How long should it take to format an external hard drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter J. Smith
  • Start date Start date
J

J. Smith

I have a Dell Latitude C640 running Windows XP.
I purchased a Western Digital USB 2.0 hard drive (80gb)
to use as an archive and backup storage.
I was using it just fine for several months but then
either detached it incorrectly, or powered it down
incorrectly. In either case, I lost all data that was on
it. Because I have another set of backups on CD, I chose
not to do the expensive route of sending it to a drive
recovery service. For that amount, I could buy a new
computer.

I am now trying to reformat the drive.
Per a recommendation from someone on the DELL COMMUNITY
FORUM, I downloaded Data Lifeguard for Windows (DLG) and
attempted to reformat with it. All looked well, and it
went very quickly, and informed me the drive was ready to
use. But Windows informed me that the drive needed to be
formatted. Instead, I rebooted my system, thinking I
needed that in order for whatever DLG had done required
restart. I then tried to go to the drive, and Windows
informed me again that the drive was not formatted; would
I like to format it? I selected yes. That was about 15
hours ago. The progress bar isn't making much progress.
The red light on the WD does periodically blink, so I
believe something is going on, but I fear at this rate,
it will take well over a week to format. Something must
not be right here. Any suggestions?

Yes, I am doing this from inside of Administrator group.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

- J. Smith
 
J. Smith said:
I like to format it? I selected yes. That was about 15
hours ago. The progress bar isn't making much progress.
The red light on the WD does periodically blink, so I
believe something is going on, but I fear at this rate,
it will take well over a week to format. Something must
not be right here. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

J.,

kill the process. That's not going anywhere. Something is wrong.

I can't tell what is wrong, but perhaps you could take the drive
to a computer shop and have them check it quickly.

Hans-Georg
 
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