Top Two Ways to Format Bootable SD Card

Reasons to format bootable SD card

SD card is not unfamiliar to most users. It’s a special memory card typically used in mobile phones, digital cameras and other portable devices. So, what is bootable SD card? In general, bootable SD card is a special disc which contains a bootable operating system. It allows you to boot your computer which has boot problems or suffer from system crashes.

Sometimes bootable SD cards need to be formatted. Here are three main reasons:

▶ Different devices support different file systems. To fit a certain device, you have to format bootable SD card to NTFS, FAT32 or exFAT file system.
▶ Format SD card to prolong its lifespan. It's inevitable to develop bad sectors or corruption issues on a bootable SD card after a long-time use. By formatting, you can get rid of these troubles.
▶ No need for the current bootable SD card. Most commonly, the current bootable SD card may not meet your computing requirements any more. Thus, you can format it for other purposes.

Effective solutions to format bootable SD card

Many users may meet this error: “Windows was unable to complete the format” when they try to format bootable disc in Windows Explorer. How to format bootable SD card? Luckily! Two simple and efficient methods will be presented below. You can choose one based on your own situations.

Solution 1. Format bootable SD card with Diskpart

Tip: All data on the bootable SD card will be erased after formatting. Therefore, you'd better make sure whether there is any important files on the SD card, if there is, please backup files to external hard drive.

Step 1. Type Windows logo key + R to open Run box. Type diskpart in Run box. Then click OK to start Command Prompt.

Step 2. Type list disk and then press Enter.

Step 3. Type select disk n (n represents the disk number of your bootable SD card) and then press Enter.

Step 4. Type clean and then press Enter.

Step 5. Type create partition primary and then press Enter.

Step 6. Type format fs=ntfs quick or format fs=fat32 quick and then press Enter to format SD card to NTFS or FAT32 as you want.

Step 7. After formatting, type exit and then press Enter.

As can be seen from the above, this solution might look a little complex. Besides, all operations steps take place immediately so that you cannot step back. Care must be taken to select this approach, as serious problem (data loss) might occur if you make a mistake in the process. If you are not good at Diskpart in Command Prompt, you can try next method.

Solution 2. Format SD card (bootable) with free Diskpart alternative

To format bootable SD card easily, you can turn to the best free disk partition manager - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. It allows you to format your bootable SD card to NTFS, FAT32, exFAT or Ext 2/3/4 in Windows 10/8.1/8/7/XP/Vista.

What’s more, this format utility enables users to format large partition. Apart from formatting SD card, this utility also works well when you need to format bootable USB drive or external hard drives. It has user friendly interface and is easy to handle.

If you are not satisfied with the current operations, you can go back to the previous step easily. To use this utility, you should download it at first. Then follow the detailed steps given below.

Tip: Connect your bootable SD card to a working computer. Then install and launch this freeware.

Step 1. Right click the bootable SD card and then select Format Partition.

Step 2. Add Partition Label, select File System and Cluster Size. Then click OK.

Step 3. Confirm your operations and then click Apply to format bootable disk.

Tip: The "Make Bootable Media" function in this software can make your SD card bootable again.

Verdict

Now you can format bootable SD card with the two methods mentioned above. It is recommended to use AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, because it provides users with more advanced options. In addition, this bootable media formatting tool can also be used to format corrupted SD card.

If you upgrade to Pro edition, you can manage your disk more flexibly, for instance, convert dynamic disk to basic without losing data.