I successfully used a USB stick to install ZORIN 15 on my HP PC that had Windows 8 on it. However, the presence of Zorin on my USB stick makes it impossible for me to use it again on a Windows system. I keep trying to wipe it, format it, etc., and Windows can't seem to do anything with it.
Do I need to boot into Zorin on that PC and use a Linux tool to wipe and format the USB stick? What tool do I use to do that? How do I restore the USB stick to its former state, the same as a blank, unused USB stick that is ready and compatible with Windows?
Yes, you can insert the stick in while booted into Zorin OS, then run gparted:
Open a terminal and type in
sudo -i
gparted
In the Gparted window, select the USB drive from the list. Should be /dev/sdc or similar- but if in any doubt, eject the disk, then open gparted and look for what disappeared. Insert the disk, open gparted and see what re-appears. 
Select the line with your USB stick. Then right click it. Select "Format To" and from the menu, choose ntfs and follow the prompts to format the drive. Be warned, this will wipe all data off the drive (Which I think is your goal, but I need to toss that warning out there anyway).
Once complete, plug it into your Windows machine and test.
Thank you, Aravisian. What is the path to gparted from the Zorin desktop?
In its default setting, Gparted is not included.
You can install it from Software or in the terminal:
sudo apt install gparted
I think you might want to consider having one live USB as a future trouble shooting tool. 64 GB is obviously overkill and I understand you want to wipe it for other purpose.
I have several small size USB memories (4, 8 and 16 GB) and whenever I install Linux, I make a point to keep them.
Thank you, FrenchPress. I can use the extra tips.
Also, if you'd like to use a built-in GUI tool you can do the following:
- Insert your USB and open the Disks app from the Startmenu
- Select your USB and from the triple dot menu select Format Disk
Very nice, taha_mcp. And is the Disks app already installed?
Yeah. You can just search for it in the start menu.
