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Restore full disk space to USB drive in Windows

by on Aug.26, 2018, under Techie, Windows

Need to get a USB drive back to full space to format after writing it with a different OS? I have had this happen when using an 8GB USB for a Linux Distro install, and then I can’t format it back to the full 8GB again in Windows.

    1. Open Command Prompt (as Administrator)
      Type in DISKPART from the Command Prompt and you will then see the prompt: DISKPART>
      Type in LIST DISK to see what number your USB drive is listed as.
      Type in SELECT DISK # (ie. If USB disk is 3, then SELECT DISK 3); It will confirm that “Disk 3 is now the select disk.”
      Type in SELECT PARTITION 1 (this selects what should be the only partition on your USB drive). It will confirm by showing “Partition 1 is now the selected partition.”
      Type in DELETE PARTITION and this will delete the old partition. WARNING! There are no warning prompts, so make sure you already have the correct disk selected and any data you want saved on it already backed up!
      Type in CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY. It will confirm with message of “Diskpart succeeded in creating the specified partition.”
      Then you can type in LIST PARTITION to confirm the new partition is made and is the full-size.
      Type in EXIT to leave Diskpart.
  • NOTE: You can now format your USB drive.


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