I have a 1gig Kingston USB2 pen drive which I'm trying to format. I can get it to format as FAT or FAT32 but when I try it as NTFS I get an error saying 'unable to format'. There is an issue with large pen drives when trying to transfer a lot of files that they are liable to corruption using FAT, and using NTFS is the way around this but this is where the problems occur. The drive checks out as being ok using Windows Scandisk (though I haven't found a specific program for checking USB memory which would be nice). Anyone else come across/resolved this problem? TIA John

format the drive as FAT first next use the convert command to convert it to NTFS My idea only, I have not tried it yet. ---So it is already friday and one more week is over------

I have a .5Gb Kingston pen drive which I formatted to NTFS but I had so many problems I reformatted to FAT32 and it goes like a dream. Don't ask me why, it just works for me. On USB 2.0 it can read or write at pretty near max speed. Rgds. Bob Mitchell.

Thanks for replies - yes I tried using the convert command originally (I couldn't figure out how to do it in Windows at first) still with no joy. Also tried formatting as FAT and FAT32 first. My 512Mb drive has been excellent but it seems to be a problem with the 1Gb drive. It's the NTFS I really need 'cos of the problems over data corruption with FAT,

Problem sorted - it is a faulty drive, possibly a fake one (bought from the US through EBay). Anyway, Kingston are happy to provide a replacement whichever reason it is, RMA received today so definitely a result. I shall never criticise Kingston again (not that I have ...)