How to format an ESXi / Linux / Multiple Partitions USB key
I recently had a number of vSphere ESX4i USB Key installs following my article on putting vSphere ESX4i on a USB key / Pen Drive. I needed to format a couple for general windows usage, only to find that the ESX4i image creates a number of partitions on the USB Key. Unfortunately Windows does not appear to support the removal of partitions on removable devices so when I was trying to format a 2GB USB stick I was able to format a 110MB partition and that was it. I was a bit stuck on the best way to rectify the issue and wasn’t finding much to help out on the web.
That’s when I stumbled upon the HP USB Storage Format Tool, a great little tool that works with a wide range of USB sticks and not just HP ones. It allowed me to wipe the USB key as a single entity and didn’t care about the partitioning, returning my USB Key to a useable state within windows.
You can download it from HP’s website by clicking on this link, sometimes you just don’t know if you can trust other download sites.
