FAT32

[Jonathan Cross]

Help!

I have a Sandisk 256GB USB stick.  For the use I want it needs to be formatted as FAT32.  I have formatted it using the DOS prompt and the instruction format /FS:FAT32 E:  At the end there is a message, format failed, volume too large.  According to what I read 256GB is not too large, so does anyone know how I can format this stick as FAT32?

Best wishes,

Jonathan

[degrub]

You might have to repartition it. The largest partition is 2TB. Sounds like the formatter is not finding the end marker on the media. Is there a Sandisk utility included ?

https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmanager/fat32-partition-size-limit.html

Google is your friend. Just ask a question. She will answer.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I have to wonder why it needs to be FAT32 anyway, in this day and age, unless there is already data on it that needs to be saved elsewhere first.
Or are you using a really ancient machine that only understands FAT32?

[Jonathan Cross]

We have a digital radio that accepts USB sticks.  We have bought another of the same type, and we want to have music on it to play while doing jobs.  The usb stick has to be formatted as FAT32!  I was able to do it with the stick in the other radio, but having difficulty with the one I have just bought.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

[BobShaw]

If the machine requires FAT32 then it is probably too old to read 256G anyway. Try 8 or 16G or less and if that works then it is not the process.

[JaapD]

Known problem. With success I use the “Verbatim FAT32” tool for cases like these. Please Google, I’m sure you’ll find the download site.

Regards,
Jaap

[Jonathan Cross]

Thanks for the comments.  Problem solved.  I used Microsoft utility Diskpart to clean and reformat the USB stick as exFAT.  I then used Ridgecorp Consultants remote utility (no download) to quick format as FAT32.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I'm glad you got it sorted.