Solved Why can't I delete FAT32 Partition on Flash Drive?

1 GB USB Flash Drive and 'delete volume' is grayed out in Disk Management.
Why?

IMAyNeed said:

1 GB USB Flash Drive and 'delete volume' is grayed out in Disk Management.
Why?

Click to expand...

Can you write files on that flash drive, or is it read only?
Post screenshot of disk management

I can write files to it. It was unallocated before. I made it new FAT32 Partition, but now, I can't make it back unallocated again.

IMayNeed,

follow this procedure:
PREPARE A UFD/SSD/HDD FOR USE


UFD = USB Flash Device, such as, pen drive, thumb drive, usb stick.

Run CMD.EXE as administrator
[FONT=&quot]Ctrl + Esc | [/FONT][FONT=&quot]type Cmd in the “Search Box’ | do not hit Enter |
right-click on CMD.EXE in the list of Programs[/FONT] | YES button (if asked)

Use DiskPart ----{type commands, follow each by hitting ENTER}
Type DISKPART ------{starts DiskPart; command prompt changes to DISKPART> }[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Enter following DISKPART commands:[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]List disk ----------[/FONT][FONT=&quot]{list number assigned by DiskPart to the drives;
-------------------- note the numeral assigned to your UFD/SSD/HDD}
select disk 1 ------{the numeral 1 will be used in this example}
detail disk --------{info will help verify that you’ve selected the desired disk}
clean all ----------{write zeroes to all bytes of selected disk; depending upon [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-------------------- capacity and device speed, this can take awhile.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-------------------- Any bad sectors will be so marked and avoided.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-------------------- Wait for the DiskPart prompt to appear again.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-------------------- The DiskPart> prompt will eventually appear.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]OR--OR--OR--OR[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]clean --------------{[/FONT][FONT=&quot]zeroes only first and last sectors to zero out boot info;[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-------------------- This is much quicker and suffices for most cases. }
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]create partition primary -[/FONT][FONT=&quot]{create a primary partition in the selected disk}
select partition 1 -------{select the partition you just created}
active -------------------{mark the partition as Active}
format fs=ntfs quick -----{format the partition as ntfs}
assign -------------------{assign next available drive letter to the volume}
exit ---------------------{exit DISKPART and return to the command-shell prompt}[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]exit ---------------------[/FONT][FONT=&quot]{exit the command shell }[/FONT]

Thanks.
The 'clean' command made it unallocated again, which was what I wanted.
I learned another thing that you can't delete volumes in disk management from removable drives, or in this case FAT32 Flash Drives. I don't know the reason for that though.

Drive N is flash drive? If so ... run CMD as administrator. Then:

Post output

Yes, it is a flash drive. I have another, I can't delete the volume on the other either in disk management.

It is right now unallocated in Disk Management (which was what I was trying to do). I don't know if you wanted me to post those commands when in was FAT32. When I click on it in Windows Explorer, it tells me to insert a disk inside.

If you want me to (try) to solve it, it must still be FAT32. Or has problem been solved already?

No, no. The problem has been solved by using 'clean' command from 'cmd'.
I was just wondering why the volumes on removable devices can not be deleted in Disk Management. That is it.

UPDATE: I found the answer. Not the answer, but the article simply says, you just cannot delete partitions on removable drives.