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Thread ID: 58009 2005-05-18 12:51:00 Problems formatting external HDD bigjt25 (8153) Press F1
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356412 2005-05-18 12:51:00 Hi everyone,

Im new to the Forum, but have been reading past posts to see if i could get any help with my problem.

Ive recently connected an external 120GB HDD via USB1.1 to my laptop. It appears in the Device Manager list, but not in my Computer.

I have right clicked on My Computer > Manage > Disk Management. The new drive is there, but its Unknown, Uninitialized and Unallocated.

I think i need to use FAT32 to partition/ format my external HDD, does anybody know how i do this?

James
bigjt25 (8153)
356413 2005-05-18 20:48:00 If that external hdd is USB 2, I would get a USB 2 card . .

Having 1 . 1 IMO would be way too slow, to do anything with it .

If u have XP go to control panel, admin tools, computer management / disk management .

Highlight that hdd and select format . If u use XP as well, I cant see why u cant format it in FAT32 or NTFS .
Speedy Gonzales (78)
356414 2005-05-18 20:59:00 Is it a normal 3.5" drive? You may have to take it out of its enclosure and format it in another PC plugged into IDE.

XP won't let you format in Fat32 over a certain size. If you need to have it Fat32 rather than NTFS then you'll have to do it from a boot disk or another PC with an older O/S.
pctek (84)
356415 2005-05-18 21:26:00 XP won't let you format in Fat32 over a certain size. If you need to have it Fat32 rather than NTFS then you'll have to do it from a boot disk or another PC with an older O/S.
Windows XP's limit is 32GB for FAT32. The new FDISK from Microsoft can be used to create larger FAT32 partitions if required but, as pctek says, it will need to be done with a boot disk.
FoxyMX (5)
356416 2005-05-19 01:20:00 Speedy:
USB1.1 is fine, and what many people simple live with. I lived with it for about 6 months, and didnt think anything of it.
Its a laptop, not easy to upgrade the USB on it unless via a PCMCIA card adapter.
As Foxy said, 32GB is the limit WinXP applies for FAT32.

Pctek, why take it out? Its a laptop and that'd be a ***** of a job.....

bigjt25, Try:
www.abit-usa.com
www.ranish.com
Chilling_Silence (9)
356417 2005-05-19 02:02:00 Pctek, why take it out? Its a laptop and that'd be a ***** of a job.....

b
He says "Ive recently connected an external 120GB HDD via USB1.1 to my laptop." Which indictaes a purchased 3.5" in an enclosure - NOT his actual 2.5" laptop drive.
Whats hard about taking a hard drive out of its enclosure?? I do it all the time.
pctek (84)
356418 2005-05-19 03:57:00 It doesnt indicate anything about the physical size of the HDD, but what Im saying is if its a 3.5" HDD, its not going to go inside the Laptop, and could be a lot of extra work taking it out and finding another PC (What if this guy only has a laptop and no other PC) to throw it in when it can be done as-is with no removal.

Perhaps a 50MB Download of a Live Linux CD with QtParted may be the best suggestion
Chilling_Silence (9)
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