Formatting 2nd hard drive

[Newtechie]

Hi all -

I'm getting a second hard in addition to the one I already have. It'll be
160gb drive. The plans are to use this as a storage drive (slave). My
question is: how can I format the drive using ntfs without installing an
operating system?

Thanks in advance,
Newtechie

 

[Alias]

Hi all -

I'm getting a second hard in addition to the one I already have. It'll be
160gb drive. The plans are to use this as a storage drive (slave). My
question is: how can I format the drive using ntfs without installing an
operating system?

Thanks in advance,
Newtechie

By downloading your hard drive manufacturer's program to format and
partition the hard drive; put it on a floppy, then reboot and follow the
instructions.

Alias

 

[Newtechie]

Hi -

I'm not sure if I understand what you're saying. What manufacturer's
program?

Newtechie

 

[Alias]

Hi -

I'm not sure if I understand what you're saying. What manufacturer's
program?

Newtechie

If your hard disk was made by Maxtor, for example, you would go to
www.maxtor.com and download the program for your hard drive. Look on the
outside of the hard drive to check and see what model it is. If it's
Seagate, go to www.seagate.com, etc. and copy the download to a floppy. Then
put the new hard drive in your machine, making sure the new hard drive's
pins are set for "slave", and boot up with the floppy in your floppy drive
and follow the instructions. You can format and partition your new drive
with this program and it is very user friendly

Alias

 

[Newtechie]

Oh ok. I gotcha! Thanks for the info. It's a Western Digital.

 

[Newtechie]

I see all types of software downloads. There's diagnostic utilities,
drivers, and a bios check program. Which one do I choose?

Newtechie

 

[Michael Dauria]

Whats the master? If the master has XP and you can boot into an operating
system then you can just go to "Computer management" and partition and
format the drive.

 

[Tim Slattery]

Hi all -

I'm getting a second hard in addition to the one I already have. It'll be
160gb drive. The plans are to use this as a storage drive (slave). My
question is: how can I format the drive using ntfs without installing an
operating system?

Easily. After installing the disk, go to Start|Programs|Administrative
Tools|Computer Management, and get the disk manager program running.
(I'm at work and my employer locks us out of that program, so I can't
give detailed instructions from here). That program will allow you to
create one or more partitions on your new drive, then format it. Then
it will be ready for use.

 

[Alias]

Easily. After installing the disk, go to Start|Programs|Administrative
Tools|Computer Management, and get the disk manager program running.
(I'm at work and my employer locks us out of that program, so I can't
give detailed instructions from here). That program will allow you to
create one or more partitions on your new drive, then format it. Then
it will be ready for use.

Didn't know about that. Is that feature available in W2K or only in XP?

Alias

 

[Yves Leclerc]

The drive is an interbal unit then? If so, the Disk Managment is where you
will need to go to.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Available in Windows 2000 and XP. Network administrator have the knowledge
on "blocking" access to the Disk Managment system so that the ordinary users
do not mess up a working system.

 

[Newtechie]

Thank you guys! I'll most definitely try that. You have been of great
help.

Newtechie

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

I'm getting a second hard in addition to the one I already have.
It'll be 160gb drive. The plans are to use this as a storage drive
(slave). My question is: how can I format the drive using ntfs
without installing an operating system?

Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administrative Tools |
Computer Management | Disk Management. Right-click on the drive
and choose Format.

 

[Plato]

I'm getting a second hard in addition to the one I already have. It'll be
160gb drive. The plans are to use this as a storage drive (slave). My
question is: how can I format the drive using ntfs without installing an
operating system?

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=309000

 

[Tim Slattery]

In


Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administrative Tools |
Computer Management | Disk Management. Right-click on the drive
and choose Format.

He did specifically ask about formatting the drive, but he'd have to
create at least one partition before there would be anything to
format. (I think he's talking about a new drive.)

 

[John R Weiss]

Didn't know about that. Is that feature available in W2K or only in XP?

It has been available since NT 3.5, at least...

 

[John R Weiss]

By downloading your hard drive manufacturer's program to format and
partition the hard drive; put it on a floppy, then reboot and follow the
instructions.

In general, a mfgr's driver program should not be needed to format a HD,
unless the computer is an older one with a BIOS that does not support LBA
(Logical Block Addressing).

All that should be necessary is to physically install the HD, then partition
and format it using the XP Disk Manager.

If the BIOS does not support 160 GB volumes, you might have to divide the
partition into 2 logical drives.

 

[Ron Sommer]

Why is it that none of the replies mentioned that SP1 has to be installed
for a 160 GB drive?

 

[Alias]

I did suggest he download the SP and try it again if you had read my post.

Alias

 

[Ron Sommer]

You had three posts and you said download a program from the manufacture's
web site.
Which post said SP1?