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Help! Flash drive formatted in Disk Utility not working on Windows

To work on a file, I decided to bring my work flash drive home. I chose to erase the USB flash drive and save my stuff on my Mac after discovering at home that there were some strange files on it that I couldn't remove. I selected the 2 GB flash drive, and I utilized the SECURITY OPTION 35 PASS ERRASE. Microsoft-DOS (FAT) format. When I brought my flash drive to work and connected it to a Windows XP computer, everything worked perfectly until I tried to access it and it offered to format. It indicated that I didn't have enough privileges or anything when I took a chance and clicked OK.

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Amanda Wong

Amanda Wong

Answered on Tuesday, August 27, 2024

When formatting an external HDD, SSD, and USB flash drive for both macOS and Windows, you should choose the correct file systems, only exFAT and FAT32 are compatible with both platforms.

According to your description, you have selected the correct format MS-DOS(FAT), and used the security option 35-pass erase, if the formatted USB flash drive doesn't work on Windows, you may try to format the external drive on Mac again without choosing the 35-pass erase:

  1. Connect the USB flash drive to the Mac.
  2. Head to the Disk Utility from Finder > Applications > Utilities.
  3. Select the inserted flash drive and click Erase.
  4. Choose the format as MS-DOS(FAT), and select Mater Boot Record.
  5. Click the Erase button to begin the process.
  6. Click Done and quit Disk Utility.
  7. Eject the flash drive on the Mac and connect it to the Windows PC to check whether it works now.

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