WINDOWS CAN'T FORMAT EXTERNAL 1TB Hard drive

[yethapot]

My case, Im using my external hard drive which is 1TB, I cant proceed to diskpart or any other ways because after I click format disk, windows says, "Windows can't format F".. due to read only. Search for read only and how to change them. and it disappear/unrecognized by the computer that runs windows 7.

I'm sure that there is no problem with the hard drive itself and with the usb 3.0 cable because before it happens, I already used that to save movies etc and when I try to plugged it in our televison it runs. I can used it to play movie in dvd or in tv but in pc, I cant.

I dont know what to do then. How can i fix this? Help please! Thanks..

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-performance/external-hard-drive-remove-write-protection/6320592e-3986-4e9a-9df2-ab0d1e8e85cc

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, yethapot!

Follow Phillip's link and see if it will resolve the issue. Can you tell me how you tried to format it?
I'd suggest to take a look at this article and see if any of the troubleshooting steps here will be useful to you: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=M3MhkX
If you haven't tried it yet, I'd suggest to attempt formatting the drive using Command prompt in Windows 7 (Make sure you Run CMD as administrator). Here is a tutorial: https://www.techhack.co.uk/2011/03/31/format-a-hard-drive-with-command-prompt/

Keep us posted! Hope this helps!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[yethapot]

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-performance/external-hard-drive-remove-write-protection/6320592e-3986-4e9a-9df2-ab0d1e8e85cc

Hey there, yethapot!

Follow Phillip's link and see if it will resolve the issue. Can you tell me how you tried to format it?
I'd suggest to take a look at this article and see if any of the troubleshooting steps here will be useful to you: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=M3MhkX
If you haven't tried it yet, I'd suggest to attempt formatting the drive using Command prompt in Windows 7 (Make sure you Run CMD as administrator). Here is a tutorial: https://www.techhack.co.uk/2011/03/31/format-a-hard-drive-with-command-prompt/

Keep us posted! Hope this helps!
SuperSoph_WD

Thanks for the response, After plugging in my external hard drive, theres a windows pop up/dialog box saying "You need to format the disk drive F before you can use it" and then I click Format Disk but I cant proceed in my formatting because whenever I tried, the windows says, "WINDOWS CANT FORMAT the drive." and then my hard drive became unrecognized.

I also tried to format that using cmd but but my hard drive doesnt included in the list disk...

 

[yethapot]

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-performance/external-hard-drive-remove-write-protection/6320592e-3986-4e9a-9df2-ab0d1e8e85cc

Thanks for your response but same problem with the other, I could'nt found the map/file StorageDevicePolicies or the step no.8, so what should I do then?..Thanks again..

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Thanks for the response, but I cant proceed in my formatting because whenever I tried, the windows says, "WINDOWS CANT FORMAT the drive." and then my hard drive became unrecognized.

I also tried to format that using cmd but but my hard drive doesnt included in the list disk...

Another thing you can try, yethapot, is deleting the partition and volume in Disk Management until you have unallocated space. Then you can start from scratch and create a new simple partition, afterwards you should be able to use the HDD.
I'd also suggest running chkdsk /r on that drive through Command prompt, this would fix the bad sectors.
Here's a tutorial that can help you (following the second option): http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html
Then try to wipe it again.

Keep us posted!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[yethapot]

Thanks for the response, but I cant proceed in my formatting because whenever I tried, the windows says, "WINDOWS CANT FORMAT the drive." and then my hard drive became unrecognized.

I also tried to format that using cmd but but my hard drive doesnt included in the list disk...

Another thing you can try, yethapot, is deleting the partition and volume in Disk Management until you have unallocated space. Then you can start from scratch and create a new simple partition, afterwards you should be able to use the HDD.
I'd also suggest running chkdsk /r on that drive through Command prompt, this would fix the bad sectors.
Here's a tutorial that can help you (following the second option): http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html
Then try to wipe it again.

Keep us posted!
SuperSoph_WD

Thanks again. After plugging in my external hard drive, It DOESNT appears in my Disk Management and in disk drive in device manager. I tried to open it into cmd / disk part but it doesnt recognized. Because after few minutes plugging in it, the windows say to format the drive and it became UNRECOGNIZED. I also use Samsung Drive manager (Samsung M3 Poratble Hard drive) but even that software doesnt recognized my external drive..

The thought that I cannot use my external hard drive anymore made me stressed..

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hi again, yethapot!

I'd suggest to try the external drive with a different USB cable and probably on another computer.
Check if it will get detected there properly in both Device Manager and Disk Manager.
I also suggest to check your HDD manufacturer's website for a diagnostics utility that will test the drive and let you know what is the health and SMART status.

I hope it gets detected! Keep me posted though!
SuperSoph_WD