External Hard Drive problems - restart during format

jeff lebowski · 17-01-2011 6:02pm #1

Hi,

I bought a new Iomega 1TB USB external HDD. I was using it for a week or 2 but it kept taking 5-10 minutes to copy files etc. so I decided to format it. I removed the 50mb of stuff I had on it and went to format it as NTFS. I left this running and went to bed and windows Vista decided it would be a good time to do a reboot after some update.

Now, ever since the PC restarted it isn't detecting the Hard Drive. The light on the drive is coming on but it isn't appearing ion 'add/remove hardware' or under My Computer.

Anyone got any idea what could be up?

Keywal · 19-01-2011 12:39pm

Download Gparted live cd...
Burn it to cd

run it at start up and it will list the drive there... format and your done!

D'Agger · 19-01-2011 12:53pm

Another thing you could do is right click My Computer > Manage > Disk Management.

If the hard drive is connected then it should show up here on the bottom (normally as Disk 1) - from there you should be able to right click on the disk and assign a letter to the drive.

Had a similar issue with an external hard drive recently and that allowed it to show up - from there I was able to format it.

jeff lebowski · 19-01-2011 2:16pm

Thanks, I'll try that out.

I tried the Disk Management thing already but it isn't appearing there either.

D'Agger · 19-01-2011 2:21pm

jeff lebowski wrote: »

Thanks, I'll try that out.

I tried the Disk Management thing already but it isn't appearing there either.

It wouldn't appear at the top with drives that have letters assigned to them - however it should show up at the bottom of the screen as an Unassigned Disk / Disk 1

i.e. it would be underneath Where Disk 0 is on this pic and it would be unallocated

jeff lebowski · 19-01-2011 8:30pm

I had a look again but it isn't appearing anywhere that I can see:

The status light is on but it isn't appearing in the add/remove hardware either and it isn't making any noise. Ever since the PC crashed/rebooted during format it hasn't been recognised on the PC.

Keywal · 19-01-2011 8:49pm

Gparted?

jeff lebowski · 19-01-2011 8:50pm

Trying that now if I can find a blank CD

jeff lebowski · 19-01-2011 8:56pm

Its downloading now. So do I just insert the disc at start up and then what do I select?

D'Agger · 19-01-2011 9:02pm

jeff lebowski wrote: »

The status light is on but it isn't appearing in the add/remove hardware either and it isn't making any noise. Ever since the PC crashed/rebooted during format it hasn't been recognised on the PC.

Alright...that's odd my apologies! Try the software Keywal suggested, if that shouldn't work for any reason Easaus is a really good partition manager/wizard available from downloads.cnet.com

I'll keep an eye on the thread anyway so hopefully keywals solution works, best of luck with it

Keywal · 19-01-2011 9:32pm

have a look an their website for guides!

but please be careful that you dont format your own drive. it is NOT the same as partitioning in Windows. i.e. Windows will protect itself ffrom formatting itself but Gparted is operational before windows even starts.

anyway when it opens up fully you should see this..

in this you will see one bar has what looks like its got something in it. your other drive will not. its safe to say that you format the empty one!

do a quick format if you can.. it will atleast make it visible to windows where you can go for the full format and use your computer while its doing it! i have the fingers crossed for you! Good luck! :P

jeff lebowski · 19-01-2011 9:39pm

Cheers, thanks.

How long would a quick format take roughly for a 1TB drive?

I am doing work at the moment so will leave it until later tonight if it's too long.

Thanks for your help.

Keywal · 19-01-2011 9:43pm

Does the word AGES mean anything to you! :rolleyes:

it will take a while so i'd leave it running and go about something else!

Keywal · 19-01-2011 9:46pm

Oh nd before you panic at the options remember 2 things... NTFS and make the alocation size as big as you can... think the figure is 4096..

this makes big blocks on the drive so storing big movie files wont kill it or give errors when trying to copy at a later date!

jeff lebowski · 19-01-2011 10:10pm

Ok, cheers for the heads up. I'm going to try it in the morning and leave it running while Im at work.

jeff lebowski · 23-01-2011 11:27pm

Had no joy with this so just took it back and got a 1TB WD Elements instead. Thanks for pointing me to GParted though, good resource.

Keywal · 24-01-2011 10:24am

No worries Jeff,

at least your sorted now!

External Hard Drive problems - restart during format

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