FAQ

What is this about?

There are situations where after using a USB flash drive as a Linux installation media it couldn't be brought back to its original state on a Windows PC.

When one tries to format it using windows GUI/File Manager error like "DIRECTORY DOES NOT EXIST" or something like below pops up when trying to format it using Disk Management...

...so this guide/project is all about guiding the steps to make the USB flash drive back to life

Are there any pre-requisites?

• Corrupted Flash Drive
• Windows PC

Any specific question which haven't been addressed yet or anything in the same line? Feel free to raise and issue with your query.

Tech Stack

• Windows Command Line

Preface

Please consider the fact that the screenshots corresponding to steps below are just for reference which may/mayn't reflect same for your pc for example the disk number of flash drive.

All such factors are addressed on respective steps, as well as will be handled via warnings and explanations.

BEFORE WE GO AHEAD, PLEASE CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THIS PROJECT/INSTRUCTIONS IS/ARE PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND

Instructions starts here

Step 1: Start CMD with admin privilege

Step 2:

diskpart

Step 3:

list disk

Step 4: Please make sure that the flash drive is the only one selected and not any system drive

You can deduce the difference between flash drive and system drive by their respective sizes as shown in the size column.

select disk <disk number of flash drive>

Step 5: reassure the selected drive by the "*" asterisk sign before respective Disk ### column

list disk

Step 6:

clean

Step 7 and 8 are only to be followed when you face the same error as seen in the above screenshot, after the clean command from Step 6; else you can skip them to continue from Step 9

Step 7 (Optional):

convert gpt

Step 8 (Optional):

clean

Step 9:

list disk

Step 10:

create partition primary

Step 11:

list partition

Step 12:

select partition <number according to your personal flash drive>

Step 13:

active

Step 14:

format fs=fat32 quick

Step 15:

exit

For a clear look at the whole CMD command as per my PC you can see HERE 🡭

After follewing the above procedure we expect your file explorer to look like below

But it look like the below

don't worry we got you covered just follow the below miscellaneous steps

Miscellaneous Step 1: Search for

create and format hard disk partitions

Miscellaneous Step 2: Right click on the flash drive block and select Delete Volume, later select yes for the pop-up

It would then look like below

Miscellaneous Step 3: Right click on the flash drive block and select New Simple Volume, skim through popup with Next

Her on Format Partition keep everything default but you can change Volume label

Finish the procedure with the Finish Button

It should at last look this

Miscellaneous Step 4: Last but not the least always eject your flash drive before physically pulling it about

Contributing

Contributions are what make the open source community such an amazing place to learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

If you have a suggestion that would make this better, please fork the repo and create a pull request. You can also simply open an issue with the tag "enhancement". Don't forget to give the project a star! Thanks again!

1. Fork the Project

2. Create your Feature Branch

3. Commit your Changes

4. Push to the Branch

5. Open a Pull Request

Contributors

• Sushant Kumar
• Pallavi Kumari