How to fix error 0x8004242d in Windows 10?

Error code 0x8004242d is very common among Windows 10 users. It occurs when trying to format an external drive, partition, hard drive or SSD. Instead of a logical result in the form of clearing the device from all data, users receive the message: “Failed to format the selected partition, error 0x8004242d.” Sometimes it is accompanied by an error with the code 0x80070057. We figured out why this problem occurs and how you can fix it.

CONTENT

• How to fix error 0x8004242d in Windows 10?
  • Method 1: clean up the disk before formatting
  • Method 2: scan the hard drive for errors and bad sectors
  • Method 3: remove all hard disk partitions
  • Method 4: turn off UEFI support

How to fix error 0x8004242d in Windows 10?

There is a slightly more complicated case than just an error at the time of formatting a USB flash drive. The crash can appear when installing Windows 10 or 11 when the user does not have access to the operating system’s graphical interface. All this is quite fixable, you just need to follow our instructions.

Method 1: clean up the disk before formatting

Since access to the Windows 10 desktop may not be available, we will immediately look at the procedure for deleting data through the command line. The method can be applied even if the error appeared during the installation of Windows.

Instructions:

1. We boot the computer from an installation flash drive or disk.
2. In the “System Restore” section, go to the “Troubleshooting” tab.
3. Select “Advanced Options” and click on “Command Prompt”.
4. We enter first diskpartand press Enter, and then – list disk . You should now see a list of available partitions and drives on your computer. They also display dimensions. It is with the help of the disk capacity that you need to select the one that corresponds to the problem drive (which, when formatted, gives the error 0x8004242d).
5. We apply sel disk<partition number>, there should be a number corresponding to the ordinal number of the problem disk. We got it at the last step. We also confirm the choice with the Det d ick command and move on.
6. Having selected the required disk, we activate the clean allcommand . It will erase all data from the drive.
7. Exit diskpartwith the exit command .
8. Trying to format it again.

Method 2: scan the hard drive for errors and bad sectors

Fortunately, the Windows operating system already has a built-in tool for such a complex task. You just need to start it, wait for the completion of the work and see the result. If serious problems cannot be detected, more and more simple breakdowns will be eliminated automatically. If bad sectors are found that prevent formatting, additional work may be required to exclude them from the working part of the disk.

How to start a scan:

1. We open the command line by analogy with the previous paragraph.
2. Enter chkdsk c: / rand press Y to confirm the start of the procedure.
3. We are waiting for the function to complete checking and fixing problems.

Method 3: remove all hard disk partitions

At times, partitioning problems can cause drive failure. Partitioning into virtual disks may also not work due to a damaged bootloader. The easiest way to get rid of most of the problems is to delete all partitions. When you install Windows 10 or 11, you can recreate them. However, if there is valuable data on the disk, it is worth backing up the information in advance.

How to delete partitions via command line:

1. We launch the console (instructions in the first section).
2. We enter diskpart, and then list volume , after each command, press Enter.
3. We apply the command select volume<number>, where instead of “number” you need to enter the number corresponding to the section. Since we need to clear them all, we can start from the very beginning. The first one goes – the zero section, but you need to look so as not to format the data on the installation flash drive, second HDD, etc.
4. We use delete volumeand repeat the procedure with the rest of the sections (points 3 and 4).

Method 4: turn off UEFI support

Occasionally, BIOS and UEFI can conflict during boot, which leads to numerous problems during the installation of Windows 10. Fortunately, you can easily turn off UEFI and the breakdown will be fixed.

How to turn off UEFI:

1. We start the BIOS (by pressing the corresponding button when the computer is turned on).
2. Go to the “Boot Menu” section.
3. Select “Secure Boot” and set the value to Disabled.

Most likely, one of the listed methods was supposed to fix error 0x8004242d in Windows 10. It doesn’t matter if it appeared with a simple formatting of a USB flash drive or at the time of installing the operating system, our methods are universal and will suit any situation.