I had to format my Tails USB stick numerous times when I first started using
Tails. I found I could do it in Windows 10 easily (and Maybe Windows 7), this
way:
1) Open an elevated command prompt ("Run as administrator").
2) Type 'Diskpart' (without the apostrophes for this and all the other
following commands).
3) Then 'List Disk'.
4) Find your USB Stick Disk ID number. Be REALLY CAREFUL ON IDENTIFYING THE
CORRECT DISK NUMBER. Preferably have only the one USB stick you want to format
plugged in. If you select the wrong disk, you'll wipe everything on that disk.
Use the Disk Manager to help if needed.
5) Once you are sure of the disk ID number, type 'Select Disk X', where X is
the number of your disk
6) If the "Status" of your disk indicated "Offline" (from Step 3 above), type
'Online Disk'. Note, I did not need to do this, so I never did try this command.
7) Type 'Clean'.
8) You can then format to full capacity inside Diskpart (search for "Diskpart
Format"), via Disk Manager, Windows file explorer, etc.
NOTE: On Windows 10 Pro the "clean" command worked like a charm. On Windows 7
Ultimate, the 'Clean' command got stuck. I had to reboot the OS and try again.
I can't remember if the process worked the second time or I just then used
Windows 10 thereafter, where "clean" executed quickly.
Hope this helps
Sent with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com) Secure Email.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Tails-support] Usb not working
Local Time: February 27, 2017 8:47 PM
UTC Time: February 27, 2017 8:47 PM
From: [email protected]
To: User support for Tails <[email protected]>
Neethin Nandakumar:
> I used a San disk USB to install tails and invariably it didn't work. So
> used the exception specified in the site (removing the live_storage option
> from the boot screen). This solved the problem. 2 days later i brought a
> new USB and installed tails from it. Then when i connected my old San disk
> on my windows the 16 gb drive is being shown as only 2.16 gb. How do i
> correct this?
>
> Thanks in advance
You have to reformat the old SanDisk thumb drive. There is probably a
way to do it in Windows but I have not found it. The regular Windows
format app doesn't work on drives previously formatted by Tails. My
suggestion is to create a Live DVD of a good Linux distro. It will have
a GUI USB stick formatter. I know Linux Mint does. Plug in your
SanDisk, select FAT32, and reformat. Windows should now show it as 16
GB. There may be a way to reformat USB sticks from Tails but I haven't
found that either. Some one else here may know how.
_______________________________________________
tails-support mailing list
[email protected]
https://mailman.boum.org/listinfo/tails-support
To unsubscribe from this list, send an empty email to
[email protected]._______________________________________________
tails-support mailing list
[email protected]
https://mailman.boum.org/listinfo/tails-support
To unsubscribe from this list, send an empty email to
[email protected].
