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Is it possible to make a flash drive from a hard drive? How to make a hard drive from a flash drive. Steps to assemble an external hard drive

Unfortunately, with computer system There are often problems that are not easy to solve. Someone needs to reinstall the OS or restore the state of the PC sooner or later. It is not always possible to access the hard drive to roll back the system or install a new one. That's why experts use a flash drive.

It is much more convenient to use than carrying around a heavy hard drive. But to do this you will have to learn how to do it. Many people think that it is difficult to do this. But if you follow the instructions, everything will be much simpler. For everything to work out, you need to get a flash drive or memory card.

Preparation

Before you make a flash drive into a hard drive, you need to prepare everything for this process. First, it's worth understanding multipartition. As practice shows, it will have to be abandoned, since flash media cannot handle other partitions, but only work with the first block.

Next, you need to check whether Windows works with a flash drive. Afterwards you will have to configure the drive to be recognized as a non-removable device. A flash drive is almost always displayed as a removable drive, and the system should “think” that a hard drive is installed.

Before you make a flash drive into a hard drive, you need to understand that if you do something wrong, you can damage the device. If the setting is incorrect, the drive will not be able to change its connection parameter. Experts suggest using a special driver.

First stage

Is it possible to turn a flash drive into a hard drive? It is possible, and it will be easy to do, it is only important to follow the instructions. After connecting the flash drive, you will need to determine its type. This can be done in two ways: using two commands or a special menu.

To do this, you need to open the drive management manager. Using the Win + R combination, you can launch the Run menu. You will have to enter the command diskmgmt.msc in the search bar. The drive information appears.

You can also use In a new window you will need to enter the following command - list volume. To identify a flash drive in the list, just look at the storage capacity. You can also view the media type in properties. Just go to the Volumes tab.

Second phase

How to make a flash drive a hard drive? After determining the drive type, you will need to either change the connection or continue working with it. If the flash drive is still detected as a removable device, you need to install a filter driver. To do this, you can use the Hitachi Microdrive utility. Thanks to it, you can not “physically” change the properties of a flash drive, but “deceive” the system by passing off the drive as a hard drive. Next, you can make the flash drive a hard drive. The system will allow you to divide the archive into several blocks, which will have to work simultaneously. It will be enough to install the necessary software.

Third stage

Next you will need to find the carrier number. Go to “My Computer”, find the connected flash drive and right-click. Having selected “Properties”, go to “Details” and in “Properties” select “Path to device instance”. The device number will appear below. In this line you need to copy the characters after the second slash. The numbers will be needed for the Hitachi Microdrive program. Next, you will need to find out the bit capacity of the system in order to understand the drive settings.

To do this, just go to “My Computer”, right-click on the free area and select “Properties”. A new dialog box will display information about the system and its bit capacity. After this you can configure the program.

Setting up the Hitachi Microdrive utility

If your computer runs at 64 bit, you will have to go to the program folder. In it, find the cfadisk document, find the chapter cfadisk_device and cfadisk_device.NTamd64. After the slash you will need to paste the copied equipment number. If the computer is running on 32 bits, you must use the cfadisk_device chapter. Find the line DISK&VEN_&PROD_USB_DISK_2.0&REV_P and insert the media number instead.

Fourth stage

The last step is replacing the drivers. If you have a 64-bit OS installed, you will need to configure one more setting. For correct operation and installation of drivers, you will have to disable the check digital signature, otherwise the system will suspect fraud. In addition, it can update itself, which, naturally, is undesirable for the process.

Now you can start the installation. Open the “Drivers” tab and select “Download drivers”. Here you need to specify the path to the folder with the utility driver. The system will detect that the digital signature is disabled, and then ask you to restart the PC. After a reboot, the flash drive will work as a non-removable drive.

Working with a hard drive

It is also possible to try to figure out how to make a bootable USB flash drive from a hard drive. Here it is enough to configure the hard drive to work with the OS. Through the “Control Panel” you need to go to “Administration” and “Computer Management”. In the left column we find “Disk Management”. All information about the hard drive partitions will appear in the table on the right. Now you need to format the hard drive and delete all partitions. After this, you will have to partition the disk and create a new volume. It will be enough to designate it as active and write it there operating system.

Alternative

Thinking about how to make a flash drive an external hard drive also leads the user to the Lexar Bootlt utility. It is not often talked about, although it is very simple and effective for this task.

The utility is free and helps to convert a flash drive into a fixed device. By the way, thanks to the same program you can return the drive to a removable type. The software is designed for Lexar devices, but easily copes with other flash drives. Also works with Windows starting from XP.

But there are still some nuances associated with this program. The utility works with branded devices, but sometimes fails with other drives. May fail when connecting via USB 3.0 interface. And it is important to remember that after flashing any device, the warranty is lost.

After installing Lexar Bootlt, you need to run the program as an administrator, select a flash drive in the list, and then click on the Flip Removable Bit command. Next you need to save the change and restart the PC.

Working with a laptop

Is it possible HDD Make a laptop into a flash drive? As practice shows, laptops do not last forever, so many users simply abandon the device or simply sell it. But you can benefit from it by turning the hard drive into a drive. Usually it is enough to purchase a special box in which to place the hard drive.

This option is suitable for hard drives that were installed in older models. For example, you can use a hard drive with a capacity of 4 to 100 GB. Larger devices may not work over the rather slow USB interface. A box like this costs about 10-20 dollars. It comes with the necessary cord to connect the drive to a PC. To install the hard drive, there are screws that will securely secure the hard drive in the case.

Working with a hard drive and flash drive is not easy. You must be careful not to damage the drive. You should also follow the driver installation instructions and use the commands carefully.

Experts advise immediately figuring out how to remove program drivers. In our case we're talking about about Hitachi Microdrive. To do this, you need to open the properties of the hard drive and select driver update. This process will automatically get rid of third-party installations and load the native driver.

Changing the settings of a flash drive will void the user's warranty, so it is better not to experiment with a newly purchased device. In addition, if you make a mistake in the settings, you can lose your drive.

Initially I thought of writing instructions, but in fact it turned out that it was a review of the use of the device. I did not correct it, because I think this option will also be useful to our dear readers.

How to make a homemade external HDD from a hard drive

Some time ago I got a 500GB laptop hard drive. But due to the lack of my own laptop, there was nowhere to install it, and just throwing such a volume “until better times” was a toad. And since the hard drive from a laptop is a box a little more than 5 centimeters wide and ~6-7 mm thick, a strong-willed decision was made, spending a minimum amount of money and time, to turn this drive into a kind of flash drive with a capacity of 500GB, putting it in special device called " External HDD pocket«.

To solve this problem, a pocket for a 2.5″ HDD was ordered from the online store SunBright (ME-945Q-TI) from a little-known Taiwanese company Welland priced at just 15 evergreen dollars.

Here are its characteristics:

Supported HDD types: 2.5″ SATA I/II HDD
Connecting to a computer: USB 2.0 at speeds up to 480 Mbps
System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 or MAC OS 9.0 or higher
One Touch Backup: For Windows in USB mode
Power supply: via USB cable
Size: 129 x 77 x 12 mm (L x W x H)
Material of manufacture: Aluminum

For a little thing that costs “three kopecks” you don’t need more.

When there is not enough free space on your hard drive and you cannot free it up, you have to consider various options to increase space for storing new files and data. One of the simplest and available ways is to use a flash drive as a hard drive. Many people have medium-sized flash drives, so they can be freely used as an additional drive connected to a computer or laptop via USB.

A regular flash drive is perceived by the system as external portable device. But it can easily be turned into a drive so that Windows will see another hard drive connected.
In the future, you can install an operating system on it (not necessarily Windows, you can choose among “lighter” options, for example, based on Linux) and perform all the same actions that you do with a regular disk.

So let's move on to the transformation process USB Flash to external HDD.

In some cases, after completing all the steps below (for both Windows bitmaps), you may need to reconnect the flash drive. First, safely remove the USB storage device, and then plug it back in so that the OS recognizes it as an HDD.

For Windows x64 (64-bit)

Download and unpack the archive.
Connect the flash drive and run "Device Manager". To do this, just start typing the name of the utility in "Start".

Or right click on "Start" select "Device Manager".
In the thread "Disk devices" select the connected flash drive, double-click on it with the left mouse button - it will start "Properties".
Switch to tab "Intelligence" and copy the property value "Equipment ID". You don’t need to copy everything, but up to the line USBSTOR\GenDisk. You can select lines by holding Ctrl on the keyboard and left-clicking on the desired lines.
An example in the screenshot below.
File F2Dx1.inf from the downloaded archive you need to open it using Notepad. To do this, right-click on it and select "To open with…".

Select Notepad.
Go to section:
You need to remove the first 4 lines from it (i.e. lines up to %attach_drv% = f2d_install,USBSTOR\GenDisk).
Paste the value that was copied from "Device Manager", instead of the deleted text.
Before each line you inserted, add:
%attach_drv% = f2d_install,

It should look like in the screenshot.
Save the modified text document.
Switch to "Device Manager", right-click on the flash drive and select "Update drivers...".
Use the method "Search for drivers on this computer".
Press "Review" and indicate the location of the edited file F2Dx1.inf.
Confirm your intentions by clicking the button "Continue installation".
Once the installation is complete, open Explorer, where flash will appear as “Local Disk (X:)” (X will be replaced by the letter assigned by the system).

For Windows x86 (32-bit)

After this, you can split the flash into partitions, install the operating system on it and boot from it, as well as do other actions, as with a regular hard drive.

Please note that this will only work on the system on which you have completed all the above steps. This is due to the fact that the driver responsible for recognizing the connected drive has been replaced.

If you want to run a flash drive as an HDD on other PCs, then you need to have the edited driver file with you, and then install it through the “Device Manager” in the same way as indicated in the article.

Many users may have noticed that any programmer who comes to fix problems related to the system carries with him. This trick is very useful, because in case of any problem with the system or hard drive, the user will always be able to restore access to the computer and understand what the problem with the computer is. In this case, not everyone wants to have a system in their computer, since it is much easier to carry around a small system disk with additional files. Therefore, anyone should know how to make a hard drive from a flash drive.

But how to turn a flash drive into a hard drive? It would seem that such a process should be difficult and resource-intensive, but in fact everything is done quite simply, and the size and “age” of the flash drive does not matter. The main condition for a flash drive is that it works properly. Also, not only a USB flash drive, but also an SD card is suitable for this role; the process of changing properties is identical.

It is worth knowing that multi-partitioning should not be applied to such external media, since many operating systems support only the first partition in disks that are not HDD-type. HDDs are non-removable media that are installed in a computer. You can remove them, but it takes a lot of time and effort, so people use cards and external drives to make the whole process of transferring information or an operating system directly with them easier.

First, you need to make Windows recognize the USB flash drive as a non-removable device. In this case, any flash card standardly has the opposite parameter, then you need to start making changes. Some people don’t think at all about the security of their equipment, so they simply modify the flash drive. But this method is dangerous because many flash drives simply cannot be changed to the selected parameter, which is why they will break and will have to be taken to a service center. It is much easier and safer to replace the response from the device with the desired result. A special driver is installed for this. Flash drive instead hard drive on Windows 7 will work the same as with any other operating system.

Before turning a flash drive into a hard drive, the device must be connected to the computer, and then determine the type of flash drive.

First option

Open Media Manager. You can find it using the “Run” button, enter “diskmgmt.msc” here and press “Enter”. Now you can see what type of drive it is, removable or non-removable.

Second option

You can also view the device type by opening the Volumes tab in the properties of the flash drive.

Third option

You can also enter the command diskpart.

So, now the user knows whether the flash drive is a removable or non-removable device in this case.

Second step

If the device is defined as “non-removable”, then it can already be used as a hard drive. Otherwise, before using a flash drive instead of a hard drive, its type must be changed to “non-removable”. For this, a special filter driver is used, which can easily change the incoming information, changing it to the necessary one. One of the most common and simple filters is the Hitachi Microdrive driver. Thus, the user does not invade the microclimate of the flash drive, while simply deceiving his system by giving it a false answer.

After the media becomes non-removable, the computer will consider it a full-fledged hard drive, which can be divided into partitions, each of which will function simultaneously. The main thing at this point is to download a program that is suitable for the bit size of your operating system.

Third stage

After the user has been able to deceive the computer, the device code can be identified. You can find the code in the “Details”, “Device Instance Path” tab.

As a result, it is necessary to copy the information; it will then be manipulated in the Hitachi Microdrive program. When copying, you must remove all information after the second “\”.

On a 64 bit system

Now you need to find the cfadisk file in the Hitachi Microdrive folder, where we find the cfadisk_device and cfadisk_device.NTamd64 sections.

In the sections, instead of information after “\”, we insert the code of our device.

On the system 32 bits

The process is similar, only in the file for the 32-bit version you need to find the “cfadisk_device” section.

Here you need to replace “DISK&VEN_&PROD_USB_DISK_2.0&REV_P” with the device code.

If you want to set your own name for the device, then you need to replace “Microdrive_devdesc” with the desired name, for example “USB_hard”.

Fourth stage

The last stage is replacing drivers. On 64-bit operating systems, before this action, you must disable driver digital signature verification so that it does not update on its own due to third-party intervention.

You need to open the “Drivers” => “Update Drivers” tab. Next is the folder with the Hitachi Microdrive driver. This driver is selected, all that remains is to ignore the message about the absence of a digital signature, then restart the computer and see the result of the work. The drive has become non-removable.

The driver is removed using the “Update drivers” button.

Here's how to easily make a hard drive from a flash drive. This procedure can be carried out by anyone if you follow the instructions, and the computer and the drive system cannot be damaged at all. If you use a high-quality, voluminous external drive with good performance, then there is no question whether a flash drive can be used instead of a hard drive. In this case, she will cope with the task no worse hard drives.

I have long wanted to write this article, I think it will be very interesting to you. I received a question from a friend about how to make a hard drive from a flash drive. So, we will analyze two options: changing the flash drive to 64-bit Windows and to 86-bit.

If you decide to use programs such as Acronis Disk Director or others to look at a flash drive, then you will not see it there, because there is a so-called Removable Media Bit (RMB) descriptor, which is in any flash drive and forces Windows to detect such drives , as removable, not as local disk. To fix this issue, we just need to delete this descriptor.

Why did I say there will be two options? Because on systems of different capacity this operation will be carried out differently. This will be quite simple to do, so let's get started.

How to make a flash drive a hard drive on Windows x86?

To do this work, we need to download the special Hitachi Microdrive driver. You can download it from here.

Now we find out the device instance code. In this case, we need to go to the device manager, there go to the disk devices tab. Look for your flash drive and right-click on it. In the window that opens, go to the “Details” tab, and select “Path to device instance” from the drop-down list. In the “Value” field, select the entire line and copy.

Let's move on to the driver. First, unpack it to any location, and then, using any notepad, open the cfadisk.inf file. Find the item there and in the very last line, starting with the word USBSTOR, replace everything with what we copied in the device manager. Here's how it will work out:

At the end of the line, after REV_ХХХ, you need to remove a small tail:

After everything is done, save the file.

Now go to the device manager again and open the properties of our flash drive again. Let's go to the "Driver" tab and click the "Update" button.

On Windows 7

Here we need to select “Search for drivers on this computer” and select exactly the cfadisk.inf file that we changed.

On Windows XP

In this OS, we select “Install from a specified location”, then “Do not search” and “Install from disk”. Again select the cfadisk.inf file as the driver.

After this, your flash drive should be recognized by the system as a hard drive.

How to make a flash drive a hard drive on Windows x64?

So, in this case, we download this archive.

Now go to Device Manager, open the properties of our flash drive and go to the “Information” tab. There, from the drop-down list you need to select “Equipment ID”. In the “Value” field you will need to copy all lines except USBSTOR\GenDisk and GenDisk.

Open the F2Dx1.inf file that we downloaded with regular notepad. In general, it is advisable to use Notepad++. Having opened the file, we find a point where we delete the first 5 lines, and then simply replace them with what we copied. The main thing is that each line begins with the phrase: %attach_drv% = f2d_install.

In addition, I want to say that the flash drive will be detected as a hard drive only on the system in which you performed this operation, since we just changed the driver in the Windows environment. If you insert a flash drive into another computer, it will be recognized there as a flash drive. That's all.

Http://computerinfo.ru/kak-sdelat-fleshku-zhestkim-diskom/http://computerinfo.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/drive.jpghttp://computerinfo.ru/wp-content/ uploads/2016/05/drive-150x150.jpg2016-05-02T12:18:50+00:00EvilSin225Windowshow to make a flash drive into a hard drive, make a flash drive into a hard drive, flash drive like a hard drive I have long wanted to write this article, I think it will be very interesting to you . I received a question from a friend about how to make a hard drive from a flash drive. So, we will analyze two options: changing the flash drive to 64-bit Windows and to 86-bit. If you decide to use programs such as Acronis Disk Director or others,...EvilSin225Andrey Terekhov Computer Technologies

computerinfo.ru

How to turn a USB flash drive into a hard drive

Many users may have noticed that any programmer who comes to fix system-related problems has the operating system with him directly on a flash drive. This trick is very useful, because in case of any problem with the system or hard drive, the user will always be able to restore access to the computer and understand what the problem with the computer is. In this case, not everyone wants to have a system in their computer, since it is much easier to carry around a small system disk with additional files. Therefore, anyone should know how to make a hard drive from a flash drive.

First, you need to make Windows recognize the USB flash drive as a non-removable device. In this case, any flash card standardly has the opposite parameter, then you need to start making changes. Some people don’t think at all about the security of their equipment, so they simply modify the flash drive. But this method is dangerous because many flash drives simply cannot be changed to the selected parameter, which is why they will break and will have to be taken to a service center. It is much easier and safer to replace the response from the device with the desired result. A special driver is installed for this. A flash drive instead of a hard drive on Windows 7 will work the same as with any other operating system.

First step

Before turning a flash drive into a hard drive, the device must be connected to the computer, and then determine the type of flash drive.

Open Media Manager. You can find it using the “Run” button, enter “diskmgmt.msc” here and press “Enter”. Now you can see what type of drive it is, removable or non-removable.

Second option

You can also view the device type by opening the Volumes tab in the properties of the flash drive.

Third option

You can also enter the command diskpart.

So, now the user knows whether the flash drive is a removable or non-removable device in this case.

Second step

After the media becomes non-removable, the computer will consider it a full-fledged hard drive that can be divided into partitions, each of which will function simultaneously. The main thing at this point is to download a program that is suitable for the bit size of your operating system.

Third stage

After the user has been able to deceive the computer, the device code can be identified. You can find the code in the “Details”, “Device Instance Path” tab.

As a result, it is necessary to copy the information; it will then be manipulated in the Hitachi Microdrive program. When copying, you must remove all information after the second “\”.

On a 64 bit system

Now you need to find the cfadisk file in the Hitachi Microdrive folder, where we find the cfadisk_device and cfadisk_device.NTamd64 sections.

In the sections, instead of information after “\”, we insert the code of our device.

On the system 32 bits

The process is similar, only in the file for the 32-bit version you need to find the “cfadisk_device” section.

Here you need to replace “DISK&VEN_&PROD_USB_DISK_2.0&REV_P” with the device code.

If you want to set your own name for the device, then you need to replace “Microdrive_devdesc” with the desired name, for example “USB_hard”.

Fourth stage

The driver is removed using the “Update drivers” button.

NastroyVse.ru

Replaceable USB drive as a hard drive in Windows

In this article we will show how to make a USB flash drive or SD card recognized in the system as a regular local hard drive. You might ask, why is this necessary? The fact is that Windows by default defines all flash drives and memory cards as removable drives, which cannot be divided into several partitions using Windows standards. And even if the flash drive is divided into two or more partitions using third-party utilities (for example, Linux), then only the first of them will be available in the Windows OS. Those. Windows supports normal operation with multi-partitions only for HDD drives, which are defined in the system as local (i.e. non-removable).

Let's connect to any free port computer USB flash drive, then open the disk management manager (diskmgmt.msc) and make sure that its type is defined in the system as Removable.

You can also see the device type on the Volumes tab in the disk properties (as we see here Type: Removable).

Or using the diskpart command:

List volume

Filter driver for Hitachi Microdrive flash drives

To USB flash drive or SD card is recognized in the system as a hard drive, we will need a special filter driver that allows us to modify the data transmitted through the system stack of the current device driver. We will use a filter driver to USB flash drives from Hitachi (Hitachi Microdrive driver), which at the OS driver level allows you to change the type of flash drive device from removable to fixed (USB-ZIP -> USB-HDD). Thanks to the use of this driver, you can hide from the system that the connected device is removable. As a result, the system will consider that it is working with a regular hard drive, which can be divided into partitions that will be simultaneously accessible in the system.

Hitachi Microdrive driver archives:

You need to download the driver version for your system according to its bit capacity. Both archives have the same structure and consist of two files:

cfadisk.inf – installation file with driver settings
cfadisk.sys - Hitachi driver file

The next stage is identifying the device code of our flash drive. To do this, in the disk properties on the Details tab, in the Device Instance Path parameter, select and copy (Ctrl+C) the device instance code.

In our example it would be:

USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000\0123456789ABCDEF&0

Let's assume we plan to install the driver on a 64-bit system. Using any test editor, open the cfadisk.inf file for editing. We are interested in the cfadisk_device and cfadisk_device.NTamd64 sections.

%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\DiskTS64GCF400______________________________20101008 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\DiskTS64GCF400______________________________20101008

We change the value DiskTS64GCF400______________________________20101008 to the code of our device.

We get:

%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000

Save the file.

If the driver is installed on a 32-bit system, you need to download the recommended archive, unpack it and open the cfadisk.inf file for editing. Let's find the section:

%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_LEXAR&Prod_JD_LIGHTNING_II&Rev_1100 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_JetFlash&Prod_TS1GJF110&Rev_0.00 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR \DISK&VEN_&PROD_USB_DISK_2.0&REV_P

Then we change the data in the last line, indicating the code of the instance of our flash drive, i.e. in our example we get:

Installing the Hitachi Microdrive driver instead of the native USB drive driver

All that remains is to replace the driver with the USB flash drive you are using.

Open the Drivers tab and click the Update Drivers button.

Let's indicate the folder to the directory into which the downloaded archive with the Hitachi driver is unpacked:

Let's choose new driver.

We ignore the warning about the missing driver digital signature.

All that remains is to restart the computer and, by opening the disk manager, make sure that our flash drive is now recognized as a regular hard drive (Type: Basic), and the Hitachi driver is used as the driver.

By opening Explorer, you can also make sure that the icon of the flash drive has changed; it is now displayed as a hard drive, a regular drive.

Now you can work with this flash drive like a regular HDD: create partitions, specify the active partition, create dynamic disks, install software that does not work from flash drives, etc.

Important. On others Windows computers Without this driver, the second partition of the device will not be accessible.

How to remove Hitachi Microdrive driver

To remove the Hitachi Microdrive driver, open the disk properties and on the Driver tab, click the Update Driver button - the system will install the native driver itself.

winitpro.ru

How to make a flash drive a hard drive

How to make a flash drive a hard drive on Windows x86

Users who prefer to work with different operating systems know that it takes a lot of time to install at least two operating systems on one computer.

If you want to cover much more operating systems than a couple or three, then a simple and banal flash drive can come to your aid.

What does it mean? In simple words, you create an operating system on a USB drive and can work with it directly without installing it directly on the computer.

This is much easier than splitting the hard drive into many parts and installing all sorts of Linux, Ubuntu and Open Solaris on each of them for a long and painful time.

That is why the question “How to make a flash drive a hard drive?” is a popular question among computer geeks.

This is not so difficult for experienced users, but if you are well versed in programs, then this process will not be difficult for you.

Driver for creating a hard drive from a flash drive

First of all, you should get a special driver on your computer, which will make your work much easier. It's called Hitachi Microdrive. Download here...

After downloading and installing it, go to the device instance code that you are about to find out.

To do this, open Device Manager and find the “Disk Devices” tab.

Find your USB device and open context menu.

In the “Details” tab, open the drop-down list and click on “Path to device instance”.

Pay attention to the “Value” field, where you need to select the entire line and copy it.

After the work has been done, you will need the help of a driver, with the help of which we make the flash drive a hard drive.

If this is your first time working with it, then first unzip it to any folder, then use Notepad and open the cfadisk.inf file.

You will need the item, in the last line replace the text you previously selected, all starting with the word USBSTOR.

At the end of the line, remove the so-called tail that comes after REV_ХХХ.

Open the device manager and find your flash drive there, and in the “Driver” tab, update it.

How to make a flash drive a hard drive in Windows 7

In this case, you should click “Search for drivers on this computer” and select the file that you previously modified.

Namely cfadisk.inf.

How to make a flash drive a Windows XP hard drive

Here you need to select “Install from a specified location”, then “Do not search” and finally click on the “Install disk” button.

The driver will again be the file that was modified.

Now the flash drive is detected by your system as nothing other than a hard drive!

However, you should remember that the flash drive will be a hard drive exclusively on your computer and exclusively in the operating system in which you worked with it.

This is due to the fact that you only changed the driver in Windows OS, but not the structure of the USB device as a whole.

Therefore, if you need to open the hard drive on another PC or laptop, you will have to repeat the entire procedure again. Otherwise, you will just have a regular flash drive.

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How to make a hard drive from a flash drive

When there is not enough free space on your hard drive and you cannot free it up, you have to consider various options to increase space for storing new files and data. One of the simplest and most affordable ways is to use a flash drive as a hard drive. Many people have medium-sized flash drives, so they can be freely used as an additional drive connected to a computer or laptop via USB.

Creating a hard drive from a flash drive

A regular flash drive is perceived by the system as an external portable device. But it can easily be turned into a drive so that Windows will see another hard drive connected. In the future, you can install an operating system on it (not necessarily Windows, you can choose among “lighter” options, for example, based on Linux) and perform all the same actions that you do with a regular disk.

So, let's move on to the process of turning USB Flash into an external HDD.

In some cases, after completing all the steps below (for both Windows bitmaps), you may need to reconnect the flash drive. First, safely remove the USB storage device, and then plug it back in so that the OS recognizes it as an HDD.

For Windows x64 (64-bit)

For Windows x86 (32-bit)

After this, you can split the flash into partitions, install the operating system on it and boot from it, as well as do other actions, as with a regular hard drive.

We are glad that we were able to help you solve the problem.

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