How to Make a USB Flash Drive Appear As a HDD

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.
Image Credit: Visage/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Converting your USB flash drive from removable media to HDD (fixed hard drive) is particularly useful if you want to add extra partitions to the drive or if you want to make the drive bootable. To force a computer to recognize your USB flash drive as a fixed hard drive, you must flip the USB device's removable media bit. To flip the removable bit on your USB flash drive, you must use a special USB configuration software that will alter the USB's firmware.

Advertisement

Step 1

Download and extract Lexar BootIt. Lexar BootIt is a USB configuration software designed to create bootable USB drives.

Video of the Day

Step 2

Insert your USB flash drive into a free USB slot. If necessary, connect a USB hub if you need additional USB slots.

Advertisement

Step 3

Run Lexar BootIt. Click the "Active" button next to "Partition," then click "Flip Removable Bit" to convert your USB drive into an HDD.

Step 4

Right-click "Start," then click "Explore." Remove your USB drive from your computer once the process is complete, then reinsert it. Your USB drive will appear in the list of drives.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Step 5

Right-click your USB drive, then click "Properties." Next to "Type," the USB drive should now read "Fixed Disk" or "Local Disk," rather than "Removable Disk."

Video of the Day

Advertisement

Advertisement

references & resources

Report an Issue

screenshot of the current page

Screenshot loading...