Cannot format hard drive

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

I am trying to format my hard drive, it is already converted to NTFS but I
cam getting the error message cannot format drive e (my drive letter)

I have ran CHKDSK and it is saying unable to perform scan on RAW drives

Can anybody help

Thanks in Advance

Shaun

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

In news:utEgCxWuEHA.1272@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl,
Shaun Walls <shaunwalls@ntlworld.com> typed:

>I am trying to format my hard drive, it is already converted to
>NTFS
> but I cam getting the error message cannot format drive e (my
> drive
> letter)


You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since
that would leave Windows without a leg to stand on.



Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).



You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html



However why do you want to do this? In my view, it's almost
always a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be
necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've
run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of time before the next
version came out, and each on two machines here. I never
reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than
an occasional minor problem.



It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to
almost any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is
"reformat and reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them.
It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost always works, and it
doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a skill that
most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).



But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You
have to restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all
your programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and
application updates,you have to locate and install all the needed
drivers for your system, you have to recustomize Windows and all
your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.



Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome,
you may have trouble with some of them: can you find all your
application CDs? Can you find all the needed installation codes?
Do you have data backups to restore? Do you even remember all the
customizations and tweaks you may have installed to make
everything work the way you like?



Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve
that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and
far between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for
troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person
have failed.



If you have problems, post them here, it's likely that someone
can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Shaun Walls wrote:

> I am trying to format my hard drive, it is already converted to NTFS
> but I cam getting the error message cannot format drive e (my drive
> letter)
>
> I have ran CHKDSK and it is saying unable to perform scan on RAW
> drives
>
> Can anybody help
>
> Thanks in Advance
>
> Shaun

So you're saying that you've got a full-functioning normal system drive
(C:\), and you've got an additional drive (E:\), and you just want to
perform a format on drive E?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

"terry b@underthebridge.com" wrote:

> Shaun Walls wrote:
>
> > I am trying to format my hard drive, it is already converted to NTFS
> > but I cam getting the error message cannot format drive e (my drive
> > letter)
> >
> > I have ran CHKDSK and it is saying unable to perform scan on RAW
> > drives
> >
> > Can anybody help
> >
> > Thanks in Advance
> >
> > Shaun
>
> So you're saying that you've got a full-functioning normal system drive
> (C:\), and you've got an additional drive (E:\), and you just want to
> perform a format on drive E?
> Sdavis1225
should you be able to format using computer managment if you have C: is
where your windows installation is. E: should be able to be formated using
Computer managment

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

If the drive is raw, then it needs to be prepped before you can format it.
If no drive letter for the drive is showing in Disk Manager, then right
click on it and let Disk Manager assign a letter and determine the drive
type. Then you should be able to format (from the same flyout menu).

"Shaun Walls" <shaunwalls@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:utEgCxWuEHA.1272@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>I am trying to format my hard drive, it is already converted to NTFS but I
> cam getting the error message cannot format drive e (my drive letter)
>
> I have ran CHKDSK and it is saying unable to perform scan on RAW drives
>
> Can anybody help
>
> Thanks in Advance
>
> Shaun
>
>

 

[Saintyukon]

I had the same problem and I was able to resolve it by running Kill Disk on the hard drive after I received the message that "windows cannot format this drive". After I ran Kill Disk on the HD I was able to format the HD. A free copy of Kill Disk can be obtained by going to Download.com.

 

[aford10]

This topic has been closed by Aford10