We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into two
partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.

I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management" but
when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had no File
System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."

Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility. Getting
there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed completely,
but I want to know for future maintenance.

Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:uj%(E-Mail Removed)...
> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into two
> partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>
> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management"
> but when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had
> no File System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."
>
> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility.
> Getting there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed
> completely, but I want to know for future maintenance.
>
> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.
>

Here is the general recipe:
- Click Start / Help
- Type Disk Management
- Pick the most likely subject

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into two
> partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>
> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management" but
> when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had no File
> System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."
>
> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility. Getting
> there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed completely,
> but I want to know for future maintenance.

Right click on My Computer, choose Manage :-)

> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.

I would use a floppy from the hard disk manufacturer but Seagate/Maxtor
isn't offering floppies any more. What brand name is your hard drive? If
Seagate or Maxtor, go to the Seagate web site and download their CD
which can wipe the HD clean and then partition and format it. Warning:
it can take awhile for the process to complete if you use the CD. Be
patient.

Alias

Zap or Wipe freeware will remove all partition information so you can start
over fresh with FDisk. Download it here:
http://www.digitalissues.co.uk/html/...-wipe-zap.html

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP 1997 - 2008


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:uj%(E-Mail Removed)...
> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into two
> partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>
> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management"
> but when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had
> no File System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."
>
> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility.
> Getting there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed
> completely, but I want to know for future maintenance.
>
> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.
>

This was a stock answer I used for W98--guess I ought to revise it for XP
and change the fdisk reference to Disk Management.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP 1997 - 2008


"Ron Badour" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Zap or Wipe freeware will remove all partition information so you can
> start over fresh with FDisk. Download it here:
> http://www.digitalissues.co.uk/html/...-wipe-zap.html
>
> --
> Regards
>
> Ron Badour
> MS MVP 1997 - 2008
>
>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:uj%(E-Mail Removed)...
>> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
>> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into two
>> partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
>> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
>> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
>> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>>
>> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management"
>> but when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had
>> no File System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."
>>
>> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility.
>> Getting there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed
>> completely, but I want to know for future maintenance.
>>
>> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
>> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.
>>
>
>

Perhaps I did not understand every bit of the IBM-wipe-zap reference, but
what I did understand leads me to wondoer if this IBM utility will work on a
60GB HD?
"Ron Badour" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Zap or Wipe freeware will remove all partition information so you can
> start over fresh with FDisk. Download it here:
> http://www.digitalissues.co.uk/html/...-wipe-zap.html
>
> --
> Regards
>
> Ron Badour
> MS MVP 1997 - 2008
>
>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:uj%(E-Mail Removed)...
>> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
>> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into two
>> partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
>> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
>> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
>> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>>
>> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management"
>> but when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had
>> no File System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."
>>
>> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility.
>> Getting there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed
>> completely, but I want to know for future maintenance.
>>
>> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
>> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.
>>
>
>
>

Confusing; bought a large hd and installed winxp on it, then you refer to a
60gb that was partitioned by a previous user.
If this is a second user sys, then in disk management Delete both partitions
on the 60gb - after all you dont know what was done on them

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Perhaps I did not understand every bit of the IBM-wipe-zap reference, but
> what I did understand leads me to wondoer if this IBM utility will work on
> a 60GB HD?
> "Ron Badour" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Zap or Wipe freeware will remove all partition information so you can
>> start over fresh with FDisk. Download it here:
>> http://www.digitalissues.co.uk/html/...-wipe-zap.html
>>
>> --
>> Regards
>>
>> Ron Badour
>> MS MVP 1997 - 2008
>>
>>
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:uj%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
>>> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into
>>> two partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
>>> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
>>> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
>>> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>>>
>>> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management"
>>> but when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had
>>> no File System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."
>>>
>>> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility.
>>> Getting there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed
>>> completely, but I want to know for future maintenance.
>>>
>>> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
>>> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Device Manager indicates that the 60GB HD is a Maxtor 96147H6. I went to
the Seagate website, and searched on "reformat" but the only thing I found
so far was a reference/redirection to a Windows KB article on how to use
Disk Management. Because Disk Management utterly fails to format the
logical G: drive, I need another approach.
Today, I used Disk Management to delete the partition/logical drive G:.
Then I deleted the F: partition also. Then I asked for F: to be
reformatted, actually expecting to be able to achieve a reformat of the
entire 60GB HD. Instead, Disk Management indicates that F: is only about 30
GB in size; as was the former partition.

What should I try next?

"Alias" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:ficitm$itp$(E-Mail Removed)...
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
>> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into two
>> partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
>> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
>> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
>> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>>
>> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management"
>> but when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had
>> no File System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."
>>
>> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility.
>> Getting there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed
>> completely, but I want to know for future maintenance.
>
> Right click on My Computer, choose Manage :-)
>
>> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
>> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.
>
> I would use a floppy from the hard disk manufacturer but Seagate/Maxtor
> isn't offering floppies any more. What brand name is your hard drive? If
> Seagate or Maxtor, go to the Seagate web site and download their CD which
> can wipe the HD clean and then partition and format it. Warning: it can
> take awhile for the process to complete if you use the CD. Be patient.
>
> Alias

Yep, Zap just wipes out the partitioning info so you can create and format
new partitions.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP 1997 - 2008


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Perhaps I did not understand every bit of the IBM-wipe-zap reference, but
> what I did understand leads me to wondoer if this IBM utility will work on
> a 60GB HD?
> "Ron Badour" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Zap or Wipe freeware will remove all partition information so you can
>> start over fresh with FDisk. Download it here:
>> http://www.digitalissues.co.uk/html/...-wipe-zap.html
>>
>> --
>> Regards
>>
>> Ron Badour
>> MS MVP 1997 - 2008
>>
>>
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:uj%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
>>> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into
>>> two partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
>>> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
>>> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
>>> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>>>
>>> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk Management"
>>> but when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and "healthy" but G had
>>> no File System type shown, although it was also called "healthy."
>>>
>>> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility.
>>> Getting there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have failed
>>> completely, but I want to know for future maintenance.
>>>
>>> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
>>> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>

The C: drive is the new 320 GB. No problem there. Disk Management
identifies this as Disk 0. The second physical drive is a Maxtor 96147H6,
which is 60GB, and identified by Disk Management as Disk 1. After I deleted
both old partitions, Disk Management now reports Disk 1 as being
unallocated, but only 31.39 GB in size, which is about half of the true
size. Browsing around in Disk Management, I see that the "Maxtor 96147H6
Properties" window indicates that the "partition style" is Master Boot
Record, and the capacity is 32248 MB.

What may I do to get the drive to be seen as its full 60 GB capacity?

"DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Confusing; bought a large hd and installed winxp on it, then you refer to
> a 60gb that was partitioned by a previous user.
> If this is a second user sys, then in disk management Delete both
> partitions on the 60gb - after all you dont know what was done on them
>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Perhaps I did not understand every bit of the IBM-wipe-zap reference, but
>> what I did understand leads me to wondoer if this IBM utility will work
>> on a 60GB HD?
>> "Ron Badour" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Zap or Wipe freeware will remove all partition information so you can
>>> start over fresh with FDisk. Download it here:
>>> http://www.digitalissues.co.uk/html/...-wipe-zap.html
>>>
>>> --
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Ron Badour
>>> MS MVP 1997 - 2008
>>>
>>>
>>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:uj%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>> We bought a new 320 GB internal drive and installed WinXP Pro on it. A
>>>> previous user of a 60 GB hard drive seems to have partitioned it into
>>>> two partitions of approx. 30 GB each. Drive letters are F and G. We
>>>> reformatted Logical drive F: NTFS without a problem. All attempts to
>>>> format G: fail. It is not possible to open G:. What we want to do is
>>>> reformat the entire 60GB physical drive, as a single partition.
>>>>
>>>> I have lost my notes on the navigation path to get to "Disk
>>>> Management" but when I got there, F: was identified as NTFS and
>>>> "healthy" but G had no File System type shown, although it was also
>>>> called "healthy."
>>>>
>>>> Please remind me of how to navigate to the Disk Management utility.
>>>> Getting there will not enable me to format G, as my attempts have
>>>> failed completely, but I want to know for future maintenance.
>>>>
>>>> Please tell me how I can force the operating system to delete both
>>>> partitions and reformat the entire 60GB.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
>