en	[[!meta title="Resetting a USB stick using Windows"]]

en	[[!inline pages="doc/reset.intro" raw="yes" sort="age"]]
pl	[[!inline pages="doc/reset.intro.pl" raw="yes" sort="age"]]

en	<div class="caution">

en	You might overwrite any hard disk on the computer.

en	If at some point you are not sure about which device to choose, stop proceeding.

en	</div>

en	Erase Tails from the USB stick

en	First, erase Tails from the USB stick:

en	Make sure that the USB stick that you want to reset is unplugged.

en	Open the **Start** ([[!img lib/start.png class="symbolic" link="no" alt=""]]) menu.

en	Choose **Windows System**&nbsp;▸ **Command Prompt**.

en	Execute the following command to start the *Diskpart* utility.

en	diskpart
pl	Benutzung von Diskpart

en	Execute the following command to obtain information about the disks in the computer.

en	list disk

en	For example:

en	Diskpart> list disk

en	Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt -------- ---------- ------- ------- --- --- Disk 0 Online 80 GB 0 B

en	Plug in the USB stick that you want to reset.

en	Run the same command again.

en	A new disk, which corresponds to the USB stick that you plugged in, appears in the list.

en	Diskpart> list disk

en	Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt -------- ---------- ------- ------- --- --- Disk 0 Online 80 GB 0 B Disk 1 Online 8 GB 0 B

en	Make sure that its size corresponds to the size of the USB stick that you want to reset. Note down its disk number.

en	In this example, the disk number of the USB stick is 1. Yours might be different.

en	Execute the following command to select the USB stick. Replace number with the disk number found in step 7.

en	select disk=number

en	Execute the following command to delete the partition table from the USB stick.

en	clean

en	Create a new partition on the USB stick

en	Then, create a new partition on the USB stick:

en	Execute the following command to create a new partition table on the USB stick.

en	convert mbr

en	Execute the following command to create a new primary partition on the USB stick.

en	create partition primary

en	Unplug the USB stick.

en	Plug the USB stick again.

en	A dialog appears to format the disk before using it.

en	[[!img format.png link="no" class="screenshot" alt="You need to format the disk before you can use it. Do you want to format it?"]]

en	Click on the **Format disk** button.

en	In the **Format USB Drive** dialog, review the settings and click **Start**.

en	After the formatting is complete, the USB stick should appear as a new drive in the files browser.

en	Otherwise, try unplugging and plugging it again.

en	Troubleshooting

en	- [How to start the *Command Prompt*](https://www.computerhope.com/issues/chdos.htm)

en	- [Microsoft: diskpart](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/diskpart)