Cannot format hard drive

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kdon27

kdon27

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I have been trying (with no success) to format and use my old 2 TB WD Caviar Green hard drive.




I have tried...
- Quick format ("Windows cannot format the drive")

- Full format (Same as above)

- Format through Disk Management (same as above)

- Full Scan Disk and THEN tried Full format (format worked until 25% and then said the same as above).




Some other tests...
- Quick SMART test (progress bar freezes at 90% and stays like that for up to 1.5 hrs (at which point I stopped it).

- Writing Extended Zeros (failed after 25%).




Some weird issues...
- Sometimes the drive disappears in Windows 7 (i.e. explorer) and other times it is there.

- I have tried IDE to ACHI in Setup, system just failed and restarted.

- Sometimes drive appears in BIOS and other times it doesn't.

- When it does NOT appears in Windows 7/BIOS, the disk management shows it as "black" and not the healthy blue.

- Other times when it is detected, it appears healthy in disk management but still cannot format and appears as RAW format.




I don't hear any weird clicking noises or anything like that. And this drive was working perfectly until recently. But I should mention I haven't used it in a while (but stored in a cool, dust-free container in a safe place).



I would be truly grateful for any advice or suggestions on how to fix this drive.



Cheers,
kdon27
 
Solution
M
The drive has failed. If you can't get SMART statistics on it, it is broken. If you can't write data to it (extended zeros), it is broken. It happens, and it happens quite frequently, since it has so many moving parts. Time to throw it out and get another. If you have important data on it that you want to get off, you can take it to a repair shop. If it is just the circuit board interface that is shot, they can replace it for a fee and get your data off. It's been a few years since I've done it, but back then it ran about $130. If the mechanical parts have failed, the data may not be recoverable, and if it is, it will cost in the thousands of dollars.
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mbreslin1954

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The drive has failed. If you can't get SMART statistics on it, it is broken. If you can't write data to it (extended zeros), it is broken. It happens, and it happens quite frequently, since it has so many moving parts. Time to throw it out and get another. If you have important data on it that you want to get off, you can take it to a repair shop. If it is just the circuit board interface that is shot, they can replace it for a fee and get your data off. It's been a few years since I've done it, but back then it ran about $130. If the mechanical parts have failed, the data may not be recoverable, and if it is, it will cost in the thousands of dollars.
 
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Solution
kdon27

kdon27

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Thanks for the reply. Good thing I don't have any data on it. Just was hoping to use it as another back up. Cheers
 
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kdon27

kdon27

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Just a follow-up question: I have a large amount of important data on my current primary external HD.

Would it be prudent to invest in several 2TB or 1TB hard drives to back it up rather than 1 big 3TB or 4TB hard drive?

I know the logical answer is yes but there's the matter of cost that is holding me back, I just want to know if it's worth it..
 
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mbreslin1954

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Just have your important data on two different hard drives. The odds of two drives both failing at the same time are infinitesimal. If your backup fails, you still have your primary. If your primary fails, that's why you have a backup.

I would go with whatever is the most cost effective. If you have to spread your backup data over two or three drives, I don't see the problem, provided that solution is the cheapest. It's true that if you have two backup drives, the chances of having a backup drive failure is doubled, but so what? They're duplicates, you don't really care if a backup fails, as long as you get a replacement in soon, because while the backup is down your primary data is at risk. But in the case of multiple backup drives, any given backup drive is only part of the data, putting only part of your backup at risk when one fails.

Hope this helps.
 
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kdon27

kdon27

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Very helpful, thanks mate.

 
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