How to reformat hard drive so appears in My Computer

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50 posts

Geek

#408758 24-Nov-2010 09:56

Delete Volume and Help

Happy to lose everything on drive.

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#408763 24-Nov-2010 10:03

hey man, have a read of this. should answer your question :

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2668-partition-volume-delete.html

method ONE steps 1-7 is all you need to follow.

the other way might be too complicated for you?

tigger

50 posts

Geek

#408768 24-Nov-2010 10:12

OK, so need to Delete Volume. Then close. No harm done?

I guess then I restart computer, plug USB drive back in and hopefully it reappears in Computer/Devices with Removable Storage?

Just need the OK go for it and will do.

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#408770 24-Nov-2010 10:23

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for loss of data! Be careful and be sure you know what you're doing! Make sure you're modifying the correct disk!

I would delete all the volumes on the disk (there looks to be two and some empty space). After you do this, all the space will be available (unallocated) and you can make a new simple volume, give it a drive letter and format it. I guess I'd format as FAT32 if you want to use it it OSX. Maybe you could intialise the disk too (right-click on the disk).

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#408775 24-Nov-2010 10:27

yes, do what bazzer says , thats exactly the process id follow if i wanted to do it on my disk

tigger

50 posts

Geek

#408779 24-Nov-2010 10:30

OK, certain it must be disk 4 as when I unplug it disappears off the devices panel.

What I am unsure about though it if I delete those volumes I still don't think the device will appear in the lines of devices at top of the panel where I CAN allocated a letter. I cannot allocate a letter in the section below where it appears as boxes. So won't I still be in the same position as before? Will the deleting of volumes mean I can actually see the device in Computer/Devices and be able to open and use?

Going cautiously here.....

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#408785 24-Nov-2010 10:35

No. Deleting the volumes will give you the chance to make a new partition the full size of the disk that you can format and give a drive letter to. If you want to practice, you could try making a new FAT32 volume in the unallocated space on that disk. If you did that it should appear as a drive letter in the list above and in My Computer. it will be the same process after you've deleted the volumes.

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#408786 24-Nov-2010 10:36

6. The selected partition (step 4) is now deleted and is now unallocated space on the disk.
NOTE: You can use this unallocated space to >>>>>>create a new partition<<<<<<< with, or extend another partition on that same hard disk into it

from the link above

tigger

50 posts

Geek

#408797 24-Nov-2010 10:54

Practiced and created a new volume on that disk and created New Volume 'F'. Could not see any options for FAT as the wizard took me through.

The new partition has appeared on my hard drive in Computer next to Local Disk (C), as New Volume (F), not in Removable Storage Disks which is where I expected it to appear. (F) disappears from there when I remove the storage device so I am assuming I am in fact working on the removable storage. Would that be your view that I am actually creating a partition on the removable device? Even though it reappears in the Hard Disc section of 'Computer' window?

tigger

50 posts

Geek

#408800 24-Nov-2010 10:56

Other thing - I can see the device in the lines at top of window of Disk Management. There is no way though I can highlight the line with my cursor to be able to allocate a new letter. Is it usual that you cannot highlight and work on a device from there?

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#408809 24-Nov-2010 11:02

hey man,
i have a samsung f3 and i just did it too.
mine also appears next to my local disks, but when i unplug it, it disappears.
so its still removable storage.
im a bit confused with what you said in your last post, but your hard drive should be working now and you only need to partition it if you want to split it (for example) into 2 sections.
right now it should have one partition, which is the entire capacity of your drive.
so now you can put files on it, remove it, and plug it back in.

if your motherboard doesnt support "hotswap" you will have to reboot and plug the drive in before it will be recognised

b0untypure1

1426 posts

Uber Geek

#408811 24-Nov-2010 11:05

if you want it to appear like a usb drive =

I don't think you can do that, since a removable harddrive really isn't a removable media. I.e. you don't remove the platters but only the entire drive.
At some time you could actually buy harddrives
with removable medias (platters), but they never became popular.
Perhaps SATA drives may be a bit different, since they are hotswappable.

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#408812 24-Nov-2010 11:06

Not 100% sure, but I would say that's probably because they are not partition types that Windows will deal with. I think the question about where the drives appear is related to what kind of device it identifies as. Hard drives are usually more permanent than flash drives so probably that's all that means.

If the drive appears and disappears when you plug/unplug the drive then that's a fairly good indication (you are using the safe removal thing, right? Unless it's optimised for quick removal just umplugging it could cause data loss).

bazzer

3438 posts

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Trusted

#408814 24-Nov-2010 11:07

I should add that I've not done this in Windows 7, so some of my help is guesswork, but it's basically the same in all versions of Windows.

tigger

50 posts

Geek

#408816 24-Nov-2010 11:11

Deleted the volume and formed new. SUCCESS! Thank you so much for your help. What a drama but got there in the end.

Have a great day!

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