How to Format a PNY 16GB USB Flash Drive for Use in a Car

If you're having trouble using your PNY 16GB USB flash drive in your car's entertainment system, you're not alone. Many users have reported receiving an 'Unsupported' error message when trying to use their drive in their vehicle. After experiencing this issue myself with my new Samsung BAR Plus 64GB flash drive, I was able to resolve the problem by formatting it using a specific configuration.

To format your PNY 16GB USB flash drive for use in your car, you'll need to follow these steps. First, download and install Minitools Partition Wizard, a free software tool that allows you to manage your disk partitions.

Once installed, launch Minitools Partition Wizard and select the PNY 16GB USB flash drive as the target device. From there, navigate to the 'Format' tab and select 'FAT32 LBA' (also known as '0xc') as the partition type. This is a crucial step, as it allows your car's entertainment system to recognize the drive.

Next, set the partition status to 'Inactive.' This may seem counterintuitive, but trust me – it's essential for resolving the 'Unsupported' error.

Finally, format the drive using the FAT32 partition. You can do this by clicking on the 'Format' button and selecting the desired format options.

To verify that your PNY 16GB USB flash drive is properly formatted, connect it to your computer and compare its format settings to those of an older Sandisk drive that you know works in your car. If everything looks good, plug the drive back into your car's entertainment system and try using it again.

I was initially concerned that my new PNY 16GB USB flash drive wouldn't work because it didn't have USB 1.1 support, but as I discovered, this wasn't the issue at all. My drive has a USB 3.1 interface, which is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, so that shouldn't be a problem.

In my case, formatting the drive was key to resolving the issue. By following these steps, you should be able to get your PNY 16GB USB flash drive working in your car's entertainment system without any issues.

Format 16gb usb flash drive pny