Utilities for low-level formatting flash drives

Flash drives are a very popular accessory for storing important information or for transferring data between multiple computers when it is not possible to transfer them in other ways. Despite the high reliability and the possibility of multiple recording, under the influence of various factors there is a deterioration of the microcircuits and memory sections, as a result of which various failures and malfunctions can occur, and the information is read and written with errors. As a result, the system may require formatting the flash drive and not open it. You can try to check the disk for errors or recover data and continue to use.

The extreme measure of recovery flash drive - low-level formatting.

But when everything is already so bad that neither recovery nor usual formatting helps, only low-level formatting will help. It will help to fully restore the performance of the flash drive, as well as get rid of errors and failures. In this article we will take a closer look at what the low-level formatting of a flash drive is, as well as software that can help with this.

What is low-level formatting

Begin, it is worth with how the organization of file system is equipped. The entire file system is divided into tracks and sectors (the so-called clusters), having a certain size, which, in turn, are combined into sections or directories. Depending on the file system used, their organization and location may vary. All service information is recorded in the memory of the controller, which manages requests for access to the desired place in memory. When you transfer data to media, the file is broken up into pieces with a cluster size and written to a specific sector of the disk. When reading the controller accesses the desired sector, and you get access to the data.

If for some reason the location of the sectors is lost, for example, when writing or reading a large amount of data you pulled the USB flash drive out of the connector, the controller cannot correctly access the sector you need, because that partition is damaged. Low-level formatting allows you to delete the memory sectors located on the disk, and clear the controller's control information. In other words, you do a full reset of the flash drive or memory card firmware and erase the file system. To continue to use the flash drive, you will need to format it in the usual way.

What else do low-level formatting do?

  • Full cleaning of various malicious files that hit the USB flash drive, especially if they cannot be removed in the usual way using antivirus or repair.
  • The most reliable and complete removal of secret and important data to eliminate the possibility of restoring them with the help of special software.
  • Prevention of errors in the presence of bad sectors and junk files that interfere with the normal functioning.
  • To restore the boot sector, that is, in the event that the flash drive is physically sound, and the system can not access the files.

In order to be able to perform such a procedure, you will need special software. Consider some of the best utilities that can help you with this. Usually, they all support all the main models of drives, but, since some of them may have their own characteristics, in such cases you will have to limit yourself to the utility, sharpened for use with devices of a particular manufacturer.

Review of the best utilities

HDD Low Level Format Tool

Very powerful and advanced utility for low-level formatting of flash drives and other storage media. The program is able to reanimate them from almost any, the most hopeless state (well, except perhaps for non-recoverable physical damage to the microcircuits and controllers), as well as to erase absolutely any information without the possibility of recovery. The program completely erases the partition table of the disk, and then marks it on a new one.

Program features:

  • Full support for almost any model of flash drive or disk from popular manufacturers.
  • Compatible with all possible connectivity interfaces.
  • Detailed report on the work done.
  • Limited features of the free version and no restrictions in the paid.

How to use the utility?

  1. Download the installation file from the site, run it.
  2. When you first start click the button Continue for free.
  3. Find your flash drive in the list of displayed media and double-click on its name with the mouse.
  4. Select from the list of possible operations Low-Level Format - Format This Device - Yes.
  5. After the procedure, open Windows Explorer, right-click on the flash drive and select "Format".
  6. After that, you can use your flash drive.

D-Soft Flash Doctor

Excellent utility for low-level formatting with a Russian-language interface and minimum requirements for computer resources. The program does not even need to install, as it works in portable mode. How to use it?

  1. Download and run the installation file of the program.
  2. In the main window, put the cursor on the disk that you want to format, click the Restore Media button.
  3. Wait until the end of the process, click "Finish".
  4. Format the media in the usual way using Windows Explorer.

JetFlash Online Recovery

The utility is designed for use with media JetFlash, Transcend, A-Data. Maybe lucky, and get to restore another flash drive. What are the features of the application?

  • Full portability.
  • The minimum number of buttons is only two - “Start” and “Exit”.
  • Work in the cloud, so the load on the computer is the minimum.

You need to download the installation file, run it and click the "Start" button. Very easy and fast.

SP USB Flash Drive Recovery Software

Proprietary utility from a well-known manufacturer of portable drives Silicon Power. Nevertheless, if even your flash drive from another manufacturer uses standard device identifiers, you can safely use it. For this you need:

  1. Download the installation file and run it.
  2. Choose your flash drive from the list.
  3. Click the start recovery button.

After a couple of seconds, everything will work as expected.

Kingston Format Utility

Since Kingston occupies a significant share of the portable media market, it also offers its customers a utility for restoring USB drives. It is also not overloaded with functions, has the most necessary functions and practically does not load the system. To format a USB flash drive using this utility, you need:

  1. Download it and save it in a folder on your hard drive.
  2. Open the archive, click the Unzip button in the opened automatic unpacker and select the folder where you want to save the unpacked files.
  3. Navigate to the folder where you unzipped the utility, and run the program file.
  4. Choose your flash drive from the list of disks and folders and click Format.
  5. Wait for the program to finish its work to start using your flash drive.

USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Universal application for formatting flash drives from different manufacturers. It is completely free and is very effective in the fight against damaged sections and sectors. In addition to formatting, the program is equipped with the following functions:

  • Support virtually all existing manufacturers and models.
  • Work on all the latest versions of the Windows operating system.
  • Check and correct errors.
  • Fast formatting.
  • Deep and traceless deletion of all recorded data.
  • Detailed log of work operations.

To use the program:

  1. Download the program and run it.
  2. Select the USB flash drive and file system format from the list.
  3. Think of the name of the disc.
  4. Click Format disk.
  5. Wait until the end of the procedure.

Conclusion

It is necessary to proceed with low-level formatting, despite the abundance of software, since there is a risk of irreversible damage. Then you have to go and buy a new carrier. In the comments, please write what program you were able to format your USB-drive.