I have a new WD 80 gig external drive on a USB 1 port that needs to be erased & re-formatted. I'm running XP Pro, don't know if windows will work for me or if I need help from WD. I am trying to get the external drive to run totaly independent of the C:. When I installed the bundled software, any records I entered on the new drive showed up on the old one also. So I erased the software to try a different setup. Now upon restarting XP automatically loads a new driver but no longer recognizes the new drive (I tried to re-format w/software from another mfg.) Make sense to anyone? Thanks
How do I format an external drive?
- Thread starter rpschnei
- Start date
Impotence
May the source be with u!
It sound a bit like the drive was mounted into a folder on your internal hdd!
Does the drive show up in my computer? if it does right click and select format!
if that doesnt work, have a look in
Start >> Control Panel >> Administrative tools >> Computer Management >> Storage >> Disk management (local)
You can format drives from there, and thats allways how i formatted my external hdd.
Does the drive show up in my computer? if it does right click and select format!
if that doesnt work, have a look in
Start >> Control Panel >> Administrative tools >> Computer Management >> Storage >> Disk management (local)
You can format drives from there, and thats allways how i formatted my external hdd.
Impotence
May the source be with u!
Select the device (in device manager) and Click Uninstall (pic of computer coverd with a X), Then Click "Scan for hardware changes" (pick of computer with mag glass over it), Windoze should then detect the drive and reinstall it!
This might work, as many things start working with windows when you reinstall them!
This might work, as many things start working with windows when you reinstall them!
Karanislove
It's D Grav80 Of Luv
Try this................
Pull out the usb cable from your computer - > Restart Computer -> Put it Back
Right Click on my computer -> Manage -> Disk Management -> Full screan that window first
On the right hand side.......You can see your drives in two places.....UP and Down
You will not find your USB HD drive in the upper side
At the bottom side, just click on your drive. Right click on it and Crate Partition and Partition your drive as much u want. At the end of Partition wizard it will ask you for Format if the disk is not formatted........Make a quick NTFS format............ Here you go........ Now you can see your drive on the upper side and its ready to use.
Pull out the usb cable from your computer - > Restart Computer -> Put it Back
Right Click on my computer -> Manage -> Disk Management -> Full screan that window first
On the right hand side.......You can see your drives in two places.....UP and Down
You will not find your USB HD drive in the upper side
At the bottom side, just click on your drive. Right click on it and Crate Partition and Partition your drive as much u want. At the end of Partition wizard it will ask you for Format if the disk is not formatted........Make a quick NTFS format............ Here you go........ Now you can see your drive on the upper side and its ready to use.
megamaced
Geek Geek Geek!
Karanislove said:
You are right Karanislove, but I just want to elaborate further.
Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management (down the right hand side). Maximise the window
You will see all of your drives (including removeable media) at the bottom of the Disk Management screen. Your external hard disk will appear as a green block. The first thing you need to do is right click the drive a selct 'initialise'. Then right click again and select partition. Follow the onscreen instructions. Then right click the drive and select format. Follow the onscreen instructions.
If you need more help just reply back