Unable to initialize external HDD in Disk Management due to I/O error

Hi all, I am hoping someone would be able to help me out on this problem. I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.

Problem:
Windows detects my external HDD but doesn't show up in My Computer. Drive is detected in Disk Management, indicated as "not initialized". When I try to initialize the drive, it gives me the following error,

"The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error"


What I've tried doing:

• Do a clean instll of windows - Don't work
• Uninstall external HDD driver, turned off power, turn it back on again, reinstalled driver - don't work
• Tested the same external HDD on another Windows 7 system - No problems, detected and able to access
• Tried plugging on different ports - Don't work

After hours of searching through the web and reading forums, I realized that this is quite a commonly faced issue. Thank you.

Control panel -> Administrative tools -> Event Viewer

Click on the caret > next to WINDOWS LOGS. Then click on SYSTEM. There ought to be a traced event of some kind with a physical I/O error.

JimLewandowski said:

Control panel -> Administrative tools -> Event Viewer

Click on the caret > next to WINDOWS LOGS. Then click on SYSTEM. There ought to be a traced event of some kind with a physical I/O error.

Click to expand...

Is there anything in particular that I should be looking for? If so what would be the next step I can take to solve this issue?

dmario84 said:

JimLewandowski said:

Control panel -> Administrative tools -> Event Viewer

Click on the caret > next to WINDOWS LOGS. Then click on SYSTEM. There ought to be a traced event of some kind with a physical I/O error.

Click to expand...

Is there anything in particular that I should be looking for? If so what would be the next step I can take to solve this issue?

Click to expand...

Since I've never ever experienced an I/O error and know of no one who has (except yourself), I would think if you click and open the events there, there ought to be something that addresses the I/O error.

The only indication that I see is regarding USB controller. I've already tried updating the drivers but to no avail. I'm not sure if updating the BIOS would help.. I would only do that as a last resort

Your first concern should be to back up any/all important data on your inaccessible external HDD.

Since you said that the external HDD could be accessed on another Windows 7 system, I would suggest that you first copy all data in it to that system or any other external hard drive/storage media.

With all data safely backed up, you can try the following process:

Solution No. 1: Format your inaccessible external drive with HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - v2.1.8 Download - EXTREME Overclocking Is your drive accessible now?

Solution No.2 : Download and install the Minitools Partition Wizard Home edition. Best Free Partition Manager Freeware for Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP 32 bit & 64 bit. MiniTool Free Partition Manager Software Home Edition. .Try Partition Recovery on your inaccessible external drive. ( You may also download the bootable CD version ISO, burn it to a CD/pendrive and boot from it to run the Partition Wizard to try the Partition Recovery).

Also a screen shot of Disk Mgmt w/ the external HDD connected might give a clue whats not working.