How to Format a Flash Drive

One of the biggest advantages of formatting your flash drive in MS-DOS (for Mac) or FAT32 (for Windows) is that you can access the stored data on every Windows installed machine regardless of the operating system. Formatting to Ext 2/3 allows you to access the data only on Linux. Here is how to format a flash drive.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Flash drive

Steps for Windows Platform (OS)

1. Start your computer and plug in the flash drive in the USB port.

2. Click on "My Computer." Click on "Manage" in the "Explorer" window of "My Computer."

3. Open the "Device Manager" and locate your USBDrive installed under the "Disk Drives" tab. Right click on "Removable Disk Drive" and click on "Properties" from the menu.

4. Click on the "Policies" tab and choose "Optimize for Performance" from the options. Click "OK" and continue.

5. Click on "My Computer" and choose the format on the flash drive.

6. Choose "NTFS" or "FAT32" depending on the type you want from the dropdown menu box.

7. Click "OK" to complete the format.

8. Know the other method: Search for tools that allow easy format of flash drives over the Internet. GParted is a formatting tool that you can download from the Internet. Install GParted on your computer. Restart your computer and browse "System: Administration: Gnome Partition Editor."

9. Plug in your flash drive and start GParted. Login with password information.

10. Select the flash drive from the dropdown menu in the upper right window of the GParted interface. The list contains all the storage hardware installed on your computer.

11. Right click on the display of the drive icon and choose the "Format to" option along with the file system type you wish to format (FAT32, FAT16 and so on).

Steps for Mac Platform (OS X)

1. Place the flash drive on the desktop.

2. Start the "Disk Utility." Click on "Macally" flash drive. Use the "Erase" button.

3. Select the "MS-DOS File System" in "Volume Format."

4. Provide a new name for the drive. Click the "Erase" button.

5. Perform the instructions given on the screen and finish the formatting.

Tips & Warnings

• Use FAT16 formats for flash drives up to 256 MB of storage. For drives above 256 MB, choose the FAT32 file system. This technique allows you to work on Mac as well as the Windows platform.

• Before unplugging, make sure the light is off. When in use, the flash drive shows a red or blue light.

• Make sure the flash drive is installed on your computer and detected by the system.

• Use an USB extension cable to plug in the flash drive if you are unable to access the USB port on the computer.

• Formatting erases all the data on the drive so make sure you backup every folder and file before formatting.

• Avoid formatting the flash drive unless you absolutely need to do so. You may render the flash drive useless if you are unable to format it due to technical problems. Troubleshooting a bad format is difficult. Common problems in the flash drives can be amended by running the firmware utility "PL2315Config.exe" located in Windows OS of your PC.

• Avoid using Ext 2/3 on other drives, as it works well only on the Linux platform.