You have to format the disk - what to do?

If you get the message "You have to format the data medium" as soon as you connect a hard drive or a stick via USB, you should first save your data. We'll show you what you can do.

Reinstall driver for disk

First, you can try whether reinstalling the drivers for your disk will fix the problem.

• Open the Control Panel and click on "Device Manager" in the classic view.
• Scroll to "USB Controler" and double click on your device. If you don't recognize it, disconnect it from the PC and check which device has disappeared from the list.
• In the device window, switch to the "Driver" tab and click "Uninstall". Then restart your PC. If the problem persists, go to the next paragraph.

Format disk: save data

If reinstalling the drivers did not help, you cannot avoid formatting. If you have important data saved on the hard disk or the stick, you can try to save it with the free tool "Recuva".

• Download Recuva and install it on your computer.
• Start the program and cancel the wizard by clicking on "Cancel".
• Select your data carrier from the list at the top left and click "Scan".
• Select all the files you want to save and click "Restore".
• Select a storage location on your PC and confirm with "OK".

Format disk

Now you can format the disk.

• To do this, disconnect it from the computer and reconnect it. Start the formatting that Windows suggests in the message.

In the next article we will show you what you can do if Windows no longer recognizes your hard drive.