Hitachi sata 1TB hard drive problem

julevine

Distinguished
Jan 19, 2010
4
0
18,510
motherboard:
Gigabye
GA -965p-s3
bios updated to latest version


os windows xp pro sp2

hard drive Hitachi sata 1TB hard drive

I cant get the hardrive to format i need to know if my motherboard is compatible
also when format fails the drive disappears from bios and then to get it back i must shutdown computer

I NEED A ANSWER BY TOMORROW
i need to return hardrive soon

thank you
 

r_manic

Administrator
Are you able to try the hard disk on another computer? Alternatively, can you also try another hard disk with your computer? The point is to check if the problem is with the hard disk itself, your motherboard, or even the SATA cable you're using.
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
First, yes, your mobo fully supports the SATA II standard and can handle any SATA drive, including 1 TB. When you say you "can't get the hard drive to format" I suspect you have not done the required first step, which is to create a Partition on it. I suspect this is a new empty hard drive you are adding to an existing system for use as additional data storage space. So here's an edited copy of a previous post on how to do that.

Any drive needs to have two steps done to it to prepare it for use by any OS. You use tools built into Windows Disk Management. Click on Start, and in the menu RIGHT-click on My Computer, and choose the "Manage" item on the menu. This opens a new window. On the left expand "Storage" if necessary and choose "Disk Management".

On the right are two panes, each scrollable to see all their contents. The upper one shows you all the disk units Windows can use right now. The LOWER RIGHT pane has all the disk hardware connected, including ones Windows does not yet understand. Each is represented by a large horizontal box. At its left end is a small label block. Your existing main HDD will have a label like "Disk _0", a size, and a couple other details. To the right will be one or more blocks each representing one Partition on that unit that Windows can use as a Drive with its own letter name. There should be one large block with details like its name (C: ), its size, a volume name you gave it like "Boot Disk" or "Harry's Machine", and a bit more. There may or may not be any other blocks representing other Partitions on this HDD unit, and in some cases there might even be a block labeled "Unallocated Space".

Now, look for a big block representing the new Hitachi 1 TB drive you have mounted in your case. Assuming it is there, you will carry out two operations on it. However, some Windows versions will actually combine these two into one in a helpful Wizard. Start by RIGHT-clicking on the big empty block in your 1 TB Hitachi unit. From the menu choose to Create a Partition. I'm going to assume you want to use this for data only, and not to boot from. So among the options available, choose to make its size the full maximum space available (assuming you don't want to make several smaller Partitions), make this a Primary Partition, and do NOT make it bootable. If you are inside a Wizard you also will have options to choose for the second Format step. Among those, you want to install the NTFS File System (unless you know you need FAT32 for some reason). You can do a Quick Format which does all the basic work required in a short time (5 to 15 minutes). Or, you can choose Full Format which will do the Quick thing and then go through EVERY sector of the drive unit to test it for errors. This takes many hours and usually is unnecessary (but a precaution) on new drives; on an older drive, it may well be a VERY good idea to take this time to be sure the drive has no hidden problems. When all the options are set, run the task. When it is finished your HDD unit will change to show you a Partition with a letter name, a size, etc.

If you were NOT in a Wizard, the first Partition step may be run by itself. Then you have to do the Format operation as a separate task. In this case, you simply RIGHT-click again on the Partition space that was created and choose to do the Format, then set the options as I said above and run this task.

When both Partition and Format are complete, exit out of Disk Management and reboot so Windows can register all of this. Your drive now should show up in My Computer with its letter name, all ready to use.
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
Now that's fascinating. I presume you mean it has failed every time you have tried it on this particular drive. But I also presume that you have done it successfully at least once on some OTHER drive (this would simply prove that you did it correctly). If the process fails on every drive every time, there is another problem.

SO, supposing that all the fails are this one drive, I also note that you say the result is that the drive "disappears from BIOS". That is strange! Both items together make me suspect the HDD unit actually is faulty.
 

julevine

Distinguished
Jan 19, 2010
4
0
18,510
i suppose you mean if i cant format the 1TB drive it must be faulty

but it weird Ive done the boot cd hard drive sector tests and it comes clean
but it must be the chip for the drive that is messed up

also i cant change the hard drive power settings it says it' insignificant should i worry about this
i think it on 5 to 6 power setting but not exactly sure boot cd said the highest power setting was on 6 but it should be on 5 only

also there was only one power cord that fit the drive should i worry about that


please reply to make sure Ive covered everything

I suppose ill return the drive back for an exchange