Windows 10: Can I delete files within the windows setup instead of having to format the drive?

I had an issue with my SSD and have to reinstall windows. The drive I want to reinstall it on only has 5GB space when 10GB is needed. Is there a way to delete space within the drive from the windows setup window instead of completely formatting the drive?

:)

 

How To Format A Write Protected Flash Memory ?

¿You already tried this one?...

Run CMD


1. diskpart
2. list disk

Then in the 3º step, put the correct number of disk in the list for the usb flash (if it's listed in disk 3, then you'll have to write select disk 3).

2. select disk #
3. clean
4. create partition primary
5. select partition 1
6. active
7. format fs=fat32
8. assign
9. exit

with that commands you will format the flash drive in fat32, if you have a large drive you can select also "format fs=ntfs" in step 7.

good luck!

 

Delete VS Format

I have a 4 gig usb stick that I use to xfer stuf from my desktop to my laptop. Sometimes I Copy the stuff instead of Move - so I have to delete the stuff to clear the stick.

I notice something odd. Sometimes windows reports it will take a long time to delete my 4 gigs worth of data.. like 40 minutes to an hour.. so I say heck with this and just format the usb stick which deletes everything anyway.. this only takes seconds to erase all the data using Format.

Whats the differe3nce here? Why does windows take so long to delete when format does it instantly?

Is formatting the ubs stick this way to erase data bad for the stick?

If not, I will always use it.. but this bugged me so I wanted some expert opinions..
Thanks

 

Unable to open files on FAT32 Drives (Do not have permission)

Hi Chad,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft community.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. I’ll certainly help you with this.

I would like to let you know that Windows 10 doesn't support FAT32 formatted drives. I suggest you to take the back up of the files and format the drive in NTFS format. To do so, follow these steps:

• 
  Connect the USB drive to the computer and right click on it.
  
• 
  Select format and set the file system to
  NTFS(default).
  
• 
  Select click on Start to format the USB drive.
  
• 
  Now, transfer the files to the drive and check if you are able to open the files.
  

Hope this will help you. Keep us posted with the status of the issue to assist you further.

Thank you.