Cheatsheets/Reformat_USB.md

Guide for Reformatting USB Drives

This guide provides instructions for reformatting USB drives on Linux and Windows platforms.

Table of Contents

• Linux
  • Identify the USB Drive
  • Unmount the USB Drive
  • Format the USB Drive
  • Create a File System
  • Mount the USB Drive
• Windows diskpart

Linux

Identify the USB Drive

First, you need to identify the drive you want to reformat. You can list all the storage devices in your computer with the following command:

```bash lsblk ```

This will give you a list of devices along with their mount points. Your USB drive will usually be something like /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc.

Unmount the USB Drive

Before reformatting, you should unmount the drive. This can be done with the following command:

```bash sudo umount /dev/sdX ```

Format the USB Drive

Now you can start the process of reformatting. You can use fdisk to manage the partitions on your USB drive. Use the following command to start fdisk for your drive:

```bash sudo fdisk /dev/sdX ```

Once you're in the fdisk utility, you can use the following commands:

• p - Display the partition table to confirm you're working with the correct drive.
• d - Delete a partition. If there are multiple partitions, it will ask you which one you want to delete. Repeat this step until all partitions are deleted.
• n - Create a new partition. Follow the prompts to accept the defaults.
• t - Change the partition type. If asked for a code, use b for FAT32 or 83 for Linux.
• w - Write changes and exit.

Create a File System

Now that you have a new partition, you can format it with a file system. If you want a FAT32 file system, you can use the following command:

```bash sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/sdX1 ```

Or if you want an ext4 file system, use this command instead:

```bash sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1 ```

Mount the USB Drive

Now you can mount the drive again:

```bash sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt ```

Now your USB drive is reformatted and ready to use!

IMPORTANT: Be very careful when using these commands, as choosing the wrong drive can result in data loss. Always double-check the drive name (/dev/sdX) before running these commands.

Windows diskpart

1. Open Windows PowerShell as an administrator.

```powershell diskpart ```

2. List all the connected storage devices.

```powershell list disk ```

3. Identify your USB drive by its size and replace X with its disk number.

```powershell select disk X ```

4. Delete all data and partitions on the drive.

```powershell clean ```

5. Create a new primary partition.

```powershell create partition primary ```

6. Select the newly created partition.

```powershell select partition 1 ```

7. Format the partition to FAT32 or NTFS (replace "fs=fat32" with "fs=ntfs" if you want NTFS file system).

```powershell format fs=fat32 quick ```

8. Assign a drive letter to the partition (replace "Y" with your desired drive letter).

```powershell assign letter=Y ```

9. Exit DiskPart.

```powershell exit ```

This guide will completely erase all the data on your USB drive and prepare it for fresh use. Be sure to replace X with your disk number and Y with the desired letter for your drive.