Error - You need to format the disk in drive before you can use it

[Billy Bat]

When a USB stick is connected to a computer, the operating system warns that it need to be formatted if I want to use it. What to do if there is some data on such a USB stick that should be saved?

 

[Bighorn]

The only time I see the Format message is when plugging a Linux LiveUSB into a port and Windows can't handle/recognize its formatting.

Another possibility is mishandling of the drive, can be corrupted just like the old floppy disks by static electricity.

Usually the message is "errors were found and need to scan the drive". It can happen when a drive is plugged into a different port than the previous time it was used. Have seen a couple times when a USB 3 drive [blue center] was plugged into a USB 2 port [black center].

 

[Billy Bat]

The only time I see the Format message is when plugging a Linux LiveUSB into a port and Windows can't handle/recognize its formatting.

Another possibility is mishandling of the drive, can be corrupted just like the old floppy disks by static electricity.

Usually the message is "errors were found and need to scan the drive". It can happen when a drive is plugged into a different port than the previous time it was used. Have seen a couple times when a USB 3 drive [blue center] was plugged into a USB 2 port [black center].

how do i get my data in that case?

 

[Bighorn]

First, DON'T format the drive or all chances of getting data back could be lost. Might check the Internet Search for a recovery program but be aware there's no guarantee it will work.

 

[Xploit Machine]

Sudden surge in USB ports is the cause of certain USB drives / Pendrives are not readable, try another computer and backup the existing USB drive content to a safer place as backup and run disk scan if prompted and let Windows to analyse and repain any errors ..

 

[Billy Bat]

looked on the Internet, there are actually many programs for data recovery and various ways to restore the flash drive without using them.
I decided to take a risk and used the method in this video (starts at 4.00 minutes:

).
It helped me, I am satisfied.
But the video says it will only work for NTFS drives, mind you.

 

[Xploit Machine]

Depending on the user, for me I have 3 pendrives .. 1 formatted NTFS which has restorable backup of Macrium, 1 formatted with FAT32 with downloaded movies to be used copy from laptop and be used in my Smart TV (Smart TV's cannot read NTFS) and finally a pendrive formatted with ex-FAT to keep daily usage data's (documents) in various computer without any compatibility.

The reason I use ex-FAT is because the after formatted capacity use is just few KB's (below screenshot) compared with taken by NTFS and FAT32 which reaches nearly few MB's after formatted (even without contents). I love ex-FAT because gives more space, compatible from Windows 95 up to Windows 11

Even data recovery is possible with it ..

​

 

[Bighorn]

What I like about exFAT is it gets around the Windows 4GB single-file-size limit of FAT32, my WD MyBook drives at 4TB came formatted as exFAT and package marked as usable on PC and Mac. Mac OS X could read but not write NTFS without an additional app installed.

 

[The Shadow 2023]

I was having all sorts of problems with Flash Drives, till I started using the safety net provided by Windows.
It's that little "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" widget in the System Tray.

You can get by without closing some Flash Drives, before you unplug them from the computer, but not all of them.

Because of the volatility of data stored on Flash Drives, I make sure that any important data that I have stored on a flash drive is also stored on another media.

The Ancients had it right....they carved their data in STONE. Electronic or magnetic media is not that long lived.
The CD/DVD is about as close to that longevity as we have come in our modern lives.

That goes for previous media, like Floppy Disks too. Or even ZIP Drives.
Once, I saw a hard drive erased, when a lightning bolt hit the building, where the backup drive was stored in a 600# steel SAFE. The EMF (Electro-Magnetic-Force) must have been horrendous!!

Happy New Year, mates,
Shadow