Member Avatar for MrMagic

I have multiple FAT32 based flash drives (pendrive, CF). The only thing in common is that my PC reports them as "not formatted". I cannot format them in either FAT or FAT32 from this PC either, however NTFS works fine.
I have run CHKDSK from my PC agsint the card and it to be OK. CHKDSK t: /V lists the files and that the colume is FAT32. Disk manager repotrs the volume, but cannot read that it is FAT32. Neither Expplorer or "Command Prompt" can list the drive.
I can also assign the card to a VMWare on my machine (Ubuntu), so I beleive the problem is causedby XP's lack of skills in understanding FAT(32).

These cards works OK sing XP on other machines. I have reoformatted them on other machines and in my camera. This has not helped for this XP machine.

I am away on vacation and this is the only PC I have now + I need FAT32 for my camera, so NTFS is not an alternative.

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Dani AI

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The symptom described — Explorer and Disk Management saying a FAT32 card is "not formatted" while lower-level tools and another OS can read the partition — points to a mismatch between the filesystem driver/ mount layer that Windows Explorer uses and the underlying disk metadata. On machines where the card is readable, hardware and partition layout are fine. That narrows the problem to the local Windows stack (drivers, mount manager, or corrupted system files) rather than the media itself.

A common, reliable fix for this exact pattern is to restore Windows system files that implement FAT support and the mount/volume services. The built-in System File Checker (SFC) replaces damaged protected files and often resolves the case where CHKDSK sees the volume but Explorer cannot. See the Microsoft SFC documentation for details: System File Checker (SFC).

Additional, non-destructive diagnostics and steps to try on the affected XP machine (in order):

  • Confirm the card and reader work on another PC or a Linux live environment to rule out hardware.
  • In Device Manager, look for problems under Disk drives and Universal Serial Bus controllers; uninstall the affected USB mass-storage device and let Windows redetect it.
  • Boot Safe Mode and check whether Explorer can see the volume there; that helps isolate third-party shell extensions or filter drivers.
  • Check for third-party filter drivers or security/encryption utilities that hook storage; temporarily disable/uninstall them.
  • If access to files is urgent, copy the data from a working machine before attempting any format or low-level repair.
  • Keep XP updated with vendor chipset/USB drivers, or consider repairing the OS install if system corruption recurs.

Credit to for suggesting SFC and to for confirming it resolved the issue. For camera media, avoid switching to NTFS — use the camera’s own format tool or standard FAT32 formatting to ensure compatibility.

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Member Avatar for MrMagic

The latest news is that Sandisk RescuePro can recover files from this device.
XP still cannot detect that it is FAT32.

Should this be moved to "Win XP" thread?

Member Avatar for c-tech

:-/ since you stated that the cards can be accessed from other machines running XP ,then probably some of the files for the files used in formattingt drives using the FAT32/FAT are either missing or corrupt. maybe you'll have to repair windows or try the system file checker. SFC in command prompt. good luck man

Member Avatar for MrMagic

:-/ since you stated that the cards can be accessed from other machines running XP ,then probably some of the files for the files used in formattingt drives using the FAT32/FAT are either missing or corrupt. maybe you'll have to repair windows or try the system file checker. SFC in command prompt. good luck man

Thank you very much for your help. SFC did the trick and all is OK again.

Member Avatar for c-tech

good to know that you got sorted out. Thanks

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