help with formating and partitioning external 2 TB SATA drive

[eli4128]

I have a puzzling problem maybe someone out there has come across it already.

I recently purchased a WD 2 TB green SATA drive. I want to use it as an external backup for data only. To transfer data to and from the drive I use a Vantec Nexstar USB dock.

The main problem is the partitioning and formatting of the drive while in the USB dock. Windows 7 Ultimate keeps saying "you need to format drive in order to use it". When you try to select format in NTFS, windows says "unable to format drive."

I have tried the Windows disk managemnt tool and 3rd party software such as Mini Tool Partition Wizard without any success. I have ran the WD diagnostic tool and it does not indicate any bad sectors on the drive.

One final thing I tried is this. I plugged the 2 TB drive directly into my computer's enclosure. Disk managment immediatly recognized it and asked it to be formatted which I did using NTFS. I even saved some test files and programs on the 2 newly created partiitions. I then shut down the computer. Removed the drive from the computer and plugged it back into the USB dock and restarted the same computer. When I turned on the dock, Windows stated the same thing "you need to format the drive before using it...." I launched disk management and the 2 partitions that I just created with NTFS file system are now indicated as RAW and no data on the partitions.

Any ideas as what I should do regarding this drive. Thanks so much.

 

[Paperdoc]

If your brand new HDD has been successfully Partitioned and Formatted, and then worked properly for file storage and retrieval inside your computer, then the HDD itself is good. So, if it will not work when mounted in the external dock, the docking unit must be at fault. Contact Vantec or the company you bought it from to arrange a replacement under warranty. Unless, of course, they can tell you something you did not know that can make it work.