Hard Drive Wont' Format

5423 Views 10 Replies 3 Participants Last post by BCCOMP, May 29, 2008

deakerbill

Discussion Starter · May 26, 2008

I was given a new WD sata2 hard drive and installed a PCI card and tried to install the hard drive as a second drive in my xp box. It is about 5 years+ old. The card and drive all seem to work and recognize however the drive will not format after it has tried either a full or quick format on a full partition. I am abit of a newbie and I am wonder what i should do.
:normal:

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BCCOMP

· #2 · May 27, 2008

Hi Deakerbill,
Does your BIOS detect the new harddrive?
Can you see the drive in My Computer? If it is not formated XP will not regonize it.
Right Click My Computer>Manage>Disk Management
You should "see" 2 partitions. The first being your 0 disk C: drive (Colored in blue).

DO NOT Touch this Drive or Partition as it is your Operating System.

The second should show as disk 1 unallocated (Colored in black), about the size of the new drive.
Can you see this unallocated partition in disk management?
Bill

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deakerbill

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 27, 2008

Yes, I created the partition in the new drive and when I try to format it I get the message" the format did not completely successfully.

the drive is listed as healthy and in the manage window and I have created just one big partition.

Not sure about bios although i assume if xp sees the drive then I think so does bios

DB

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BCCOMP

· #4 · May 27, 2008

I would disconnect the C: Drive, so not to loose your Operating system.
Then I would run the diagnostic program from WD on the sata drive. It is the Data Lifeguard program:
http://support.wdc.com/download/?cxml=n&pid=999&swid=3
You may have a faulty HD.
Bill

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deakerbill

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 27, 2008

ran the test these are the results

Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Model Number: WDC WD800AAJS-00PSA0
Unit Serial Number: WD-WMAP9D685765
Firmware Number: 05.06H05
Capacity: 9.13 GB
SMART Status: Not Available
Test Result: FAIL
Test Error Code: 08-Too many bad sectors detected.
Test Time: 00:30:45, May 27, 2008

It looks like I need a new hard drive or is there something I can run to fix it.

DB

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BCCOMP

· #6 · May 27, 2008 (Edited)

You have a damaged HD.
You could try this to see if it helps and run the diagnostics again:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/29
A low level format
Was this a "New" HD or a used one?
If you paid for it I would get my money back.
Bill
PS-Sorry for the edit, getting tired

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deakerbill

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 28, 2008

After more frustration I have come to realise it is not the Hard drive I got a new one today and the same problem. I have updated the bios and the controller drivers but the same problem.

Is it possible that since my other drive is connected to the MB with the big ribbon connector and this new one is connected to the controller that is the problem? I do have space on the PCI card to connect the other system HD to the the card with the ribbon wire. The card even came with a ribbon wire

DB

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BCCOMP

· #8 · May 28, 2008

Is it a Sata HD? Sata's do not use a ribbon cable.
You maybe better off to get a IDE HD and slave it to the ribbon cable on the original HD that is connected to the Motherboard.
There should be (on most PC) a connection in the middle of the ribbon cable (Gray Connection) for a Slaved HD.
The PCI card may have issues of not installing properly. I have seen many of these cards creating issues.
Bill

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Mucko

· #9 · May 28, 2008

I dunno if Im following this right. But if you are using ribbon wire and not the sata cord. Make sure the ribbon you are using is not one of the older kind with thicker lines. Around 40 lines. The newer have fine lines around 100 lines for faster transfer. I had a problem like this way back when and thats what fixed it. Good luck.

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deakerbill

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 29, 2008

Solved ---Sort Of

The pci card had two sata and one traditional ribbon connections.

My solution was to return the PCI card about $40 and buy an external drive case that works with sata II about $25 and use the drive as an external off my USB. I just couldn't waste anymore time trying to resolve the conflicting drivers, hardware and bios.

Thank you to everyone who tried to find me a solution.

Cheers
DB

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BCCOMP

· #11 · May 29, 2008

Glad you sorted it out.
Sorry we could not get the PCI card setup working properly.
Bill

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