convert Linux into Windows partition

I accidently formatted my mp3 flash drive in NTFS (don't ask why). Now, I want to convert back into FAT32 but Vista would not let me :-(

Now, I tried to create a new partition in Disk Direktor but it offers me Linux formats only (Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, Linux Swap).

How do I get the drive back into the FAT format?

Thanks for any idea
Thomas

 

Thomas:

You could try first deleting the existing NTFS partition using Disk Director (DD). While running DD in manual mode, right-click on the partition and choose "Delete" and then choose "Commit" from the Operations menu.

After the partition has been deleted you could then choose "Create Partition" and format the partition as FAT32.

As an alternative, if you have a Windows XP machine available, plug the drive into the XP machine and reformat it there. I'm not sure why Vista won't let you do that??

 

thfrank,

If your computer's BIOS will allow it, boot to the Safe Mode version of DD and reformat the flashdrive there. Get Windows out of the equation. Windows has a bunch of "rules" it applies to flashdrives that greatly limits the ability to work with them in Windows especially if it involves partitioning.

Another option you could try... if your MP3 player has any software to "reset" it back to its original condition, you could probably use that utility to fix it.

 

Another idea -- Vista's Diskpart utility has the ability to format USB flash drives. You could follow step 8 in this article.

P.S. --@MudCrab: The article describes an interesting alternative to BartPE.