diskpart and list disk to see all the disks available on the PC.
2. To select a disk, write: select disk No., where No. is the disk number specified in the list.
3. clean.
4. create partition primary.
5. select partition 1.
6. active.
7. format fs=FAT32 QUICK.
8. assign.
9. exit.

Obtaining an ISO image of the operating system

There are several ways to create installation media, some of which will require an ISO image of the system. You can download the hacked build at your own risk from one of the sites that distribute Windows 10 for free, or get the official version of the OS from the Microsoft website:

1. https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/software-download/windows10).
2. Select OS language, version and bit depth. You should choose the version based on your needs. If you are an average user who does not work with Windows at a professional or corporate level, then install the home version; there is no point in taking more sophisticated options. The bit depth is set to the one supported by your processor. If it is dual-core, then choose the 64x format; if it is single-core, then choose 32x.
3. When prompted to select media, check the ISO file option.
4. Specify where to save the system image. Done, the flash drive is prepared, the image is created, you can start creating the installation media.

Creating installation media from a USB flash drive

The easiest method can be used if your computer supports UEFI mode - a newer BIOS version. Typically, if the BIOS opens as a menu, then it supports UEFI. You can also find out whether your motherboard supports this mode or not on the website of the company that made it.

1. Insert the USB flash drive into the computer and only then start rebooting it.
2. As soon as the computer turns off and the startup process begins, you need to enter the BIOS. Most often, the Delete key is used for this, but other options are possible, depending on the model of motherboard installed on your PC. When the time comes to enter the BIOS, a prompt with hot keys will appear at the bottom of the screen.
3. Change the boot order: by default, the computer starts from the hard drive if it finds the OS on it, but you must install your UEFI: USB flash drive first. If the flash drive is displayed, but there is no UEFI signature, then this mode is not supported by your computer and this installation method is not suitable.
4. Save the changes you made to the BIOS and start your computer. If everything is done correctly, the OS installation process will begin.

If it turns out that your board is not suitable for installation via UEFI mode, then use one of the methods below to create universal installation media.

Media Creation Tool

You can also create Windows installation media using the official Media Creation Tool.

1. Go to the official Windows 10 page and download the installation program from Microsoft from it (https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/software-download/windows10).
2. Run the downloaded program, read and agree to the standard license agreement.
3. Select the option to create installation media.
4. As described earlier, select the OS language, version and bit depth.
5. When prompted to select media, indicate that you want to use a USB device.
6. If several flash drives are connected to your computer, select the one you prepared in advance.
7. Wait until the program automatically creates installation media from your flash drive. After this, you will need to change the boot method in the BIOS (put the installation flash drive in the first place in the “Boot” section) and proceed to install the OS.

Using unofficial programs

There are many third-party programs that create installation media. They all work according to the same scenario: they write a Windows image that you created in advance onto a flash drive so that it turns into bootable media. Let's look at the most popular, free and convenient applications.

Rufus

Rufus is a free program for creating bootable USB drives. It runs on Windows operating systems starting with Windows XP SP2.

1. Download and install the program from the developer’s official website: http://rufus.akeo.ie/?locale.
2. All program functions fit in one window. Specify the device to which the image will be written.
3. In the “File system” line, specify the FAT32 format, since this is what we formatted the flash drive in.
4. In the system interface type, set the option for computers with BIOS and UEFI if you are sure that your computer does not support UEFI mode.
5. Specify the location of the pre-built system image and select a standard Windows installation.
6. Click on the “Start” button to start the installation media creation process. Done, after completing the procedure, change the boot method in the BIOS (in the “Boot” section you need to put the flash card in first place) and proceed to installing the OS.

Ultra ISO

UltraISO is a very multifunctional program that allows you to create and work with images.

1. Buy or download a trial version, which is quite enough to complete our task, from the official website of the developer: https://ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/.
2. While in the main menu of the program, expand the “File” menu.
3. Select “Open” and specify the location of the pre-created image.
4. Select "Burn Hard Disk Image".
5. Specify which flash drive you want to use.
6. Leave the recording method as USB-HDD.
7. Click on the “Record” button and wait for the process to complete. After completing the procedure, change the boot method in the BIOS (put the installation flash drive in the first place in the “Boot” section) and proceed to installing the OS.

WinSetupFromUSB

WinSetupFromUSB is a utility for creating a bootable USB flash drive with the ability to install Windows, starting with version XP.

Is it possible to use MicroSD instead of a USB flash drive?

The answer is yes, you can. The process of creating an installation MicroSD is no different from the same process with a USB flash drive. The only thing is that you must make sure that your computer has a suitable MicroSD port. To create this type of installation media, it is better to use third-party programs described above in the article, rather than the official Microsoft utility, as it may not recognize MicroSD.

Errors during creation of the installation flash drive

The installation media creation process may be interrupted for the following reasons:

• There is not enough memory on the drive - less than 4 GB. Find a flash drive with more memory and try again,
• The flash drive is not formatted or formatted in the wrong format. Go through the formatting process again, carefully following the instructions above,
• The Windows image recorded on the USB flash drive is damaged. Download another image, it is best to take it from the official Microsoft website,
• if one of the methods described above does not work in your case, then use another option. If none of them work, then the problem is with the flash drive and should be replaced.

Video: creating an installation flash drive with Windows 10

Creating installation media is an easy process and is mostly done automatically. If you use a working flash drive, a high-quality system image and use the instructions correctly, then everything will work out, and after restarting the computer you can begin installing Windows 10. If after installation is complete you want to save the installation flash drive, then do not move any files to it, then can be used again.

How to change ntfs to fat32? What is the correct format to use for a FAT32 or NTFS flash drive? All this will be discussed below.

By and large, both formats can be used, FAT32 and NTFS. It all depends on how you are going to use the flash drive.

When buying a new flash drive, as a rule, they have the FAT32 file system and this is not surprising, since this file system is readable from many devices, something like a universal format. Well, there are opinions that this format is more productive than NTFS.

You may encounter difficulties only when you need to transfer a file larger than 4GB onto a flash drive. There may be other errors, too, but these are usually special cases.

For example, you go to install windows from a flash drive. If your flash drive is in FAT32 format, then when you try to write a large file (more than 4GB) to it, Windows itself will give you an error that the file is too large.

Well, when recording an image, you will be asked to format the flash drive or you will also receive an error.

Therefore, before recording a Windows image or before moving a large file to a flash drive, first format your flash drive in NTFS format.

And, of course, you have a reasonable question: which file system to choose for a flash drive, FAT32 or NTFS.

Today, flash drives already come with a large capacity, 32 GB and 64 GB or more. Accordingly, if you buy flash drives with such volumes, you probably plan to throw both movies and large files onto it.

For such purposes, format the flash drive in NTFS and use it as you wish.

If you do not plan to put large files on the flash drive, but plan to use it for documents, photos or small files, for example, music files, then formatting is not necessary.

When choosing a file system for a flash drive, first think about how you will use it, and from there choose the format.

In addition:

How to change fat32 to ntfs or ntfs to fat32 on a flash drive

If for some reason, you have previously formatted a flash drive from fat32 to ntfs and now you need to return everything back from fat32 to convert ntfs or vice versa, then to change to the fat32 or ntfs file system you need, follow these steps:

1. Insert the USB flash drive into your computer/laptop.

2. When the computer detects your device, select the flash drive and right-click, in the menu that opens, click formatting, then select the desired file system format and click start.

After the operation is completed, your flash drive will be in the file system you need.

Attention! Before formatting a flash drive into another format, if there is data on it, first transfer (copy) the files to another location. When formatting, all data from the flash drive is deleted!