The computer requires to format the USB flash drive what to do. A flash drive asks to format it - how to save files? Virus check

USB flash is a compact device for transferring and storing information (video files, audio recordings, books, documents). The card consists of a controller and chips that contain information in the chips.

The problem is that the user copies the files, and after a while it detects their partial absence or loss. The reason becomes a breakdown of the device, formatting.

Why does my external hard drive keep asking me to format it

Then we will tell you about this error message.

An external hard drive suffers from a sudden power outage when it is used to transfer files or something else. An external hard drive is improperly pulled out or forcedly pulled out; An external hard drive gets a viral attack. There are bad sectors on the external hard disk.

Misunderstanding on an external hard drive without a formatted error

It is true that formatting may allow you to regain access to an external hard drive, but do you ever know the consequences of formatting an external hard drive? Yes, after formatting, you will not find files on the disk. Formatting is a bad idea if the disk does not work, and this procedure means that you will lose the file structure. In fact, data on an external hard drive can be restored until it is overwritten. Remember, the more changes you have made, the less chance of data recovery.

The essence of the errors that are created by the system and cause loss of information. You can solve the problem in a specialized service center, but not for free. The wizard uses programs that can recover flash drive without data loss.

With proper knowledge and availability of utilities, you can return files in whole or in part independently (depends on the particular case).

So, how to fix an external hard disk without a formatted error and recover data on a hard disk? Well, you need to use the software without changing the data on the disk, or do not get it for those who can help you technically. And this article will show you what to do step by step.

External hard disk solutions are not formatted.

You can try the following methods, perhaps they will help you open the hard drive.

Check for hard disk errors

Recover data from an unformatted hard disk. Before you select any part to begin with, you can move the mouse pointer over them to get brief explanations to determine if these modules are suitable for data recovery.



Check the file system for malfunction; it is displayed as RAW. This is not the format of a specific file, but “raw” formatting, which due to an error replaced a special past system (NTFS, FAT32).

Make sure to RAW can look at the disk - is displayed in the "Computer" and "Disk Management." In the form of a conductor flash drive does not display the volume of the drive. In the "Disk Management" section, the USB Flash is marked as a device with RAW format.

Perform the following steps to complete the data recovery process from an unformatted external hard drive. Therefore, it is most suitable for data recovery without formatting the hard disk. Then select an external hard drive for a full scan. Scan time depends on the capacity of your data.

Note: you can click the “Filter” button to select specific file types that will be displayed in the middle pane. After that, wait for success. Their differences lie in the fact that the latter offers more flexible functions and is more user-friendly. How to format an external hard drive?

Recover flash drive without data loss by formatting

A convenient way to cure a flash drive is to reformat at a low level. The method helps when the USB flash can not be read by the computer. It is recommended to go to the site of the card manufacturer and see if it has any branded programs for recovery operations.

Why some files are damaged after recovery

In this case, if the files mean a lot to you, then it is better to find a reliable data recovery service that will help you - which is usually a huge expense. Flash drives or flash drives give you the freedom to transfer your data from you or transfer it to other computers. However, many manual drives are damaged for various reasons.

If you also encounter this problem of corrupted flash drives, you do not need to visit a computer shop or technician. You can solve the problem yourself. To work the flash drive again, you can either try to recover the data or format it, which will actually delete the data.

Find the user help section, there is information on formatting USB-flesh at different levels. In Windows OS (from version 7 and higher), built-in programs for reconfiguring the device are provided, searching and downloading third-party applications is not necessary. The utility is called - "HP USB Disk Storege Format Tool."

How to open a USB flash drive if it requires formatting

Steps to reformat flash drive. A warning. If you decide to reformat the flash drive, it will delete the data. Write protection errors can be very unpleasant, but as a rule, it is very easy to fix. As a rule, all that is required is a quick fix to run your disk again. Of course, if this does not work, we will need a little more information about the disk, but more on that later.

Recovering information on a Transcend drive

Depending on your operating system, you will need to use the appropriate set of instructions. Here are some examples of common situations that can cause write protection problems and related error messages.

It is important to know that formatting erases information from a flash drive. If your flash drive is not formatted, then we recommend to read.

Recovery via “HDD Low Level Format Tool”

Users know that the program is suitable for recovering lost information from hard drives (name - HDD). The utility works correctly in the case of flash drives and SSD cards.

Removing a flash drive without using the option “Eject disk” Disable the flash drive when data is written to disk. With this in mind, let's look at several different ways in which we can try to get your disk back into working mode.

The solution that we consider the most effective is the low-level format of the flash chip. Let's just say this will align the memory chip inside and return it to its original state. Remember that when you restore a function to disk, it will delete all the data that you may have saved on the disk in the first place. You can try to restore your data using the data recovery utility before using the low level utility.

The purpose of the process is to search for damaged bad sectors in the system, further processing the information found, taking into account the features of the controller and the memory module during the USB access stages.

The user receives a working device capable of storing and transferring information without error when reading. This helps to restore the flash drive without data loss.

Instructions for reformatting a disk. Quick and painless, right? What if my disk is still not working? We are here to help, and we are ready to help you get everything back online. From there, we will work with you to either fix this particular disk, or send you a completely new solution!

The only problem is that you didn’t have this problem two days ago, and everything was connected just fine! In most cases, this is not even an option, and if you can connect the device to another system, where it is loaded properly, then why format.

The program is equipped with a section instruction. For recovery, the device is connected to a computer and diagnosed by the utility for errors and bad sectors.


Data Recovery with Recuva

How to recover data from a flash drive after formatting? There are many programs to recover lost information.

Method 1 - Check the system file

Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to get rid of the problem. You need to run it using an elevated command prompt. Get ready to sit down and wait for a while, because this process usually takes a long time.

If for any reason the system check file cannot replace all the damaged files, you will have to do it manually. You can follow the instructions below. Hope you don't have to do this. If you are still asked to format, keep reading.

Perhaps one of the most popular programs that does not require special skills and knowledge to recover lost information from the HDD, Flash USB, SSD is Recuva. The utility is distributed free of charge, while having enough functionality.

The program works with Windows OS (XP, 7,8,10), possible file recovery on earlier versions of the program. Provided by the Russian localization interface is translated.

Formatting with standard OS tools

In any case, this decision, which was mentioned by some people, fixed the problem. Then enter the following command without brackets. When finished, open the disk and restart the computer. See what happens when you plug it in again. At the moment you are running out of options.

Method 5 - Try a partition recovery tool

I have never had this problem before, but it seems to cause problems for some people. It is worth it, and it can be a simple solution. This is a command line tool and therefore a bit more technical, but it works very well. They also have good documentation.

To say that “Recuva” is effective and restores all files without loss is impossible. For example, when working with reformatting flash drives on file systems, the result left much to be desired, only some of the information was restored.

Download «Recuva» on the official website in 2 versions (Standart and Portable).

Recovery Guide

The recovery process will be shown on the RecoveRx program. For a demonstrative test, photos and DocX documents were recorded on the memory card. Then all the information was erased, to simulate damage, the system was formatted from FAT32 to NTFS.

If all else fails, you'll have to settle for formatting.

If you still receive this message, then there really is not much that you can do other than formatting it. However, you must connect the device to another computer, copy all the data, and then execute the format. Also, check out my previous post at.

Step 3: Write the partition structure back to disk

Happening. On the screen of the previous section, press "Enter". Important note. In this case, use one of the recovery programs mentioned in this document to find out if you can recover files or visit a professional data recovery service.

Not a difficult and demanding scenario of events, but known, it helps to evaluate the performance of programs. Often, even paid utilities do not cope with the task.

You need to download the program (on the official site) and install it. The process of phased recovery from a flash drive after launch:

1. USB-flash is connected to the computer. In the program you need to select the drive (USB). The sheet also lists the system directories of the computer; you can also restore files from the hard disk.

If you follow the above procedure correctly and are a little lucky, you will again see the contents of your hard disk! Sentence. Before using the disk, follow the instructions in this document to test and diagnose the disk for hardware problems.

Please tell about this guide to help others. In some cases, the device still does not work, even if it is formatted. An error message will appear as follows. Please note that the drive name will differ depending on the device used.


2. Specify the path to the folder where all received files will be saved (you cannot use the same USB flash drive you are working with to save the recovered data).


When you encounter this problem, try solutions first. which are easy to follow. The "Run" dialog box appears. Please note that you must run this as an administrator. If not, you will receive a quick message. Your hard drive letter means the name of your hard disk displayed on your computer. The following screen shot is for reference. The process will not complete until the test is 100% complete.

Solution 3: Run antivirus software to scan your computer. The problem may be caused by a virus. If you have installed antivirus software, use it to scan your computer to detect the problem.

3. Select file formats for recovery (pictures in PNG format and DOCX document).

4. The process starts, wait for the program to finish.

During the 4th stage, the files will be displayed in the folder for saving as they are restored. The user can go into it, see the files received at the time of the process.

A flash drive does not open asking to format, what to do and how to work with the program?

Solution 4: Check the device on another computer. Connect your device to another computer. If the problem still persists, the device is most likely damaged. You may have to replace it with a new one. Note. If you are tired of many methods, we recommend that you do this.

Now your flash drive will be available in the folder you specified. In the list of equipment categories, locate and deploy universal serial bus controllers. In most cases, this occurs when the device is damaged or infected by an unknown virus.

It happens if the necessary document (because of which the restoration was started) is found, the program can be interrupted (the fact is that the process is long and difficult for a computer, the time varies from 1 to several hours, depending on the volume and number of documents).

At the end of the recovery process, the screen will display a notification about the number and type of all saved files. In the test case, 430 photographs were recovered (more than downloaded for verification, the earlier images were also preserved). The number of documents was not displayed, but they were in the folder selected to receive the files.

When it is complete, exit the command line. You can try to format the device to effectively solve the problem. The software will soon begin a quick scan to find all the data on the manual drive or flash drive. After it completes, a deep scan will automatically start to find more files. After scanning, view and select the desired files.

Recovering files from a card without formatting

Summary. Sometimes there is a situation when your card asks you to format the card. And when such a situation arises, it loses access to the data stored inside the card. Using this software is possible. Effectively restore inaccessible data, such as photos, videos and audio files on the card, requiring reformatting. Related Frequently Asked Questions: when a memory card prompts you to format or reformat.

Consequences after formatting a non-managed memory card

  Safe, secure and easy to use. . But as soon as you format the card to fix the format error, you will have to face a complete loss of data.

All documents were saved in zip archive format. All content corresponded to the source files in the docx resolution (in principle, archives too). You cannot rename the format from zip to docx and open it with the word - it gives a message that the information is not supported and offers to restore it.

After that, the document opens in the usual way (the result is the same on all documents). The only drawback of the program was revealed in the recording of documents in zip, which is not critical and easily corrected.

The result is that it is possible to restore the flash drive. The program is selected at its discretion, today a large number of them have been developed.

What should I do if, when connecting a USB flash drive or a removable hard disk, Windows asks to format the disk?

In this post I will try to answer this question, but first let's look at the reason, in order not to repeat the mistakes that lead to such problems.

And the reason in most cases lies in the non-observance of the elementary rules of safe work with removable media.

Causes of the problem

Often I see even quite competent users pulling flash drives and removable hard drives out of computers and laptops without use.

From competent users, I hear quite a reasonable explanation for this action - it means turning off "on hot" and this is true ... BUT !!! It is about the connector and its capabilities, and not about disconnecting storage devices !!!

Of course, you can turn off USB devices such as a printer, scanner, headphone, mouse, or keyboard without turning off the computer, but information storage devices have one very important feature and cannot be turned off like this.


The fact is that the removable hard disk or flash drive at the time of shutdown can access the operating system or some of the running programs. At the same time, it is not at all necessary that some files will be copied to or from the disk at the time of shutdown. Sudden shutdown of storage devices can damage files or file system.

If the file system becomes corrupted, the next time you connect the device to the computer, you will see a message that the disk is not formatted, that is, Windows asks you to format the disk:


Physical damage to the disk may also lead to such an error. That is, disk sectors that contain file system overhead can be damaged. But still, software file system corruption is much more common.

Solutions to the problem

As a rule, to solve such a problem is quite simple and for this you do not even need third-party programs. It will only be necessary to check the file system using standard Windows tools.

To do this, we refuse formatting, and then call the context menu on the icon of the problem disk and select "Properties".

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