Question

a USB stick under Windows - this is how it works!

Answer 1

Format the USB stick under Windows

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In Windows, you can clean up your USB stick by formatting it. With us you will find out what you have to do..

If you want to clean up your USB stick, you can format it. During the formatting process, all data is deleted so that the entire storage capacity of the storage medium is available again. We'll show you how to do it:

Format the USB stick under Windows

1. Before you can start formatting, you need to connect the USB stick to your computer .
2. Then click on the start symbol at the bottom left and go to " Computer ". Here you get an overview of all connected storage media and devices. Starting with Windows 8, you have to proceed a little differently: Enter " This PC " in the search bar below and confirm with [ Enter ]. You should now have reached the overview as well.
3. Your USB stick should also be listed under " Devices and Drives ". Make a right click on the drive and then go to " Format ".
4. Now you can make some settings for the formatting . However, depending on the application, it is advisable to keep the default settings. You can use FAT32 as the " file system " if you want to use the stick under Windows . You can leave the items "Storage capacity" and "Size of allocations" unchanged.
5. You can change the name of your USB stick under " Volume designation " .
6. Then click on " Start ". Now just wait for the formatting process to finish.

This is how you can format a USB stick under Windows.

Note: In order to be able to securely erase hard drives , you have to use external tools . For example, Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is recommended. This is a Linux live system that provides various deletion methods.

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