MB Pro giving me trouble w/ USB Memory Stick. Cant Format/Delete

Hey all,

ok i hav two problems

1.) on windows i used to be able to rigth click and format a usb memory stick but now on mac the most i can do is delete everything and even that doesnt get the stick to its full memory capacity like a formatting does. how do i format a usb memory stick on a mac??

2.) my usb memory stick is called the "memorex traveldrive" it has a program called "launchu3.exe" and somehow it ended up on my desktop..i tried to move it to the trash can but it tells me that i cant do it because the program is "locked" how do i unlock the program so i can get the darn thing off my computer?!

thanks!!

MacNewbie said:

Hey all,

ok i hav two problems

1.) on windows i used to be able to rigth click and format a usb memory stick but now on mac the most i can do is delete everything and even that doesnt get the stick to its full memory capacity like a formatting does. how do i format a usb memory stick on a mac??

2.) my usb memory stick is called the "memorex traveldrive" it has a program called "launchu3.exe" and somehow it ended up on my desktop..i tried to move it to the trash can but it tells me that i cant do it because the program is "locked" how do i unlock the program so i can get the darn thing off my computer?!

thanks!!

Click to expand...

1) When you format it on your Mac, you're likely using a different file system than you used to use when you formatted it in Windows. Different file systems yield different formatted capacities. If the drive was formatted NTFS, you wouldn't be able to write/delete on the Mac. So, if you chose MS-DOS as the format (mutually compatible) or HFS (Mac-only), you may notice a different capacity. That's normal.

2) Try restarting your Mac and then drag the file to the trash.

cwa107 said:

1) When you format it on your Mac, you're likely using a different file system than you used to use when you formatted it in Windows. Different file systems yield different formatted capacities. If the drive was formatted NTFS, you wouldn't be able to write/delete on the Mac. So, if you chose MS-DOS as the format (mutually compatible) or HFS (Mac-only), you may notice a different capacity. That's normal.

2) Try restarting your Mac and then drag the file to the trash.

Click to expand...

hey thanks for ur reply but...

1.) ?? it wont even let me format it to begin with on mac..when i right click on the traveldrive icon on my desktop it doesnt give me an option to format let alone "formatting it on different file systems" ??


2.) restarting it doesnt help...i think u are talking about when it says "operation cannot be completed because item 'x' is in use" in that case yes a restart would help but mine doesnt say that it says that "the operation cannot be completed because the item "LaunchU3.exe" is locked" and on the launchu3 icon there is a little animation of a lock right on it..i dont remember ever locking the program? grr

(also does anyone know what program it is on the mac that allows u to do screen caps? its slipping my mind right now i JUST used it yesterday i believe it comes default with the OSX system)

To format -

Appications folder to Utilities folder to Disk Utility

You can format it from there.

edit: and for your screenshots, http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=366