How to Completely Reset a Flash Drive?

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Over the previous few days I have made a series of dumb mistakes while trying to encrypt my flash drive with BitLocker.

  1. I wasn't careful when setting the unlock password, and I misspelled it.
  2. I got rid of the recovery text file (really, really dumb mistake) because I didn't think I would need it.
  3. I continued writing new files after I deleted the recovery text file, so that file recovery software is unable to find it anymore.

So now, the flash drive is useless. I've lost all the data on it, but I'm over that. All I want now is to be able to just reset it, format, and wipe everything on it to be able to use it again.

Windows isn't able to format it, for some reason. It just says "Windows was unable to complete the format."

I also went into a Linux Live OS, and tried to use fdisk to get rid of all the partitions. In the Live OS, it said everything was deleted. Then I boot back into Windows, and it seemed as if fdisk did absolutely nothing.

I don't really know what to do now. How do I completely reset the flash drive?

Ethan Waldeck

Posted 2020-01-25T18:36:21.940

Reputation: 77

Question was closed 2020-02-05T03:24:47.517

What you did should have worked. I suspect that in addition to all the other problems, the flash drive has died out on you. – harrymc – 2020-01-25T18:38:15.670

@harrymc How can a flash drive just, die? – Ethan Waldeck – 2020-01-25T18:38:58.323

1The lifetime of any disk is limited, and some last longer than others. – harrymc – 2020-01-25T18:41:20.710

@harrymc I only got it a few months ago. . . – Ethan Waldeck – 2020-01-25T18:42:03.173

1You could then ask for a refund or replacement. – harrymc – 2020-01-25T18:42:40.383

Hello there. Have you tried using diskpart -> clean using windows? ex: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-and-format-storage-drive-using-diskpart-windows-10

– Natsu Kage – 2020-01-25T19:58:17.363

@NatsuKage I tried following the instructions in that link, and at the part where I enter the clean command, I get back: DiskPart has encountered an error: Access is denied. – Ethan Waldeck – 2020-01-25T21:56:18.960

Did you open the command prompt using Admin privileges? (Command Prompt Admin) – Natsu Kage – 2020-01-25T22:59:54.777

@NatsuKage Yes. – Ethan Waldeck – 2020-01-25T23:20:41.920

At this point, I suggest trying the EaseUs partition manager. https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager/epm-free.html It is known to be able to clear a flash drive with this error.

– Natsu Kage – 2020-01-25T23:24:46.413

@Tetsujin No, I tried all those things already. Honestly, I think harrymc is right, it's probably just dead, considering I've tried everything I've found on the internet that says it could fix it. Gparted, Disk Management, disabling write-protection, third-party applications, command prompt, registry editor, I've tried it all. I think it's hopeless at this point. – Ethan Waldeck – 2020-01-27T00:06:28.040

@NatsuKage Doesn't work. I tried that already. – Ethan Waldeck – 2020-01-27T00:06:52.037

No answers

Asked: 2020-01-25T18:36:21.940

Viewed: 47 times

Active: 2020-01-25T18:36:21.940