Erase Tails from the USB stick

First, erase Tails from the USB stick:

Open the **Start** ([[!img lib/start.png class="symbolic" link="no" alt=""]]) menu.

Choose **Windows System** ▸ **Command Prompt**.

Execute the following command to start the *Diskpart* utility.

Execute the <span class="command">list disk</span>following command to obtain information about eachthe disks in the computer.

Execute the following command to obtain information about the disks in the computer.

Run the same command again.

A new disk, which corresponds to thate USB stick, that you plugged in,
appears in the list.

A new disk, which corresponds to the USB stick that you plugged in,
appears in the list.

Make sure that its size corresponds to the size of the USB stick that you want to
reset. Note down theits disk number assigned by <span
class="application">Diskpart</span> to the USB stick.

Make sure that its size corresponds to the size of the USB stick that you want to
reset. Note down its disk number.

In this example, the disk number of the USB stick is 1.
Yours might be different.

Execute the following command to select the USB stick. Replace <span class="command-placeholder">number</span> with the disk number found in step 7.

<p class="command-windows command-template">select disk=<span class="command-placeholder">number</span></p>

Execute the <span class="command">clean</span>following command to delete the partition table from the USB stick.

Execute the following command to delete the partition table from the USB stick.

Create a new partition on the USB stick

Then, create a new partition on the USB stick:

Execute the <span class="command">convert mbr</span>following command to create a new partition table on the USB stick.

Execute the following command to create a new partition table on the USB stick.

Execute the <span class="command">create partition primary</span>following command to create a new primary partition on the USB stick.

Execute the following command to create a new primary partition on the USB stick.

Unplug the USB stick.

Plug the USB stick again.

A dialog appears to format the disk before using it.