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| Thread ID: 69139 | 2006-05-23 02:59:00 | How do I format a blank USB HDD? | Billy T (70) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 457060 | 2006-05-23 11:39:00 | 1) What is the signature Wizard that keeps popping up, and do I need to add a signature? Dont know what this looks like. Wanna take a snapshot and post it on the ImageF1 site? 2) If the disk space is unallocated, how do I allocate it, or is this just a fancy way of saying it isn't formatted yet? If its the same as XP, then yup thats what it means. Since its new, it isnt formatted and in XP, it shows as unallocated. Can u take a snapshot of what comes up when u right mouse on the hdd in disk management? |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 457061 | 2006-05-23 11:45:00 | Cut to the chase, Rip the side of the case, plug in the ide lead and power cable, format it. No need to put any screws in. Job done faster then the time taken to post a thread and wait for random feedback. Unless you wanted to have a thread...... |
Metla (12) | ||
| 457062 | 2006-05-23 11:53:00 | Cut to the chase, Rip the side of the case, plug in the ide lead and power cable, format it. No need to put any screws in. Job done faster then the time taken to post a thread and wait for random feedback..... Yeah....you are probably right Metla, but I like a challenge and I don't learn anything by taking the easy (sensible?) way out. I've used up most of my available time though so if I don't find an answer pretty soon I will have to give up. Cheers Billy 8-{) :badpc: |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 457063 | 2006-05-23 23:24:00 | Unallocated means not partitioned rather than not formatted. If partition Magic has a trial version, use that. |
Greven (91) | ||
| 457064 | 2006-05-24 00:30:00 | Unallocated means not partitioned rather than not formatted. I have Partition Magic, but the problem seems to go deeper than this, I can't partition a disk that the computer sees but won't access. Here's the latest: I gave up the quest for knowledge and took Metla's advice to hang it off my computer ide cable. I didn't need to pop the case though, my D: and F: partitions are on a drive in a removable cassete so I swapped drives, set the new one as slave (in the USB drive case it is set as master), rebooted The computer found the drive but it remains as before, i.e. I have no option to format available. If I change to another drive under disc management and right click I get the full menu of options, but not for this one. Swapped the cassette into Old-Faithful, my P166/W98 box and rebooted, but boot wouldn't advance past the initial drive screen. It stopped on the new drive and asked me to press F4 to advance, but pressing that did nothing. Took the drive out, reinstalled it in the USB case and plugged it into my laptop (also W2K). It was detected as a mass storage device, the drivers installed and the HDD was recognised but it went no further than that and the situation is identical to the other W2K computer. This (www.imagef1.net.nz) is the screen shot from Disk management, and This (www.imagef1.net.nz) is the signature Wizard that pops up when Disk Management is opened. I am thinking that I might have to take the drive to a local computer shop to be partitioned and formatted, because I'm not making much progress here. Any further ideas or advice would be most welcome. Cheers Billy 8-{) :badpc: |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 457065 | 2006-05-24 00:38:00 | Unplug all other drives, boot into DOS. Format C: |
Metla (12) | ||
| 457066 | 2006-05-24 00:52:00 | Let the wizard do it's thing - It looks like you have to write a signature to a disk before you can use it. Does anyone know why that is, and how Linux handles this problem? | Greven (91) | ||
| 457067 | 2006-05-24 00:58:00 | Also, is the hdd plugged into a USB 2 port or connected to a hub?? This may make a diff. Why u see no options when u right mouse in disk management. |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 457068 | 2006-05-24 05:39:00 | Also, is the hdd plugged into a USB 2 port or connected to a hub?? Direct to a USB 2 port on the main computer, or to the sole USB 1 port on the laptop . As for writing a signature, I'm all for that but I can't find anything in Windows' help files or on the net to tell me what a "signature" actually is . Knowing MS it will be something arcane with limits on the number of letters/digits used . I found a 170 page IBM PDF for setting up something of theirs that ran right through the wizard step by step, but the definition is too poor to read and they didn't bloody bother to say what you should actually enter . :angry Those who know the answers always seem to assume that everybody else can divine their secret code through transcendental communication . :mad: I assume that setting it to slave was correct for hanging off my main computer as a secondary drive? Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 457069 | 2006-05-24 05:43:00 | I thought that the wizard only required you to select the drive & it did the rest? | Greven (91) | ||
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