Cant Format Hard Drive?!

[smokebelch]

Hi im having some crazy frustrating problems. Trying to format my hard drive.

First

Second when i use my windows cd (burned my own backup) and try to get in to windows repair (am on 7) it says repair not compatible (or something to that effect) but i know that it is the exact cd i installed windows off.

I have 1 SSD running win 7x64 now

the hdd i want to reformat has win7x32 on it.

I have tried everything i can think of. even gave myself permission to wipe all files on the hard drive and just tried a basic delete but it wouldnt let me.

Thanks in advance

 

[smokebelch]

comp specs

 

[Hawkeye22]

Use diskpart to "clean" the drive then use disk management to create partitions and format.

If the hard drive was attached when installing the OS onto the SSD, some system files (like the boot loader) may have been deposited on the hard drive which is why it won't let you format it. I'm not sure if diskpart has the same limitations, but if you do manage to clean the drive with diskpart there is the possibility that you may no longer be able to boot. This is why it's always best to install the OS with only one drive attached - the drive the OS will be installed to.

 

[smokebelch]

am struggling to get to grips with it. i keep selecting the disk

eg

list disk
select disk 0
format (what else do i have to type?)

 

[smokebelch]

is it possible that when i installed windows it automatically used the hdd as crash dump etc even though i told win7 to install on the SSD?

it wont let me clean/format or do anything to the disk

 

[smokebelch]

Im not worried about data recovery. I just want to wipe it. Will that program work?

 

[microlove]

As far as i know, some free partition manager have built-in "wipe hard drive" function.

 

[Hawkeye22]

am struggling to get to grips with it. i keep selecting the disk

eg

list disk
select disk 0
format (what else do i have to type?)

Instead of format, did you try clean or clean all?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766465%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

You can also try UBCD and use one of it's utilities to wipe the drive. It should work since you won't be booted into the OS.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

http://www.dban.org/

 

[smokebelch]

i did try clean. will try clean all. its really hesitant as it thinks the current windows is using some files in there :/ getting annoying :/

 

[fantastik250]

You should try Gparted. I have used it when experimenting with a multi-boot setup with ubuntu and windows xp.

 

[Hawkeye22]

See if you can access diskpart via safe mode.

 

[smokebelch]

Accessed diskpart in safe mode got this. Virtual Disk Service Error: Clean is not allowed on the disk containing the current boot, system, pagefile, crashdump or hibernation volume (which i know it isnt?) unless i magically bought a 980gb SSD xD

I used clean and clean all

EDIT: ok so ive found Active@ Killdisk is it safe? seems to be able to wipe the drive.

if anyone has any idea why this has happened i would love to know. its so odd

 

[fantastik250]

Turn off computer, unplug your HDD and reboot into your SSD (Make sure your bios priority boot is from your SSD). Then turn off computer, re-plug your HDD and try to format or delete partitions from your HDD.

Make sure your BIOS set are not IDE/RAID config for your both hard drives.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Was there previously an OS on that drive? If not, was the drive connected to the system when you installed windows on the SSD? If it was connected, it's possible that windows put the boot loader on the hard drive and the OS on the SSD. One way to find out for sure - can you boot if you disconnect the hard drive?

 

[Hawkeye22]

This is actually one of the things that not a lot of people think about. The Windows boot loader can be a real pain in the butt, and it's typically and such.

That's why whenever I install a windows OS, I make sure only the boot drive is attached to the system. This forces windows to put the boot loader and OS on the same drive. many people are surprised when they remove a "secondary" drive and they can no longer boot or get the dreaded "NTLDR is missing".

 

[fantastik250]

^+1

One drive installs are the best.

 

[smokebelch]

So it turns out windows 7 has this 'clever' idea of adding system files to your spare hdd.. which really ruined my day. i had to full reformat and unplug the hdd whilst installing win7 did the trick. both working fine n dandy now.

1 last question. Will an HDD benefit from a 6gbps sata port compared to 3? or does it max out anyhew? any reason not to plug in to the 6gbps slot?

 

[fantastik250]

No, an HDD will not max out a SATA 3Gbps/6Gbps port. But it will get better performance when using a SATA port compared to using an IDE port.

 

[smokebelch]

so the HDD is plugged in to a sata 3gbps at the moment. plugging it in to a 6gbps wont make a difference? That saves me opening up the pc then

Thanks

 

[fantastik250]

no difference

 

[Hawkeye22]

So it turns out windows 7 has this 'clever' idea of adding system files to your spare hdd.. which really ruined my day. i had to full reformat and unplug the hdd whilst installing win7 did the trick. both working fine n dandy now.

1 last question. Will an HDD benefit from a 6gbps sata port compared to 3? or does it max out anyhew? any reason not to plug in to the 6gbps slot?

For future reference, XP and Vista also try to seperate their boot loader and OS. Stick with just a single drive when installing the OS and you won't have to worry about it down the road.