Installing new 4TB Hard Drive with GPT won't format

[GreyMatter]

I am trying to install a new 4TB HDD, to be used as extra storage (windows installed on different HDD) on my Windows 7 system.

I understand as my new HDD is over 2TB needed to be converted from MBR to GPT to work.

I ran Disk Management as Administrator and initially showed two partitions for the drive : '2048 GB Unallocated' and '1678GB Unallocated', so right clicked on the Disk 1 area to the left of them and clicked 'Convert to GPT disk'. After which showed only one partition at '3725 GB Unallocated', which is what I want. Just one partition for the whole of the drive to be used as extra storage (Windows installed on different drive)

I then Right clicked on the new area that shows '32735 GB Unallocated' and selected 'New Simple Volume' after which the new wizard appears. Clicked Next until get to the stage where says Format Partition. Left settings as they are -> Format this volume with the following settings, File system NTFS, Allocation unit size : Default. Peform quick format : Ticked

I then get an error saying 'The format did not complete successfully'. The New Drive letter then shows at the top but says under File System, 'RAW', whereas other drive shows 'NTFS'

Could someone please tell me where im going wrong.

Thanks in advance
James

 

[TVeblen]

Normally you would do this in Disk Management:

Delete all partitions -
Then right click on the "Disk #" box on the left side of the Disk Management Window > and select "Convert to GPT Disk"
Then create the new partition using the Wizard.

It sound like this is what you did, but just be sure you deleted all existing partitions.

Normally when you install a brand new hard drive you will get a window opening that asks if you want to initialize the disk the first time you start Windows. It is here where you would normally choose to initialize it GPT. Did you get that?

 

[GreyMatter]

Thanks for the reply.

No, never got message asking if I wanted to initialize the disk the first time I started windows, since I installed the drive. I just went to disk management and it showed it as two partitions on Disk 1. I didn't delete the partition, just went straight to right clicking on the Disk 1 area and selected 'Convert to GPT', which then almagamated the two partitions into one bigger one. After which, tried to create the partition using the Wizard.

Should I have deleted the two partitions first? (Think I right clicked on the partions but didn't seem an option for deleting).

If I convert back to MBR and create the partion on the 2.2TB on the left then that works so Im assuming its not a loose conection or anything like that.

Thanks Again

 

[TVeblen]

Yes, it was important to have deleted both partitions before trying the conversion.

Here is what I would do now:
Run the "Clean" command from Diskpart in Windows. Instructions below. Just be very sure you know it is the right disk before executing the command, as detailed in the tutorial.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52129-disk-clean-clean-all-diskpart-command.html

Once the procedure is complete you should get the "do you want to initialize..." window when you access the drive in Disk Management, if not before.

 

[GreyMatter]

Many thanks. Will try that when I get home later

 

[GreyMatter]

When I got home noticed Internet wasn't working so re-booted system but then it crashed where its sayings Starting Windows with the black background and icon. Tried again but same problem.

Removed the HDD and booted fine so tried using a different SATA cable and power connections on the motherboard and even went into the BIOS to change the boot order (Did have this new 4TB HDD as first boot device). Still crashes so have removed it.

Wonder if its a faulty HDD. Ive noticed that it did say 'Ideal for DVR / media player / media server' (but im assuming its not restricted to just that i.e works as normal internal HDD on PC)

Was thinking of trying to put it in my caddy as an external HDD then try using the 'clean' method you mentioned then install it back inside PC when I get it back in a few days.

 

[TVeblen]

It very well could be a bad drive. But since it is a data drive it should not be (or, should not need to be) the first boot device anyway. I've had bad data drives in my systems and they drop out, but do not affect the entire system.

There is another matter to have in mind.
If - your system is newer, and uses the new UEFI BIOS,
and - the drive that Windows is installed on is a MBR drive,
and - You have not set the BIOS to Legacy BIOS Mode or CSM Mode,
then it could be a problem where the system expects the boot partition on the GPT disk to be the Active partition, therefore creating a startup problem.

So as a side project here, let me know if any of the above is true.

 

[GreyMatter]

I built the system about five years ago so not sure if it uses the new UEFI BIOS. My existing HDDs both must be MBR as not touched these settings and are less that 2TB.

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Boot Mode: BIOS (Secure Boot not supported)

Processor
3.00 gigahertz AMD Phenom II X4 940
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Not hyper-threaded

Drives
Memory Modules c,d
2300.48 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
266.23 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

BENQ DVD DC DW1670 ATA Device [Optical drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Maxtor 6V300F0 [Hard drive] (300.09 GB) -- drive 1, s/n V60DCPNG, rev VA111630, SMART Status: Healthy
ST2000DL003-9VT166 [Hard drive] (2000.40 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 6YD01WRZ, rev CC32, SMART Status: Healthy

System Model
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA790X-UD4
Enclosure Type: Desktop

Main Circuit Board
Board: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA790X-UD4
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. F3f 03/09/2009

Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 1) * 132.80 GB 68.80 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 0) 2000.40 GB 149.04 GB free
e: (NTFS on drive 1) 167.28 GB 48.39 GB free


When I get my external HDD back tomorrow will be interesting to see if I can install the new 4TB HDD in it and see if I can run the 'clean' utility on it or even convert it back to MBR and see if the system boots with it like that and then try the 'Clean' untility

 

[TVeblen]

It does not look like that motherboard is UEFI.
Best to proceed as planned.

 

[GreyMatter]

Thanks. Will do

 

[GreyMatter]

Tried it in my external enclosure would windows just freezes with it. Think im going to return it and just buy a 2TB one instead

 

[igino]

Please help with this 4TB HD

Hi,

I have run to the similar issue described in this thread but I have not given up yet and trying to get a smaller HD as I need a decent size for the next few years. I need to make this work...but actually stuck.

The HD in question is SSHD ST4000DX001, it will only be used for data not booting. OP system is Win7-64bit home premium. I have done the following, all of them yield to the same result.

My first attempt can be seen here:
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2414683

I got a replacement HD of the exact same model, and unfortunately the exact same thing happened. I can recover it from freezing up the whole system by using "Clean" command from "Diskpart"

I have tried extending it using seagate drive wizard, I have tried have one big partition via disk manager under GPT format (A QUICK format took almost 12 hours, and when it was completed, it couldn't sign the volume name and just frozen and prevent me to restart again - I formatted from the dos format, it asks the volume name when it just completed). For some reason, computer tends to frozen up when I format using the windows interface for a long time.

Tried again with MBR this time after doing the clean command from the Diskpart, 2tb + 1.7tb, the 1.7tb quick format was a flash, 2tb formatting took a long time....couldnt see the screen again when I came back (it has turn the screen off - CPU still running), so I took it, it has frozen up....which is a common theme everytime I'm trying to 'initialise' this new HD

I have installed few HD before, none of them had to be this difficult. The system itself is generally healthy without the 4tb....but hard for me to accept receiving 2 defective HD, and it seems brand new again after the clean command....so hoping it is something that I am doing.

Any thoughts idea, what I have done wrong??

 

[ron7000]

ASRock > 3TB+ Unlocker

^^^ i post this link as an example

the problem first and foremost is the motherboard whether it is BIOS or EFI and the firmware that deals with the hard drives. If you are using BIOS you most likely will NOT be able to use a hard drive greater than 2TB. You pretty much need EFI, and even then if it's an old motherboard with older EFI firmware you still may not be able to use 4-6 TB drives you need to verify with the motherboard manufacturer if what you have supports the hard drive you are wanting to use.
When booting hit F2 or DEL to go into your BIOS/EFI screen and check to see if your hard drive is shown, if it is not then stop right there Microsoft Windows or whatever operating system you plan to use has nothing to do with it.

you can also check here: Beyond 2TB | Seagate

 

[GokAy]

For data drives it doesn't matter if EFI or BIOS. I have a regular BIOS and use a 3TB Seagate for data backup without any issues. However, it matters when you want to boot from that large drive. If I am wrong with this one, hopefully someone will correct me.

Did you try other SATA ports?
Perhaps your motherboard has a secondary SATA controller? You can try plugging to that too.

 

[CountryBumkin]

Overall requirements for a bootable system volume (with drive over 2.2TB):
The disk must be initialized by using GPT.
The system firmware must use UEFI.
The Windows version must be 64-bit

Note Windows does not support starting GPT-initialized volumes by using UEFI systems on 32-bit versions of Windows. Also, legacy BIOS systems do not support starting GPT-partitioned volumes.

From here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2581408

 

[igino]

ASRock > 3TB+ Unlocker

^^^ i post this link as an example

When booting hit F2 or DEL to go into your BIOS/EFI screen and check to see if your hard drive is shown, if it is not then stop right there Microsoft Windows or whatever operating system you plan to use has nothing to do with it.

you can also check here: Beyond 2TB | Seagate

I haven't tried that asrock but will give a good read.

I have followed that Seagate to the dot which basically just says download seagate disk wizard which I have done and tried to use too...only partially successful at the moment. What I meant by that, the last attempt in trying to initialise it as an MBR, it managed to split to two, one 2TB and another one 1.7Tb, the 1.7Tb seems usable, when trying to format the 2Tb it always failed....to the blue screen of death.

The first initalisation to GPT didnt work well when formatting hence trying to compromise with two partitions but even then unable to access the full capacity.

Weirdly enough, the interface for the 2nd partition is SCSI instead of primary/logical...not sure if that's good or bad. I cannot combine the two partitions anymore in trying to initialize with GPT now. Disk wizard said please erase the extended capacity first, when trying to erase it it says the 2Tb is not initialised so it went in a loop.

Trying to clean all via disk part to also no luck.

Yes the BIOS picked up the new HD on all ports no issue.

I'm not sure if anyone else experience this but this happened to both HD (prior and the replacement that I am trying to get it to work), if the format failed I cannot access windows anymore the only way for me to gain back access is to do USB recovery, command prompt, diskpart, clean the disk and I get the windows back. Otherwise it would just go to blank screen if I wait long enough, blue screen of death came up and going over and over.

 

[igino]

Overall requirements for a bootable system volume (with drive over 2.2TB):
The disk must be initialized by using GPT.
The system firmware must use UEFI.
The Windows version must be 64-bit

Note Windows does not support starting GPT-initialized volumes by using UEFI systems on 32-bit versions of Windows. Also, legacy BIOS systems do not support starting GPT-partitioned volumes.

From here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2581408

Thanks but I do NOT want this to be a bootable. I have an SSD to do that for the OS. If it's for data in one partition, shouldnt it be initialised with GPT? which I cannot do now as it managed to separate to two when trying it with MBR (See the above post). Anyonone know how to combine it back to one partition again, the other partition has SCSI interface.

The windows is 64 bit. not sure with this UEFI system, the mother board is Intel DH67BL

 

[igino]

For data drives it doesn't matter if EFI or BIOS. I have a regular BIOS and use a 3TB Seagate for data backup without any issues. However, it matters when you want to boot from that large drive. If I am wrong with this one, hopefully someone will correct me.

Did you try other SATA ports?
Perhaps your motherboard has a secondary SATA controller? You can try plugging to that too.

No, it's not for booting just data. Yes I have tried all 4 SATA ports available on my mother board Intel DH67BL all same result so I assume it's not the connection - what does the secondary SATA controller looks like?

 

[GokAy]

It would be SATA ports with a different color.

Try: deleting the partitions on 4TB and re-initializing afterwards.
You can also try using Partition Wizard free.

 

[igino]

It would be SATA ports with a different color.

Try: deleting the partitions on 4TB and re-initializing afterwards.
You can also try using Partition Wizard free.

I have tried to use minitool to buldoze the partition but blue screen of death appeared after stuck at 50%. so I tried clean all which took hours but partition still exist.

I have 5 SATA ports with three different colours (two with 6GBPs, two with 3GBPs and the third one is purple labelled as eSATA). Is the last one is what you referring to? am I supposed to stick it there?