Formatting a USB Stick...

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:19 pm

...sounds simple...

BUT...

This is the stick that I mentioned some time ago that one of my wife's colleagues got hold of and possibly did something unmentionable to it in a Mac.

Having given up trying to get anything useful off it, I have discovered I can't reformat it either!

Linux (Ubuntu KK) just ignores it completely and Windows 7 tells me it needs to be reformatted but when I tell it to continue it tells me the stick is read-only - however, this stick doesn't have a lock on it to make it read-only - so I'm stumped.

Anybody know a way of making Windows (7) force a format on a stick that can't be (physically) read-only - Google throws up lots of hits, none of which seem to be particularly useful.

Cheers,

DH

JensAyton · Post by **JensAyton** » Tue Jun 01, 2010 5:58 pm

I suggest using a Mac to format it as FAT. :-)

ADCK · Post by **ADCK** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:02 am

Step 1: Grab a really big magnet.

Step 2: Stroke magnet against USB stick in 1 direction for about 5 or 6 times.

Tada, all the information on the USB stick is gone

Wiki pages · Post by **Thargoid** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 5:56 am

Sadly not - USB sticks are flash memory, nothing magnetic there...

ADCK · Post by **ADCK** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:13 am

Thargoid wrote:
Sadly not - USB sticks are flash memory, nothing magnetic there...

Right forgot... hmm anyone know how to create a small Electro-Magnetic Pulse, that'll fry even a flash drive

Commander Smivs · Post by **Smivs** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:36 am

ADCK wrote:
hmm anyone know how to create a small Electro-Magnetic Pulse, that'll fry even a flash drive

Detonate a small Thermonuclear device. Works a treat

JazHaz · Post by **JazHaz** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:01 pm

Smivs wrote:
ADCK wrote:
hmm anyone know how to create a small Electro-Magnetic Pulse, that'll fry even a flash drive
Detonate a small Thermonuclear device. Works a treat

You never know, DH may have one at work....!

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:43 pm

I've not had access to any Plutonium since I stopped working at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. (and that was a pretty small amount - only 236GBq source).

Anyway, this is all over the top for a £10 memory stick...

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:20 am

drive over it once or twice with your canteen tank!

JazHaz · Post by **JazHaz** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 1:14 pm

Griff wrote:
drive over it once or twice with your canteen tank!

They usually survive that, well seem to remember seeing that on Click a couple of years ago!

snork · Post by **snork** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 6:53 pm

Anyway, this is all over the top for a £10 memory stick...

not this one :

Ahruman wrote:
I suggest using a Mac to format it as FAT.

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 8:42 pm

snork wrote:
Anyway, this is all over the top for a £10 memory stick...
not this one :
Ahruman wrote:
I suggest using a Mac to format it as FAT.

I don't have access to a mac and I'm not giving it back to the person who screwed it up in the first place...

JensAyton · Post by **JensAyton** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:02 pm

I suspect it’s actually broken anyway. Breaking it is easier than accidentally reformatting it.

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:30 pm

Ahruman wrote:
I suspect it’s actually broken anyway. Breaking it is easier than accidentally reformatting it.

Alas, I suspect you're correct.

Killer Wolf · Post by **Killer Wolf** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:23 pm

if it's got nowt recoverable on, why all the effort to reformat it? you'd get a decent one off ebay etc for a few quid. personally, i'm not sure i'd trust it anyways, i've been bitten like that before where i've decided to give something one last try and lost summat.