Formating A Drive?

[healimonster]

this is an off-shoot thread of my problem currently residing in an old thread OEM hard drive installation.

I installed a new slave drive, bios recognized it, and the device manager sees it and states that it is functional.

But it is not showing up under the my computer window, and I never formated it. I have never installed a HD before so I really don't know what to do.

The drive seems to be up and running, but I can't use it apparently.

I am using a new computer running XP.

Thanks

[mobboss01]

This is usually done for a network drive, but try right clicking on "My Computer" icon on the desktop. Select map network drive, and select a letter that is not already in use. Perhaps it will show then.

When installing drives, usually I would set the jumper to determine the drives function automatically. This is done by moving the jumper to another configuration spot. Look at the installation guide to be sure of the correct position.

Also, an easy way to format a drive would be to use partition magic once the drive is found. You can also convert the file format to NTFS if it is FAT with partition magic.

Good luck. And, I am sure there is a better fix, but try what I told you to try in the first paragraph. That is how I add drives at work. I don't know if it works for local drives though.

[alan36uk]

How big is the drive ? maybe you need to do an fdisk on it ?
Drives can be recognised but if not formatted correctly it wont work.
Clutching at straws here maybe.

[healimonster]

yeah i put the jumper in the slave spot.

when you have a slave drive.. how does it show up on your "my computer" screen?

[healimonster]

its an western digital 80 gig drive.

it should be noted that it is an OEM drive... which means that it is new but it came with no instructions or software.

I probably have to down load some installation software.

[ooo]

err dont u usally have to format the drive for a first time before use!??!

[Crazycol]

It sounds like you have to Fdisk the drive, If you formatted the master as NTFS or FAT32 does it need to be the same?, It's only a suggestion if I'm wrong.

[alan36uk]

Your bios will recognise it if the jumper is placed correctly !!!
Windows wont like it unless you format it !!!
So goto the dos prompt and type in the drive letter...
If your unsure unplug the other one(S)
c: will be the default...
so type format c: and it will be done.
You will need a boot disk..
Never done it in windows before but maybe someone else
has some insight ?

[healimonster]

I have not formated it ...

I think... that is what i am doing right now.

I am in the process of using windows installation wizard.

it is asking me question i don't know the answer to.

question 1

create a primary or extended partition? from what the box describes, i think i want a primary partition?

2

choose a partition size between the maximum and minimum size. what size do I choose if i just want the largest unpartitioned drive? the largest number possible?


3
assign a letter or a drive path? I take it I want a letter.

4
choose whether to format this partition.... format using the following settings
NTFS ( i know i want this setting)
allocation unit size: default or a bunch of different K sizes

and a volume label.
then there are other things like preform quick format (i probably don't want that, I have time to spare) and enable file or folder compression (i guess I do want this?)


any suggestions would be great help

[ooo]

well last time i was talking to someone... it couldnt read his new drive and i told him to format it first... and then it worked... so i unno... try formatting it... like u said u didnt format it yet!

[healimonster]

yes you beat me to it.

I didn't know how to format it .. now i do... but I have to choose all these options (listed above) that i could use some help with.

[ooo]

so u formated it yet?

[healimonster]

no I am afraid i will choose the wrong options to the questions listed above.

[Nobody1234]

You need to have a partition on the drive before you can format it.

If you are using Win95/98/ME then use the 'Startup' floppy diskette and use 'fdisk' to create your partitions.

If you are using Windows XP, bootup your PC with the bootable XP CD and use the built in utilities to create your partitions. If your system will not boot the CD then download the 6 floppy boot set. (Search google to find it.)

After you have the drive partitioned you will be able to format them from within 'My Computer' in Windows.

[accat13]

did you try going to the manufacturers web site and downloading there instalation hardware. It will partition the drive..Ive never done a western digitial only a maxtor..They have a program called maxblast I,m sure western has an equivalent western digitial downloads (http://support.wdc.com/download/) have a look around here...

[healimonster]

I couldn't find anything of interest to download there...
but i did read their FAQs

which told me how to format a drive... which was what i needed to do.

so i did it ... and now i am cooking with gas.

the 80 gig drive is in and working... all is well.

thank you all