talzok

I'm trying to format my hard drive with the NTFS file system. I did the reboot with the Windows system CD, went through setup, deleted the old partition, re-partitioned the drive, and then chose to install windows on the new (raw) partition. Then it goes to the format screen where I get to choose between A) NTFS Format (Quick) or B) NTFS Regular. First of all, does anyone know the difference between these two options? Secondly, when I choose to format with the regular, more thorough option (I'm guessing), it does its thing and when it gets to 100% after about an hour, I recieve the following message:

"Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged. Make sure your drive is switched on and properly connected to your computer. If the disk is a SCSI disk, make sure your SCSI devices are properly terminated. Consult your computer manual or SCSI adapter documentation for more information."

After this, I choose to do the NTFS (Quick) format option and it goes through the format in less than a minute (???). I really think that by not being able to thoroughly format my hard disk, my system performance may be suffering.

I've tried using the F6 option right when setup starts, and then using SCSI mass storage device controllers, but none of what I have used has worked.

When I first reformatted my hard disk a few days ago using the NTFS (regular) option, it completed with no errors and went straight into installing windows. Now it's giving me trouble for some reason. I've run a thorough diagnostics test on my hard drive and there are no errors there. Also, my SCSI mass storage controller is by nVidia. I believe my motherboard chipset is nVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400. Anyways, here are my system specs:

System Specs:
OS: Windows XP Pro sp2
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Hard Disk:
Free Space: 107.8 GB
Total Space: 114.5 GB
File System: NTFS
Model WDC WD12 00JB-00CRA1 SCSI Disk Device (western digital)
Motherboard: AOpen Model AK79D-400VN
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
IDE Controller: Nvidia Corp nForce2 EIDE Controller

Anyone have any ideas? I think that me not being able to format this way may be affecting my USB capabilities (I transferred data files to my mp3 player to save to my freshly formatted drive, and now I'm having trouble accessing the mp3 player. However, what leads me to believe that this NTFS problem may be causing USB problems is because the first time I formatted, when I was able to use the regular NTFS format option, I was able to access my mp3 player afterwards once all drivers were installed.)

I realize that this is a complicated issue/problem, and I've been researching in betweet formats (fingers crossed) for the past 2 days non-stop. Any help would be much appreciated.

ebackhus

NTFS won't affect your USB functionality as it's just a method of storing data on the hard drive. A full format is often the best way to go as it rewrites EVERY last bit on the drive to clear everything out. Other than that I can't offer much more advise. I know SATA and IDE but SCSI seems like more trouble than it's worth so I avoid using it.

linderman

Welcome to TSF:

Sounds to me like your multiple attempts to format and reformat the drive have corrupted something. First of all lets start with your scuzzy stuff !!

I dont believe you have a scsi hard drive nor a scsai controller !! Isnt your hard drive a SATA drive ????? Please furnish the model numbers of the drive.

#2 ) you will need to make sure your sata options in the bios are enabled

#3) remove any IDE or USB drives from the system while getting your sata drive smoothed out / this always seems to help !!

#4) how about sata cable connections ????? there are usually four sata connector ports on a mobo / only two of them are intended to run a independant sata drive (non raid) the other two sata ports are for raid configs

#5) did you load the drivers for your sata controller (it will usually nag you about them when you boot up ~~ you know the found new hardware song)
You will need to verify the sata controller is ready for use / its ok if your sata controller is identified as a scsi contoller or your hard drive is identifiewd as a scsi drive / most mobo's know that any controller other than the IDE controller must be a scsi controller !! LOL
any easy way to load the sata contoller drivers is go into the hard ware device manager and find you contoller by name / then right click on it / then load the drivers as you will see an update drivers command (you will need to put your drivers on a floppy disk / also I would check your mobo's web site they may have released better more current sata controller drivers by now then the one thats on your mobo cd ???? Just outta curosity did you load you main chip set drivers ????? do you see any yellow exclamation marks in the device manager ?????

#6) after you have addressed the above / then you must go into your bios and change the boot order to the following to load windows
floppy / cd-rom / third IDE boot device use the third ide boot device unless you can see your drive actually listed by name / computer bios always reserve the first and second hard drive boot description for (boot device 1 & 2) for IDE drives / computers love IDE they cling to them like a calf to momma / when you scare the computer it goes running back to momma.

let us know how you progress / ask more questions and give us the results of your diagnosis

regards

joe