[SOLVED] 3 TB 5400 rpm WD Blue hard drive taking a year to format

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nharpx

Dec 25, 2018
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So I recently installed an extra HDD for mass storage, and well... It's been formatting for well over a week now and I'm not sure how close it is to being done. Any suggestions?
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
That's wrong no matter what world you live in. It does not take a week to format any drive regardless of size or platform.

I'd stop the operation and then use a partition manager to delete any existing partitions on the drive, create a NEW healthy NTFS partition using the maximum allowable size, and then format the new partition.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/delete-volume-drive-partition-windows-10


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17418/windows-7-create-format-hard-disk-partition

If trying the above process results in the same problem, then I'd RMA the drive.
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
60,387
1,081
152,940


Did you do a simple format or did you do some odd command to wipe it 50 times or something?

Reboot the system, does the disk show in Disk Manager? If it does, right-click it, create a partition on it, and just do a quick format. If that takes more than a minute, contact WD support.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,408
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That's wrong no matter what world you live in. It does not take a week to format any drive regardless of size or platform.

I'd stop the operation and then use a partition manager to delete any existing partitions on the drive, create a NEW healthy NTFS partition using the maximum allowable size, and then format the new partition.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/delete-volume-drive-partition-windows-10


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17418/windows-7-create-format-hard-disk-partition

If trying the above process results in the same problem, then I'd RMA the drive.
 
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Solution
Solandri

Solandri

Illustrious
Jan 4, 2012
4,919
98
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It can take up to about a day. 12 TB / (150 MB/s * 0.833) = 26.6 hours.

0.833 is the ratio of average to max disk speed, assuming a 2:1 ratio of track circumference between outermost and innermost tracks, integrated over the amount of data contained on each track. (The integral works out to 2/3 of the way between 1 and 2, and 1.67 / 2 = 0.833.)

Any format which takes longer means the disk is encountering problems reading/writing. If it's only slightly longer, that just means the disk took some time to map out a bad sector and substituted a reserve sector. But a format taking a week means the drive is dying. RMA it if under warranty, or buy a new drive if it's out of warranty. (And avoid the 5400 RPM WD drives - they have a head parking issue which can cause lag and stutters. That's the Green, SSHD, and most of the Blue WD drives.)
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,408
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I just performed a full format, on an 8TB drive two days ago. Took six hours. No way it should take more than eight or ten hours, max, no matter what anybody says.


I 100% agree that if this is a used drive, it is probably shot. If it is a new drive, it probably needs to go back if you are sure you have removed the existing partitions, created a NEW partition and attempted to format THAT partition, but encountered the same issues. Formatting a borked up partition could cause similar issues as formatting a bad drive. Start with a clean slate by removing ALL existing partitions on the drive and creating a new one, then format THAT partition.
 
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SchizTech

SchizTech

Judicious
Jan 16, 2011
5,278
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This isn't a 12TB drive (just 3), so at most 6h for a full format is about as long as I'd expect.
 
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