How to Fix Corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card-People store lots of data on the hard drive of a computer or in the external Pen Drive. To give long life to any storage device, it becomes necessary to scan and format it within a certain period.
Sometimes when we try to Format the Corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card using windows, we see a pop-up message ‘Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format’. It is an error that needs to be fixed to format the drive.
There are lots of methods to format a corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card and in this article, I am going to show you a few of them to solve this issue.
How to Fix Corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card?
How to Fix Corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card?
Total Time: 10 minutes
Fix with Check Disk Option
Before moving to the format methods, you should check the drive and try to repair it with the troubleshoot option. To do this, just follow the following steps:
Step1: Right-click on the drive
Step2: Click on properties
Step3: Go to Tools
Step5: Click on Check (In the Error Checking option)
Step6: Click on Scan and Repair drive
On the completion of the above steps, the windows will scan the issue and try to repair the drive. If it doesn’t fix the corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card, then you can move on to the different methods shown in this to Repair your Fix Corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card
Before we go to the method to fix this issue, you need to know what this error is and why it occurs.
Fix Reasons Behind This Error
Fix the issues which create Windows to be unable to complete the format error.
To fix the issue, you have to work on the reason behind this error. Since we know that this error can commonly occur due to Write-protection, Virus infection, Formation of Bad sector, Physical damage, etc. fixing these problems and repairing the drive.
➼Virus Infection: It can be repaired using anti-virus software. Scan the drive with anti-virus and remove the virus detected.
➼Write-Protection: It can be removed by using cmd
➼Bad-Sector: It can be easily scanned by windows itself. Just follow the following instructions:
➼Right-click on the drive and go to Properties.
➼In the properties window, go to the Tools option
Now under Error-checking, click on the Check button to scan for the bad sector.
It will take a few minutes to scan the drive.
If the issue does not solve by fixing the reasons which cause this error, then you can use windows cmd to complete the format.
Format with Command Prompt (cmd)
To format the drive with a command prompt, just follow the following steps:
Step1: Go to Search Option, located on the side of the Window Start Icon.
Step2: Enter cmd in the box
Step3: You’ll see Command Prompt
Step4: Right-click on that and run it as Administrator. Now Command Prompt ( A Back Window) will open.
Step5: Command- diskpart (without space)and press Enter
Step6: Command- list disk and press Enter. (Now all the disks will appear. To format the drive, you’ll need to select it first.)
Step7: Command- select disk 1 and press enter. (Now disk 1 will be selected)
Step8: Command- clean and press enter. (After the cleaning process, the pen drive will be successfully formatted. Now you’ll need to create a partition.)
Step9: Command- create partition primary and press enter.
Step10: Command- active and press enter (to active the partition.)
Step11: Command- exit (to close the Command Prompt)
Step12: Now plug out the drive and plugin again ( In case of an external drive )
Now again format the drive by using the default Format option. The drive will be successfully formatted.
If the issue does not resolve with windows, you can use third-party software.
Format through Partition Guru
To Format the drive, you can install Partition Guru, a software specially meant for Disk or Drive problems.
Step1: Install and open Partition Guru. Then you’ll see a list of all the drives of your computer.
Step2: Right-Click on the Drive you want to Format. Now you’ll see a window with lots of options
Step3: Click on Format Current Partition. Then a new window will be there to set labels and File System, You can leave it as default.
Step4: Click on Format and confirm with OK.
Step5: Clicking on OK will start formatting the drive.
Format with EaseUS Partition Master
Fix Windows was unable to complete the format with EaseUS Partition Master
EaseUs Partition is a tool that is used to Merge, Copy Disk, Format, and other such issues. It is an easy-to-use tool that deals with driving issues.
Repairing corrupt USB drives becomes much easier with this tool. If you’re facing Windows was unable to complete the format issue, then it is easy to fix this issue with EaseUS Partition Tool.
Fix by Creating Partition using Windows
Create partition Create Partitions from Windows
As the external drives have changed to RAW files system, it cannot be formatted by Windows. It appeared as an unallocated volume. Making a new volume can fix the format issue.
➼To create a new volume using windows, follow the following steps:
➼Right-click on my computer
➼Click on Manage
➼Click on Disk Management. There you’ll see your flash drive as unallocated volume.
➼Right-click on the flash drive
➼Click on New Simple Volume
➼Select the Format This Volume with the following Setting.
➼Now formatting will start. It will take some time to complete the format.
➼You can use a third-party tool to perform this action. MiniTool Partition Wizard is one of the best tools to create partitions.
Method: Create Partition Using MiniTool Partition Wizard
How to Fix Corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card?
Other Features of EaseUS Partition Master
Create/Resize Partitions: This feature is used to create a partition or resize the drive.
Migrate OS: This feature allows you to migrate OS without losing data.
Clone Partitions: This feature allows you to copy the entire disk with just a single click
Merge Partition: This will merge the selected partitions or drives
Format Partition: This feature will format the partition.
It comes in Three Versions viz. Free, Professional, and Server.
Deleting or Creating Partition
If the format error does not solve with the Disk management tools, then deleting or creating a partition can format the drive.
Creating Partition can be done by both Windows and third-party software. first, let’s see how to create a partition through Windows
Create Partition using MiniTool Partition Wizard
Fix Windows was unable to complete the format using MiniTool Partition Wizard
If the drive you’re going to format has only unallocated space, then creating a partition will fix the issue. You can create a partition using MiniTool Partition Wizard.
MiniTool Partition Wizard tool is the best solution for problems regarding Disk/Partition management. It is the best partition and disk management tool, reviewed by millions of users. it has got 4 out of 5 ratings from most of the users.
Highlighted Features of MiniTool Partition Wizard/Delete/Format
Create/Delete/Format: This feature allows you to create partition and Format Drive
Wipe Partition: You can erase the partition from this feature
Move/Resize Partition: This feature allows to move partitions from one disk to another or resize any disk.
FAQ
What if Windows was unable to complete the format error?
Sometimes any Virus or technical issue damages the drive. It becomes very necessary to repair it immediately as it can damage the other drive too.
When we try to Format it by the Windows default Format option, a pop-up appears with Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format message.
If such an error occurs, then you’ll need to format the drive using other methods.
Step1: Install and Open EaseUS Partition Master. It will show all your drives and connected USB Drives.
Step2: Select the drive you want to format, and right-click on that drive. This will open a pop-up. Click on Format from the pop-up menu.
Step3: Now a window will open which says to name Partition Label and Choose File System Type between NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3. Then set Cluster Size for the drive you’re going to format.
Step4: A new warning pop-up will open and warn you about the data to be erased. Just click on OK.
Step5: Click on Execute Operation in the top-left corner to review the changes in the drive you’re going to format. Now you’re all set to format your drive. Just click on Apply and formatting will be initiated.
It will take a few seconds to complete the operation.
So in just five easy steps, you can format any drive with EaseUS Partition Master. In this way, you can repair any Corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card.
Why do Windows fail to Complete the Format?
Windows can format any drive but sometimes, it gets fail to format the drive due to the following reasons:
1. Write-Protection
Hard Disk or the external disk has a read and write function. You can perform any action on the disk which supports both read and writing.
But some disk comes with write protection which means windows can just read the drive. You cannot perform any write action such as Copy, Move, Delete. Due to write protection, Windows fails to complete the format action.
2. Virus
Sometimes the driver comes in contact with the virus. Disks can get infected by viruses easily since we surf the internet or download any files.
Viruses can come with the downloaded files or by clicking on some malicious links and damaging the drive.
3. Bad Sector
The bad sector in the drive disables the windows to read and write it. Basically, a hard drive contains multiple sectors, and data gets stored in it.
But sometimes discontinuous occurs and leads to the formation of bad sectors. Since bad sectors cannot be read and written, it is unable to format the drive.
4. Physical Damage
Physical damage occurs in the drive due to improper handling or any other reason. The damaged part of the drive disables the reading and writing function.
How to create a partition using MiniTool Partition Wizard?
➼Install and Open MiniTool Partition Wizard
➼Select the Drive/Disk
➼Click on Create Partition. A new pop-up window will open
➼Fill in the details of the partition such as Partition Label, File System, Partition Size, and all. Then click OK to continue the process.
➼Now the preview of Disk Partition will be presented. To make actual/real changes, click on Apply located in the upper left corner. You can also Undo or Discard some mistakes.
➼After creating the partition, the drive will be repaired successfully. These five easy steps will fix the Windows was unable to complete the format issue.
Can a corrupted pen drive be fixed?
The CHKDSK command is a powerful tool for repairing a corrupted, damaged, and inoperable USB flash drive, pen drive, SD card, or hard drive partition. It can also be used to easily repair a corrupted external hard drive or HDD/SSD.
How does a pen drive gets corrupted?
USB Flash Drives can be corrupted due to improper ejection, physical damage, or viruses. Take your damaged flash drive to a professional for repair or data recovery. Corrupted drives are usually repairable by reformatting them.
How do I stop my USB from corrupting?
Storage devices, such as USB drives, can be kept from becoming corrupt. The following factors can cause the drive to become corrupt.
When the drive is in use, pull it out.
When the data is being written into the drive, the computer is shut down.
To avoid corrupting the drive, always eject it before removing it and avoid pulling it out while it is in use.
Can a Pen drive get corrupted?
A pen drive can become corrupted. In fact, any device that stores data, whether HDDs, SD Cards, Pen Drives, or SSDs, can become corrupted.
Conclusion
Windows was unable to complete the format is such a common error and it can be fixed easily. I have shown a few methods to solve it. If any method doesn’t complete the task, you can move on to the next method.
If the drive isn’t formatted with all 4 methods, then it might be seriously damaged and you’ll need to contact professionals to complete the task.
But I’m sure that these few methods will be enough to format any drive. If you still have some doubt about the ‘How to Fix Corrupt Pendrive Or SD Card’ issue, you can comment below.
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