I wanted to find out how I can format a flash disk with RAW file system. What is happening is that if I try to format it it gives this message 'Windows was unable to complete the format'.

RAW = unformatted / damaged drive / unrecognized drive / new drive, etc. So...

Does the device have write protection enabled, if the feature is supported? Was the device partitioned first using the software utility available for it or Windows Disk Management? How did the device get unformatted?

RAW = unformatted / damaged drive / unrecognized drive / new drive, etc. So...

Does the device have write protection enabled, if the feature is supported? Was the device partitioned first using the software utility available for it or Windows Disk Management? How did the device get unformatted?

The flash disk does not have write-protection and unfortunately it cannot be formatted using Windows Disk management. I don't know how it got unformatted.

I don't know how it got unformatted.

Flash drives generally come pre-formatted when new. If it is now unformatted, and you didn't erase it, something happened to the drive. It may be damaged. Suggest you contact the drive's manufacturer for tech support or a drive preparation utility.

try this


go to "My Computer" and find the drive letter and right click on it. In the drop down menu that will popup you will want to click on the last option that says "properties". In the Properties dialog box you will want to choose the Tools Tab. In this tab you will want to run the Error-checking tool, there is a button that says Check Now... click this. In the new window you will want to check mark both options (automatically fix file system errors) and (scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors).

The program should run through and if there are any sectors or issues with the file system or boot sectors it will fix them for you. If the program says it completed successfully then you can try to open your flash drive, if you are successful then you are done. If the program just blinks and then stops and never prompts you that it has finished then it didn't work and you need to move on to the command line method.

If that does not help, try to format from command prompt

Start, run, type cmd
-now type: format X: (X will be the letter of the flash drive)