badly formated my USB, now it shows as a generic one

How to Fix a USB Drive That Shows as a Generic Device After Formatting

Introduction

USB drives are essential tools for data transfer and storage, but sometimes they encounter issues that can be confusing or frustrating. Recently, I experienced a problem with my Kingston 128GB USB drive, which I purchased from Amazon. The drive initially functioned perfectly, but after attempting to format it for use with a PlayStation 3, it became unrecognizable and shows up as a generic device. In this article, I will share my experience and provide professional guidance on how to resolve similar issues, restoring your USB drive to its original state or reformatting it successfully.

Understanding the Situation

The Problem

• The USB drive, originally identifiable as a Kingston device, was formatted using external tools.
• Post-formatting, it was no longer recognized as a Kingston product but appeared as “VendorCo ProductName” or a similar generic label.
• The standard built-in Windows formatting options no longer recognize the drive properly.
• The drive cannot be formatted using conventional methods, and no official Kingston drivers are available to restore the device information.

Root Causes

These issues often occur due to:

• Using third-party formatting tools like Rufus, which can overwrite the drive’s firmware data.
• Formatting the drive to file systems incompatible with the device’s original formatting routines.
• Loss or corruption of device-specific information and partitioning schemes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Back Up Data

2. If the drive contains important data, attempt to recover it using data recovery software before proceeding with formatting or partitioning.

3. Use Disk Management (Windows)

4. Connect the USB drive to your computer.

5. Open Disk Management:
   • Press Win + R, type diskmgmt.msc, and press Enter.
6. Locate the USB drive; it may appear as “Disk X” with a “Removable” label.

7. If the drive shows as unallocated or has a generic partition:

   • Right-click on the partition > Delete Volume to remove existing partitions.

   • Right-click on the unallocated space > New Simple Volume.

   • Follow the wizard to create a new partition and format it with FAT32 (note: Windows might limit FAT32 formatting to 32GB; for larger drives, use third-party formatters).

8. Use Diskpart Utility

9. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

10. Type diskpart and press Enter.
11. List disks: list disk.
12. Select your USB drive: