#Windows Hard Drive Format Utility Free Is A

Windows Hard Drive Format Utility Free Is A

HereвЂ™s how to get around that.Type 'select disk', where '' is the drive number. The interface is quite straightforward and the software is excellent at making complex formatting options simple.For whatever reason, the option to format USB drives larger than 32GB with the FAT32 file system isnвЂ™t present in the regular Windows format tool. MiniTool Partition Wizard Free is a freeware disk partitioning and formatting utility that is simple to use and effective. We have tested WD Drive Utilities 2.0.0.76 against malware with several different programs.MiniTool Partition Wizard. WD Drive Utilities 2.0.0.76 is available to all software users as a free download for Windows. This download is licensed as freeware for the Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) operating system on a laptop or desktop PC from drive utilities without restrictions.

This tool took a few seconds to format our 64GB USB drive that took us over an hour in PowerShell.One thing to note here: youвЂ™ll need to close any open File Explorer windows before you format the drive. Click вЂњOKвЂќ to format the drive.Formatting with this tool is much quicker than the command line method described in the next section. The truth is that FAT32 has a theoretical volume size limit of 16 TB, with a current practical limit of about 8 TBвЂ”plenty for most USB drives.A window pops up to warn you that all data on the drive will be lost. Specifications put out by manufacturers on file systems as they pertain to drive sizeВ created the myth that FAT32 can only be used to format drives between 2 GB and 32 GB, and that is likely why native tools on WindowsвЂ”and other systemsвЂ”have that limit. Every major operating system and most devices support it, making it great for drives you need to access from different systems.

The downside to doing this is that it can take a long time. Format Large USB DrivesВ with FAT32 by UsingВ PowerShellYou can format USB drives larger than 32GB with FAT32 by using the format command in PowerShell or Command PromptвЂ”the command uses the same syntax in both tools. No need to relaunch the tool or anything. If this happens to you, just close the File Explorer windows and try again.

Open PowerShellВ with administrative privileges by hitting Windows+X on your keyboard, and then selecting вЂњPowerShell (Admin)вЂќ from the Power User menu. Aside from the length of time, you also wonвЂ™t know if formatting failedвЂ”unlikely but possibleвЂ”until the process is done.Still, if you donвЂ™t want toвЂ”or canвЂ™tвЂ”download a third-party app, using the format command is pretty straightforward.