Usb media are used for temporary storage of files and for moving information from one computer to another. For flash drives and external hard drives, the situation of frequent recording and deletion of files, unauthorized disconnection from the power supply is standard, so there are frequent cases of errors and bad sectors. Complete formatting of the media can correct the situation.
Necessary
- - computer;
- - administrator rights.
Instructions
Step 1
Connect your usb hard drive to your computer. Wait for the device to be detected by the system and the corresponding partition letter appears in My Computer. Right-click on the "My Computer" shortcut and select "Manage". In the window that appears, on the left side of it, select "Disk Management". Wait while the operating system collects information about all media and displays it in the utility window.
Step 2
Find the usb hard drive in the list of devices. Right-click on it and select "Format". The program prompts you to enter a volume label (the name of the media, which will be displayed next to the letter of the partition) and select the type of file system. Leave the cluster size with the default checkbox and also uncheck the Quick Format checkbox. If you are short on time, leave the checkbox, but in this case, hardware deletion of information will not occur, but only the structure of the hard drive will be overwritten, and it will "forget" about the information stored on it.
Step 3
Click "OK", agree with the system warning about the imminent deletion of the entire contents of the section. Wait for the end of the formatting process. If the usb hard disk has more than one partition, repeat the procedure for each one. You can also format a hard drive, including an external one, from the command line using the format command. Enter format / fs: ntfs and hit enter if you want to format the partition as standard.
Step 4
In general, we can say that it is not difficult to format a portable device. It is also worth noting that for more reliable data storage, you need to make backups and store them on different media. Also try to install modern antivirus software to protect your information.
