Formatting a 2TB hard drive: 12 hours later it is only 23% completed.

stuart253 said:

Hello,

Which I attempted quick format, it fails. A Virtual Disdk Manager popup appeared, with message:

The format did not complete successfully


Stu

Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.
HD Diagnostic

essenbe and theog,

Thanks, running WD's tools now

Thanks

Stu

Greetings,

Attempted to format a 2 TB internal drive using a USB 3.0 dockiing station via an USB 2.0 port. After two days, I gave up.

Purchased a USB 2.0/e-SATA docking station and connnecting it to my e-SATA port. It still took over 5 hours. I do not know actual completion time, but it did complete.

Thanks to all who read and replied

Stu

What is actually the point of making a full format?

I did and do quick formats on every drive I ever owned on a PC without any mechanical failures or sector problems at all.

stuart253 said:

Hello,

I am using a BlacX USB 3.0 hard drive docking station with a WD Caviar Black 2 TB internal hard drive.

Do not have USB 3.0 on my machine yet, so I have the docking station connected via USB 2.0.

After 12 hours, my drive is only 23% formatted. Is the Slowwwwww formatting of the 2 TB drive normal or is it because I am using USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0?

It I let this continue, is there a way to find out how many hours the process took?
I have another 2 TB drive, which I will not format until I have purchased and installed a USB 3.0 PCIe card. Once installed, I want to compare the completion time using USB 2.0 ans USB 3.0.

Thanks

Stu

Misc. Facts:
At 2 TB you are at the conventional BIOS-MBR limit. Beyond this you need GPT or EFI. Also, some drivers may have problems at this capacity (eg. older Nvidia nForce sata drivers). Other people are experiencing your problem.

Suggestions:
1) Check that your BIOS is seeing the 2TB
2) Update your drivers. Some people have solved the problem by updating their drivers.
This is a Seagate post and related to Vista - but may be helpful
1.5TB (ST31500341AS) or larger SATA hard drive only showing 1.1TB capacity in Windows Vista

The other things I might try is to partition the drive (say in 3) and start formating each partition in turn and note the results.
Download Crystal Disk Info to monitor your HDD SMART data.
http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html