Use USB stick as hard drive - so it'll work
By default, Windows recognizes USB sticks as removable media. In this article you will find out how you can use the sticks as hard disks and what the advantages are.
1. Thanks to Hitachi drivers: use USB sticks as hard drives
If Windows recognizes your USB stick as a hard disk and no longer as an external removable disk, you can partition it, for example. The disadvantage: Some USB sticks only work as removable media and refuse to work after the conversion. That is why in the last paragraph we show you how to undo the changes.
- To convert your USB stick, you need a special, modified driver. Hitachi offers a driver for mini hard drives, which you can also use for your USB sticks.
- Download the driver and unzip the ZIP file into any folder.
- If you double-click the "cfadisk.inf" file, the text editor opens. At the beginning of the section "[cfadisk_device]" add the line "% Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install, USBSTOR \ GenDisk" and save the document.
2. Install Hitachi driver for USB sticks
- Open the Control Panel and click on "Device Manager" under the "Hardware and Sound" category.
- Open the "Drive" entry using the small arrow next to it and right-click on your USB stick. In the context menu, select the option "Update driver software".
- Click "Browse my computer for driver software, " and then click "From a list of device drivers."
- Use the "Data medium" button to navigate to the INF file you have just edited. Ignore both messages that the driver is not signed with "Yes" and "Install this driver software anyway".
- Now connect your USB stick to the computer and it will automatically be recognized as a hard drive.
3. Undo conversion: Use USB stick as stick again
If errors occur or you would like to use your USB stick normally, you can undo the driver installation:
- Open the Device Manager via the Control Panel and search for your USB stick under "Drives" again.
- Then right-click on the entry and select the "Uninstall" option.
- After the driver has been removed, briefly unplug your USB stick from the computer and then reconnect it. Windows automatically installs a new driver and reinserts the stick as a removable disk.