USB is a very useful small memory storage device, but if it is used so much it can end up failing. It may be that we want to use it and that USB is write protected or that our computer does not detect it because it is damaged.
But do not despair, we may be able to recover our USB and it will work again. In the next post we will give you the instructions needed to format a damaged USB and you can use it again without problems.
Does our PC detect the USB?
The first thing to keep in mind is see if our PC detects the USB drive. If not, we may not be able to repair or format the damaged device. To check it, we will follow these simple steps:
- We introduce the unit in a USB port of our PC. If it does not work, we insert it in another port or clean the USB and port slots by blowing a little (it is possible that there is dust or dirt that prevents a correct reading).
- If the USB does not read us, we try to insert it in a different PC. Perhaps it is a problem with our PC and not with the USB.
- We access «Equipment» and see if the USB has detected us.
If our operating system still detect USB drive, your saved data may have been corrupted but we can format it.
In case our PC does detect the USB, the first thing we must do to check if the unit works properly. For this we will go to:
- "Equipment" and "Devices and Units", we will right click on the USB drive and access "properties on the unit".
- Next, we will go to the "Hardware" tab to see the status of the device: Here it will appear if the device is working properly.
If we get the message that it does work correctly, maybe we can format the USB to use it again in the future. Namely, we will have to eliminate everything that is in the USB memory. For that, we will use DiskPart.
Methods to repair and format your damaged USB
The foolproof method: DiskPart
Diskpart is a tool integrated in Windows operating systems that allows us to configure storage units. To access the tool, we will click on search in the lower left part of our PC and we will write Diskpart to run the command (always as administrator).
Once inside Diskpart, we will execute the command "List disk" writing it to the console. We press ENTER and we will get a list of all the storage devices connected to our PC. Here we locate our USB (Look at the size in GB).
Next, we will execute the command "Select disk X", changing the X by the number that in your case corresponds to the USB. That is, if you get a list of 4 devices and yours is in the third line, then we will put "select disk 3".
Now comes the most important step, because we are going to proceed to delete all data from the unit that we have selected. We write the command "Clean" and press ENTER. Et Voilà, drive memory erased.
Here we will follow these simple commands to create a primary partition on the USB and format the drive so that it can be used again:
- "create partition primary”: We create a primary partition.
- "Select Partition 1": We select the partition we have created.
- "active": We mark the primary partition as active.
- "format fs = FAT32”: We format the USB drive.
The process will take a few minutes. When I finish, we will have our USB drive formatted, readable and ready to use again without problems. What we have done is clean the USB and we have given it a new format.
If the USB is still damaged and unusable, we have bad news. It probably cannot be repaired and you will need to purchase a new one.
CHKDSK, the command that will repair your USB memory before formatting it
If we are not convinced by the DiskPart tool or we do not want to format the USB without first trying to repair it, we propose the following option. To access the CHKDSK command, we should run as administrator the command «cmd » from Cortana (lower left corner of our PC ».
Once inside cmd (the black console), we will execute the command: «chkdsk / x / f F:«. Always without quotes, and the letter F corresponds to the letter of the drive assigned to the USB, that is, it can be G, H, N ...
What this command does is check USB memory for errors, and if it finds any, it will try to fix it. If it is still damaged, we will have to opt for DiskPart.
Format USB without commands or consoles
If we do not want to access the console or make use of commands, we can also format our USB in a simpler way. To do this we will go to "Computer" or "File Explorer" and select the USB drive and with the right click we will get the option to "Format".
We will uncheck the option «Quick format » and we will click on «Start«. This way we will get the USB to be formatted. Otherwise, we must follow the steps of the first option (DiskPart).
Have you been able to format your corrupted USB drive? Have these steps helped you to be able to format the USB? Do you know any other method?Tell us in the comments and we will try to help you.