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    mitchsc's Avatar
    mitchsc Posts: 802, Reputation: 7
    Senior Member
    		  
    #1

    Dec 22, 2012, 07:37 AM
    Hard Drive Won't Format after Improper Shutdown.
    It's not what you think based on the title.

    (Running Windows 7 Home Premium)

    I was in the middle of doing a full format of a new 1TB HDD using a SATA to USB adapter, when I stupidly hit he sleep button half way through.

    I have tried everything to get the HDD to format since then and I just get errors.
    I tried Wiping the drive with Active Kill Disk, but it just hangs up in the middle.
    I re-initialized the drive. No change.
    Used disk manager, didn't work.
    I haven't been able to find a solution through Google.

    I don't know if this is meaningful info, but out of desperation, I tried cloning the drive which usually overwrites anything. The cloning software told me it could not start the clone since the "block sizes are different". The source HDD is 953,870MB and the messed up destination HDD is 953,877MB (7MB more). I checked every 1TB HDD I have, and they are all 953,870MB.

    So that's the background. I have 2 questions:

    1) Did I damage the HDD?

    2) If not, is there something I haven't tried to get it operating properly?

    Thanks very much. (sorry for the long post)
    cdad's Avatar
    cdad Posts: 12,700, Reputation: 1438
    Internet Research Expert
    		  
    #2

    Dec 23, 2012, 08:17 AM
    What have you tried as far as initializing the drive? Did you try Fdisk? You may need to repartion the drive and start with a fresh format.
    GrantHillsSA's Avatar
    GrantHillsSA Posts: 405, Reputation: 9
    Full Member
    		  
    #3

    Dec 28, 2012, 10:23 PM
    The hard drive is most likely damaged but try the following...

    USB Adapter faulty - Try plugging the hard drive straight onto the system and try and format then.
    Still not working, try cleaning the disk with the diskpart utility in windows.

    **Disk part is very dangerous so be careful.

    Open command prompt and type: diskpart
    Once opened type list disk (Find the Disk you want to clean, Disk 1,2,3... )
    Now type: Select Disk and the corresponding number. Ex. Select Disk 5
    Now type clean

    Try formatting now and if it does not work return the drive to your supplier for a warranty claim.
    bfordz's Avatar
    bfordz Posts: 16, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #4

    Mar 3, 2013, 02:10 PM
    What brand HDD is it? Most HDD manufacturers have their own disc diagnostic utility software you can download and run to test the HDD for errors.

    Try that and see what it tells you. Most also have a utility within that diagnostic software to completely wipe the disc to start fresh again. It's worth a try, plus if it tests bad it should give you a failure code to use for a warranty exchange.
    mitchsc's Avatar
    mitchsc Posts: 802, Reputation: 7
    Senior Member
    		  
    #5

    Mar 3, 2013, 02:23 PM
    Hi bfordz,

    Thanks for the info. I spent so much time on this, I recently gave up and trashed the HDD.

    BTW: I did wipe the drive and start from that, but no luck.

    Thanks again.
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