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Installed 2nd Hard Drive Ok....but it won't format. Any suggestions?

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by Shaun2209, Apr 2, 2005.

  1. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    Hi guys,

    Just installed a 2nd HD today. I had no problems at all with the actual installation. However, its a Seagate 80GB drive, so I went to the Seagate web site for advice and it suggested downloading a utility called DiscWizard which apparently simplifies the process.

    I've installed the drive as slave as I only want it for storage purposes. Once I installed the new drive, I downloaded DiscWizard and ran it. It reported that the drive had successfully been partioned and formatted and was ready for use.

    Trouble is, while the drive is recognised in my bios setup, device manager & My Computer, when I right click on it and go to properties, it reports used space 0 bytes & free space 0 bytes. In addition, if I double click on the drive within my computer, I get a message as follows: The disc in Drive: F is not formatted. Do you want to format it now.

    I click yes, but nothing happens. Eventually the PC freezes and I have to reboot.

    I'd appreciate any tips/suggestions.

    Thanks.
     
  2. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    what windows are you using, what ide port are you using, what cable(40 or 80 wire) are you using, is the drive jumpered as master, slave or cable select depending on the ide port it is using?
     
  3. flip218

    flip218 Moderator Staff Member

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    your try going through your control panel?

    control panel -> administative tools -> computer management -> storage -> disk management
     
  4. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    Hi ddp,

    Windows Xp, don't know about ide port, don't know about cable (40 or 80 wire?). I do know that the drive is jumpered as slave drive.

    Not much help am I?
     
  5. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    Hi flip 218,

    Yes I've been to disk management. After I selected the drive the drive appeared to start formatting itself. However, after a few minutes of non-activity the PC froze and I had to reboot.
     
  6. haimback

    haimback Regular member

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    i would try formating the drive again - do it through xp boot disk, then try install it without the program you got from seagate.It sounds like that program didnt format and partion the drive correctly.
     
  7. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    are you using ntfs format or fat32?? is the drive on the same cable as your c: drive??
     
  8. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    Hi haimback,

    I have since tried to format the drive myself, but as I said earlier, after a few minutes of non-activity the PC freezes.

    I'm somewhat of a novice when it comes to installing & setting up hardware. So I wouldn't have a clue how to go about formatting the drive using xp boot disc.

    Thanks anyway.
     
  9. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    Hi ddp,

    Yes the new drive is on the same cable as my c: drive.
    The info in the disk management box is saying that the c: drive is NFTS. However, there is nothing next to the new f: drive, so I don't know.
     
  10. flip218

    flip218 Moderator Staff Member

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    when you go through disk managment ... are you deleting the partion first?
     
  11. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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  12. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    To flip218,

    No I haven't deleted the partion. Should I?

    To ddp,

    Thanks for the link, I'll take a look. The c:drive is a samsung SV4012H, if that means anything to anybody.
     
  13. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    delete the partition & make a new 1. the reason about c: drive is possible conflicts between the 2. why not make the 80 as your c: & the 40 as your d:
     
  14. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    I have all my stuff, on the 40gig drive. I didn't want to go through the hassle of transferring ever thing. In any case, I got the 80 gig for storage purposes only.

    I can delete the partion no problem, but how do I make a new one?
     
  15. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    follow that link i gave you as it explains everything
     
  16. flip218

    flip218 Moderator Staff Member

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    make sure you delete the right partition (your :D drive)

     
  17. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    Hi guys,

    I still haven't sorted this drive out. Is it possible the drive might be damaged/not working even though it has been recognised by windows and is being reported as 74.53GB? Is there any way I can test it to see if it's actually spinning?

    Another thing that puzzles me is when I go into properties for the new F: drive, the file system is showing as RAW. Whereas the original C: drive is showing as NTFS. Could there be a problem there?

    As always, thanks.
     
  18. dlc2000

    dlc2000 Regular member

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  19. Shaun2209

    Shaun2209 Guest

    Hi dlc2000,

    Thanks for that, I'll try the link now.
     

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