How to format USB HDD? (newbie)

[wintermute]

I've just got a 2.5" hard dive in a USB enclosure for external storage. The
drive (an IBM Travelstar) is recognised by the system as an IBM USB device
but no drive letter is assigned. I'm thinking that this is because it's a
new drive and unformatted. I've never used an external hard drive before.
Could anyone please tell me how to format it as an NTFS drive under Windows
2000 Pro? Thanks in advance.

 

[MiniDisc_2k2]

I've just got a 2.5" hard dive in a USB enclosure for external storage. The
drive (an IBM Travelstar) is recognised by the system as an IBM USB device

IBM USB device? Sounds like just a generic name.
Go to control panel->system->device manager (or something like that, I have
XP), and check to see that you have no question marks for hardware. That
would indicate a driver is missing for a device. Also check to see that
there are no Xs or !s. An X means that the device is disabled, just click
the enable button, a ! means a problem with the device.

but no drive letter is assigned. I'm thinking that this is because it's a
new drive and unformatted.

No. The drive letter is still assigned. You do have to format it, as well as
partition it, but the drive letter should still be assigned, right after you
plug it in.

I've never used an external hard drive before.
Could anyone please tell me how to format it as an NTFS drive under Windows
2000 Pro? Thanks in advance.

You won't be able to until you partition it . It may already be
partitioned for you, I'm not sure, but if it isn't, there should be software
to help you through that, as I don't think you can use fdisk here. Once you
get a drive letter, you just right click on it from my computer and go to
format, select the options you want.

Of course, first you'll need to find out the real problem. Your drive not
being formatted is not the problem, be sure it's connected firmly and try
moving it to another port. If that still doesn't work, try calling technical
support for that company or getting an RMA.

-- MiniDisc_2k2
To reply, replace nospam.com with cox dot net.

 

[wintermute]

Of course, first you'll need to find out the real problem. Your drive not
being formatted is not the problem, be sure it's connected firmly and try
moving it to another port. If that still doesn't work, try calling technical
support for that company or getting an RMA.

Thanks for responding. Much appreciated.

I've tried attaching it to my USB2.0 PCI card and to an external powered
USB2.0 hub, but no luck. It still detects as an IBM-DJSA-210 USB device
under the disk drives category in device manager. There are no "!" or "X"
symbols showing in device manager. I'll try the tech support but I'm not
sure how helpful they'll be, as I bought the drive second hand. Don't know
what an RMA is I'm afraid.

 

[MiniDisc_2k2]

Unless things are different with USB drives (and I can't see any reason why
they would be) this is incorrect. A new hard drive connected directly using
an IDE cable won't have a drive letter until it is partitioned.

That's probably all this problem is. Setting up new drives in Windows 2000
is much easier than in 9x. Right-click My Computer and choose Manage. Under
Storage click on Disk Management. I am assuming that the drive will be shown
here just as it is when you connect it using an IDE cable, but I really
don't know. Anyway, the device should be listed in the bottom half of the
screen. Right-click it and there should be an option to partition it. Once
you have done that it should be assigned a drive letter, and you just need
to format it (again, by right-clicking and choosing the obvious, or by
right-clicking the drive in My Computer).

Please tell us what happens either way. I am making a few assumptions about
the way this works, and having never setup a USB enclosure before I'm
interested to see if they are correct or not.

Gareth

I can't believe I said that. Wow I must have been drunk that day. Yes I know
perfectly well that until it's partitioned it won't have a drive letter.
Sorry about the misinformation.

Yes do partition the hard drive. Run fdisk, whatever. Hopefully, however,
your hard drive came with some software that'll run easier than fdisk (I
don't believe that fdisk can partition a usb drive)

 

[MiniDisc_2k2]

I've tried attaching it to my USB2.0 PCI card and to an external powered

USB2.0 hub, but no luck. It still detects as an IBM-DJSA-210 USB device
under the disk drives category in device manager.

If it's under the disk drives category then it's probably being recognized
correctly. does 210 have any relevance to your device, for example, 210GB,
2100 rpm, 210MB/sec, etc.?

There are no "!" or "X"
symbols showing in device manager. I'll try the tech support but I'm not
sure how helpful they'll be, as I bought the drive second hand. Don't know
what an RMA is I'm afraid.

An RMA is just a request to replace the device for online orders. You
request an RMA from the manufacturer's or retailer's website, and then they
give you a number. You package the product and write the number on the front
of the box, and then ship it how they told you to. If you didn't buy this
online and you can still return it to the retailer, that'll be easier, but
if you can't return it to the retailer you could probably go to the
manufacturer's website and get an RMA for a warranty.

 

[wintermute]

Thanks both. I'll try that later tonight and get back to you.

 

[wintermute]

Please tell us what happens either way. I am making a few assumptions
about

the way this works, and having never setup a USB enclosure before I'm
interested to see if they are correct or not.

Gareth

I sorted it out finally. Following the path:
control panel > administrative tools > computer management > storage > disk
management
I found the drive listed as an unallocated volume and was able to set up an
NTFS partition and format it. Didn't even need to reboot. I don't know if
this path works for Windows 2000 though. I upgraded to XP Pro between my
first post and this one. Many thanks for all the advice. I wouldn't have
known where to begin without it.

 

[Gareth Church]

I sorted it out finally. Following the path:
control panel > administrative tools > computer management > storage > disk
management
I found the drive listed as an unallocated volume and was able to set up an
NTFS partition and format it. Didn't even need to reboot. I don't know if
this path works for Windows 2000 though.

Sure does. It gets you to the same spot as right-clicking My Computer and
choosing Manage. It is cool how you don't have to reboot. That really
impressed me when I first saw it (especially having come from the
you-just-looked-at-your-network-settings-so-now-I-want-to-reboot world that
is Windows 98). The whole process sure beats the hell out of using a boot
disk and fdisking/formatting.

I upgraded to XP Pro between my
first post and this one. Many thanks for all the advice. I wouldn't have
known where to begin without it.

Any time.

Gareth

 

[Linechaser]

Sure does. It gets you to the same spot as right-clicking My Computer and
choosing Manage. It is cool how you don't have to reboot. That really
impressed me when I first saw it (especially having come from the
you-just-looked-at-your-network-settings-so-now-I-want-to-reboot world that
is Windows 98). The whole process sure beats the hell out of using a boot
disk and fdisking/formatting.


Any time.

Gareth

I was wondering, can you format to fat32 the same way?

 

[wintermute]

I was wondering, can you format to fat32 the same way?

I may be wrong but I don't think that 2000 or XP will format a drive as
anything but NTFS. I haven't got a spare drive to test it out on right now.
If you can get hold of Acronis OS Selector though, the disk management tool
will let you partition and format drives in a variety of filesystems,
Windows and otherwise. Can't use it on a USB drive though, because the DOS
that it runs on has no USB drivers so it wouldn't be seen.

 

[Marc Reinig]

Win2K and XP both support Fat32 and NTFS.

Marc Reinig
System Solutions

 

[Jim Turner]

I may be wrong but I don't think that 2000 or XP will format a drive as
anything but NTFS. I haven't got a spare drive to test it out on right now.
If you can get hold of Acronis OS Selector though, the disk management tool
will let you partition and format drives in a variety of filesystems,
Windows and otherwise. Can't use it on a USB drive though, because the DOS
that it runs on has no USB drivers so it wouldn't be seen.

Windows XP/2000 will both format in FAT16 or FAT32, but are limited on
the size of a FAT32 partition (i think the limit is 32gb, but I could
be wrong). When you use disk manager, FAT is an option.

Jim

 

[ahowey]

I've just got a 2.5" hard dive in a USB enclosure for external storage. The
drive (an IBM Travelstar) is recognised by the system as an IBM USB device
but no drive letter is assigned. I'm thinking that this is because it's a
new drive and unformatted. I've never used an external hard drive before.
Could anyone please tell me how to format it as an NTFS drive under Windows
2000 Pro? Thanks in advance.

Hi guys, I had the same problem with my USB hard drive and did not know where to find the FORMAT option. Thanks to this post I was able to assign a drive letter and to format my USB dirve. Thank you very much !!!

 

[JohnnyBoyClub]

I've just got a 2.5" hard dive in a USB enclosure for external storage. The
drive (an IBM Travelstar) is recognised by the system as an IBM USB device
but no drive letter is assigned. I'm thinking that this is because it's a
new drive and unformatted. I've never used an external hard drive before.
Could anyone please tell me how to format it as an NTFS drive under Windows
2000 Pro? Thanks in advance.

You could go to Device Manager and set it from there or you can run the "add Hardware" wizard to find it .
Also you should use any backup software to keep your files safe in case of any errors .
You can use a free software called http://www.dmailer.com/dmailer-backup.html .