I"ve got an unformatted HDD and a laptop...anyway I can format this bad boy? - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

dude1394 · 07-31-2007, 09:02 PM

I don't know when's the last time I've actually opened up a desktop computer since we've all gone to laptops.

I have a 2.5" HDD but doesn't appear to be formatted and a HDD enclosure. Am I going to have to find a desktop to format it? I expect so but if not, that would be greatness.

jthig32 · 07-31-2007, 09:14 PM

How can you tell it's not formatted unless you have it hooked up to something that could then format it?

I'm confused.

Evilmav2 · 07-31-2007, 09:31 PM

The Ghost-of-Giant-Desktop-Towers-Past laughs mirthlessly at the problems of you and your wussy-lap-machine both...

Ninkobei · 07-31-2007, 09:37 PM

you should be able to stick a boot disk in it and load up DOS/linux from there and format it

MavsX · 07-31-2007, 09:39 PM

f disk

Ninkobei · 07-31-2007, 09:43 PM

If you dont have an operating system for it you can try this out its free:

http://ftp.ussg.iu.edu/linux/ubuntu-...sktop-i386.iso

download that, burn ISO to CD, stick it in your laptop and in the bios set "Boot from CD"

follow some on screen options and enjoy a microsoft free enviornment

dude1394 · 07-31-2007, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthig32

How can you tell it's not formatted unless you have it hooked up to something that could then format it?

I'm confused.

I plugged it into a USB2.0 enclosure. It's not getting recognized by control panel.

Might need to do some investigation and see if the USB interface chip is being recognized but I'm just assuming it's unformatted. It came directly from the factory.

dude1394 · 07-31-2007, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evilmav2

The Ghost-of-Giant-Desktop-Towers-Past laughs mirthlessly at the problems of you and your wussy-lap-machine both...

Yes...yes...yes.. Holy crap, is that a 3.5inch floppy!

Actually could have used that the other day as well.

dude1394 · 07-31-2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninkobei

you should be able to stick a boot disk in it and load up DOS/linux from there and format it

I think my problem is that the only way to hook it up to my laptop (short of pulling my laptop drive out and as you say booting up with a boot disk (or boot cdrom in this case)) is with the USB2.0 enclosure.

u2sarajevo · 07-31-2007, 10:42 PM

What OS exactly are you putting on it? If it's an NT based OS you can create a partition and format during setup.

dude1394 · 07-31-2007, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

What OS exactly are you putting on it? If it's an NT based OS you can create a partition and format during setup.

The problem I'm having (I think) is that it doesn't recognize the drive (in the USB enclosure) so I can't do anything with it. I believe I'm going to have to take it out, plug it into a desktop and format it before using it. Arghh..

Ninkobei · 08-01-2007, 12:27 AM

ohh, sorry I misread your original post. So your Laptop isnt recognizing the USB drive ey? hmm, I dont know why it would do that. and I dont know why a desktop would be a better place to format it than your laptop...unless maybe the drive is bad. I guess you've tried plugging it in and using the "detect new hardware" settings. And did your drive come with a drivers disk? that seems unusual to me but maybe it needs them.

edit: the "USB" enclosure means its an external hard drive correct? or is it just a regular hard drive inside a USB connector thingy. Another thought might be that maybe your Laptop's usb ports cant get enough power to the hard drive. if you could, try plugging the usb into a desktop maybe it will give out some more juice.

jthig32 · 08-01-2007, 07:28 AM

I could be wrong, but I don't think your laptop not recognizing it as a drive and not assigning it a drive letter has anything to do with whether it's formatted or not. I've had problems arise with flashdirves that are working fine but for whatever reason the OS won't establish it as a drive.

I would try the detect new hardware like ninkobei said.

Also, after you plug it in you should go to Disk Management (assuming this is windows) and see if it has it listed there as unformatted/unpartitioned disk space.

dude1394 · 08-01-2007, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthig32

I could be wrong, but I don't think your laptop not recognizing it as a drive and not assigning it a drive letter has anything to do with whether it's formatted or not. I've had problems arise with flashdirves that are working fine but for whatever reason the OS won't establish it as a drive.

I would try the detect new hardware like ninkobei said.

Also, after you plug it in you should go to Disk Management (assuming this is windows) and see if it has it listed there as unformatted/unpartitioned disk space.

Did go to disk management and it was not detected. Could be a bad adapter but I'm going to investigate some of the USB settings and also make sure I have a formatted drive to stick inthe adapter.

dude1394 · 08-01-2007, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninkobei

ohh, sorry I misread your original post. So your Laptop isnt recognizing the USB drive ey? hmm, I dont know why it would do that. and I dont know why a desktop would be a better place to format it than your laptop...unless maybe the drive is bad. I guess you've tried plugging it in and using the "detect new hardware" settings. And did your drive come with a drivers disk? that seems unusual to me but maybe it needs them.

edit: the "USB" enclosure means its an external hard drive correct? or is it just a regular hard drive inside a USB connector thingy. Another thought might be that maybe your Laptop's usb ports cant get enough power to the hard drive. if you could, try plugging the usb into a desktop maybe it will give out some more juice.

It's a regular HDD inside a USB connector thingy.

I made sure the adapter has a seperate power-wart so power isn't an issue with it.

I'll do some more stuff tonight.

The reason that I was talking about laptop versus desktop is that I could open up a desktop and connect it directly to the IDE cable. Then I KNOW I could format it.

But the USB adapter mucks things up.