Disk Question

[Bennyhana]

So, I plugged this 250 gig HD into my computer, and I'm currently formatting it.  Not a quick format, because the drive was having issues, and I want to try to fix it.  So, anyway, there's no progress bar or percentage done field that I can see anywhere (I'm doing this through the Disk Management tool in the computer management section of the Admin tools of Win XP),  Any idea how long this should take?  Should I leave it overnight, or will it just be a couple hours?

[Beefy]

Have you tried throwing a quarter at it.

[Alice]

Have you tried throwing a quarter at it.

That's about the only advice I have on that matter too.  Sorry.

[Gamplayerx]

Has anyone mentioned the sage quarter advice?

[Bennyhana]

Well, I threw a quarter at it.  Not only did that not answer my question, but there was a huge spark and now my computer won't boot.  I'll be expecting restitution from at least two of you.

[Gamplayerx]

So, the quarter throwing thing solved your problem after all.  No more worrying about how long it's going to take.

That quarter trick is priceless!

[Alice]

There you go.  No it will not be a couple of hours.

I'm sure hatt would know.  And as I learned in chat, the best way to get hatt to come around is to say the word 'boobies'.  Honestly.

so... Boobies!

[Beefy]

I half expect DS to pop in now and offer computer advice.

[BigDun]

It could take a very long time (overnight) if there are a lot of bad sectors it has to mark as unusable. Otherwise, it should take no more than 2 hours.

I'm assuming this is a USB 2.0 or Firewire attached drive.

[Bennyhana]

It could take a very long time (overnight) if there are a lot of bad sectors it has to mark as unusable. Otherwise, it should take no more than 2 hours.

I'm assuming this is a USB 2.0 or Firewire attached drive.

No, it was an external drive, but someone kicked the power plug while it was writing and the computer stopped recognizing it.  So, we decided to try and crack it open and reformat the drive plugging it straight into the IDE cable.

[VikingJuice]

I have a portable 250Gb HD and I don't recall having to format it.  I think it was just plug in and go.  It's been great to share my music with other people by toting around my HD.  I have about 35 Gb of music and lots of friends to share with.  I even made a massive jukebox out of my PC at work.  My students love that I have so much to choose from.

[swolt]

I thought the subject was "Dick Question" That would have been funnier.


Did you repartition the drive before formatting it? The format should take less than 2 hours, if it's taking longer I would run the WD diag tool and make sure it isn't bad. You can get the tool from WD's site.

[swolt]

I said "WD" because I thought you said it was a Western Digital, but I re-read your post and you didn't say brand it is. What brand is it?

[Bennyhana]

I said "WD" because I thought you said it was a Western Digital, but I re-read your post and you didn't say brand it is. What brand is it?

You, my good man, are a freakin' psychic.  It is a Western Digital, though the outer casing is a LaCie.  I'll see what's going on when I go in tomorrow morning.  We decided to crack it open because the warranty was already up, and it was essentially a paperweight anyway.  If it's fried, what do you think the chances are that we can just swap in any ol' 250 gig HD we buy off the internet?  It would probably be cheaper than buying a new one.

[swolt]

well I had like a one in three chance of it being a WD

You should be able to use that enclosure with any drive.

[meredith]

In recent versions of Windows, right-click My Computer, choose Manage, then open Disk Management to see the progress of a background format.



Yeah, it's a normal IDE or SATA drive with a USB or Firewire adapter in the back of the enclosure.