windows can't format external hard drive

lebdorz · 11 Feb 2016

hello I have a problem with formatting my C drive on the external hard drive

well it is not external but it is the main hard drive of my pc and I had to put it on an enclosure and connect it to my laptop in order to backup and format the C on it which used to have a win7 ultimate 32bits

anyway the laptop disk management is reading the external D:/ normally but the external C:/ which is named G:/ on laptop is not readable

tried to format it from disk management many times using Nyfs or exFat and it took more than one hour to finish and tell me: windows couldnt complete format successfully

I read a lot of articles and tried deleting the Volume and making new one.... changing path and name of the volume

but all are giving same error cant format... also tried formatting in safe mode same issue pffft...

any help??? knowing that the other partition on the external hardrive is accessible and the G:/ is showing as RAW

maxseven · 11 Feb 2016

lebdorz said:

hello I have a problem with formatting my C drive on the external hard drive

Why are you attempting this--was it giving you problems?

The drive probably is defective and the best way to determine that is not to connect to a laptop using a USB device, but rather to direct-connect it to another PC using SATA (or PATA/IDE if an older drive) and then running the manufacturer's diagnostic on it.

lebdorz · 11 Feb 2016

it was working fine but got a malware which I removed but played around with registry files so got some problems like missing drivers and not accepting any bew usb devices

and becoz I dont have a dvd ron I connected it to Enclosure

ThrashZone · 11 Feb 2016

Hi,
What are you attempting to format it as ?
Are you trying to wipe the disk or something to reinstall windows ?

lebdorz · 11 Feb 2016

I just want to format it and install a clean new win7 ... the G:/ partion is showing as RAW whereas the F:/ is accessoble ... and I need to format that G: which contains the windows

lebdorz · 11 Feb 2016

here's a screenshot from disk management ... also Easeus is reading the partition and files normally

ThrashZone · 11 Feb 2016

Hi,
Use this to take ownership of the disk you want to clean
Take Ownership Shortcut

You should be able to delete the volumes after that making the entire disk Unallocated so windows can be installed on it.
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

lebdorz · 11 Feb 2016

Hello ThrashZone and thanks for ur valuable time helping me in this

well, I didn't really get the ownership thing but I understood that it is like opening the partition as an administrator

anyway, I am able to delete the G: partition the RAW one and make it unallocated, and I tried that many times with no success to make it able to get formatted

-- Do u suggest that I backup the other partition that is still working and delete the G: partition which is not working.. and then Extend the F: with the G: space ???

would that work or just waste the time?

ThrashZone · 11 Feb 2016

Hi,
Yes I thought you already backed up everything
But yes again since it shows Raw the files are most likely toast anyway

You could try and see what Linux shows but I'd say it's a long shot
It wouldn't hurt anything more just takes a bit more time
Lucid Puppy way to recover files from a non-bootable computer

Emergency Kit - save your files from a dead OS

After you back up your files use the surface test using mini tool to see what thinks of the hdd
It might have bad sectors which if it does just replace it depending on how many and brand hdd it is.

lebdorz · 11 Feb 2016

just to clear things, The C: and D: are called G: and F: while connected with Enclosure

So, I tried formatting the G: and it is RAW now and not formatting at all, and I just tried Deleting the Volume and Extending the F: which is working and accessible smoothly, but again windows gave me error msg that the operation couldn't be done