Cannot format WD 4TB drive

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  1. Posts : 123
    Win7 Pro 64
       #1

    Cannot format WD 4TB drive


    Been all over the web but no luck. Trying to format this drive for 1 partition (4TB) to use as a data backup, not boot drive. Have initialized as GPT. Still will not let me format to 4GB. Just 2TB. Am using win7 pro 64. Suggestions?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #2
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  3. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #3

    Please check whether your Motherboard/BIOS supports more than 2 TB drives.
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  4. Posts : 123
    Win7 Pro 64
    Thread Starter
       #4

    The board does support it. Asus P9X79 LE. Been trying while external through usb. Tomorrow will put it in computer case and see what happens.
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  5. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #5

    If you were trying with a dock, the dock should support more than 4 TB.:)(Combined capacity of all HDDs on the dock)
    Last edited by jumanji; 17 Jun 2014 at 01:07.
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  6. Posts : 562
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #6

    In my humble opinion, it is better to create two 2 TB partitions than a single 4 TB one. Two partitions means two different MFT records and less fragmentation. High capacity external drives shows higher rate of partition corruption issues and you may find yourself in a difficult situation if you stick with a single partition.

    Some examples :

    WD EXTERNAL HARD DISK 1TB suddenly "unallocated" and "not initialized"

    Disk structure is corrupt and unreadable

    External HDD suddenly requires formatting, read as RAW instead of ntfs

    Partitioning a disk is not an alternative to regularly backing up data but it will reduce the chance of file system corruption greatly.
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  7. Posts : 123
    Win7 Pro 64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    I would consider 2 partitions but after I initialize, only 1.6TB available to format. No option to partition it.
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  8. Posts : 562
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #8

    Hi

    Would you please post a "Disk Management" screen shot as per this guide ? : Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image
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  9. Posts : 123
    Win7 Pro 64
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Figured it out. Put it in the case instead of going through USB. Recognized it right away. Went ahead and made 2 partitions. Thanks for the suggestions and help.
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  10. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #10

    Putting it inside the case and trying it out is the most sensible thing that you have done.You guessed it right. Good going. Was it an external case or dock? I am still not sure. When you just said external (and not an external case), I took it for a dock and hence said the dock should support 4TB drive.

    You may mark the thread as solved.
    Last edited by jumanji; 17 Jun 2014 at 10:17.
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