How to Convert USB Flash Drive to Local Disk

Reasons to convert USB Drive to a Local Disk:

Scenario 1: Sometimes it is required to use your USB drive as a local disk to install an operating system or if you are running out of memory maybe because there are large files of programs saved in your local disk. Generally, you cannot install OS on a removable disk. 

Hence, if your computer is running low on internal storage space, converting USB to a local disk will help you save the storage space. Additionally, converting the external drive to local will also allow you to carry a personal computer on the go. So, you can just plug and play whenever it is required. 

Scenario 2: Generally, Windows only supports multiple partitions for hard disk drives that are identified as local. The only way you can create a partition on a USB drive is by converting the USB drive to a local disk.  

Since, recently most of the storage drives provide storage space of 1TB and above, converting USB to local disk will allow you to create partitions. A better way to organize your vast amounts of data. 

There are various ways to convert a USB flash drive as the local disk; here I am listing one of the best and most convenient methods of converting USB to a local drive:

Method to Convert USB flash drive to Local Disk:

• Insert the flash drive into the USB port of Windows (Windows 10, Windows 8, 8.1, Windows 7, Vista, XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008) computer.
• Make sure that your USB drivers are updated and installed. If you are using Windows & and the latest versions, by default, your OS will keep the drivers updated. 
• Sometimes you may need to format the drive to avoid any kind of errors. But don't forget to create a backup before you format the USB drive. 
• Unfortunately, if you forgot to create a backup of any of the files and lost them in formatting, you can use an efficient card recovery software to restore lost files...
• Then you have to download the USB_LocalDisk.zip and extract it.
• From the USB LocalDisk folder right click on cfadisk.inf and open it using Notepad or Notepad ++  or text editor

• Then go to line 26 of the .inf file

Note: We are going to edit the section named “device_instance_id_goes_here”. It is better to keep this file open.

• From the desktop, click Start > Run and then type “devmgmt.msc” and press OK to open device manager. 

Note: Make sure you are logged in as an administrator

• Find your USB stick under the Disk drives tab and right-click then select Properties

• Then open the Details tab and select the item listed (Take help of Ctrl + C key combination to copy this driver to your USB stick.)
• Go again to and open the inf file and insert the drive code that you copied and update the file.
• Locate the text which says “device_instance_id_goes_here” should be around line 26. Then paste the drive code you have using the paste option or by Ctrl + V
• Hit Save button (So now we have created an updated driver for the device, so it will now read as a Local Disk. Now we just need to update the driver itself)
• Go to Start > Run > type “devmgmt.msc” and find your USB drive again
• Just right-click and select the “Update Driver” option

In the Wizard one must need to follow specific directions to manually update the driver to convert the USB drive to a Local Disk. For that,

• Then select “Install from a list or specific location” and click Next
• Next select, “Don’t search. I will choose the driver to install” and hit Next
• Then click “Have Disk”
• Browse to your recently edited cfadisk.inf file location and click Open then OK
• Ignore the prompt saying “This driver is not digitally signed!”
• Then press Next > Yes > Finish

With these steps, you can easily convert your flash drive into a local disk. 

Note: Before performing these steps make sure you create a backup of your flash drive data else, you may lose your files. In case that happens, immediately stop using the drive and recover lost files from the flash drive using Remo Recover Software. 

However, once you are done with the above steps, you can install the operating system on this USB and it will also help you when your system is running out of memory. Make sure your USB has sufficient memory before performing these options.

You can partition the USB Flash Drive now in Windows 10 using Disk Management

NOTE: If you have some data stored in the Drive then take a backup before you perform the following steps. 

Steps to follow: 

• Insert the thumb drive into the USB port of the Windows Computer. 
• Open File Explorer and right-click on the USB Drive and click on Format 
• Then in the next window change the File System type from exFAT to NTFS.
• Give a name to the Volume label and Click on Start.
• Once the format is complete, click on Close.   
• Click on the Windows button and go to Disk Management. 

• In the Disk Management window click on the name of the drive that is the volume name. Then right-click on it and select Shrink Volume. 

• Then in the next window, you can choose the volume size and click on Shrink.

• Right-click on the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume and click on Next. Give a name to the new volume and again click Next>Finish.