USB HDD asking to be Formatted when inserted?

Hey guys, i'm hoping someone has experienced this or know how to go about fixing this issue that i'm having.

I have a USB to SATA Enclosure that I put a 2.5" HDD into (that I took out of my netbook) which I used for Backups etc. Now all of a sudden I connect the drive to my computer via USB and Windows is asking me to Format the drive. Reluctant, but eventually tried it as I seemed to have no other choice; it wouldn't even format the drive.

Is there some program I could use to at least format the drive so that I can use it again? I don't mind losing my Backups.

Please see the attached images for further details.

FYI: If I right click the drive in Explorer and select Open it just asks me to Format.

Any help would be much apreciated.

 

If you have an xbox 360 or ps3 try to format with them , if it works then format with windows.

 

Sometimes if you disconnect it wrong, the hard drive detection will bug.

 

Also you could go into "disk management" in windows and see if you can delete the partition on the hdd and re-make and format it.

 

Well I didn't get to try the Format using my PS3 as i'm @ work atm. But I did try this suggestion and that worked. Yes I losed my Backups but the Drive is now working fine again and I shall continue backing up my Netbook now. Thanks a Million Tinder! +10 and +Rep.

I did go into Disk Management before to try and access the drive's folders there (with no luck); Why I didn't try deleting the partition though, idk.

 

Make sure you run a full scandisk of it. Odd flakeouts like that scare me, they often portend the ending of a drive's life.

 

^^^ Thanks for that recommendation. Did a scan via Windows 7 built-in Scan Disk utility and it found no issues. I guess I will be a bit more careful and start actually using the Safely Remove device feature. Thanks all for the help!

 

I'd also recommend downloading something like SpeedFan and looking at the SMART data on the drive. If it's about to fail, clues usually pop up there first.

Glad you got everything up and running again though.

 

Before I knew anything about computers, I always just yanked the external once whatever I was moving/copying was finished.

And then there was the reformatting messages.

And then I found out what was causing them.

And then I lol'd.

 

Hmmm...and thank you for that tip. It's not looking so good after all. Speedfan wouldn't locate the drive. See the Crystal Disk Info. PrntScrn below though. I guess it's only a matter of time before this thing totally gives out.

Well, for me I would only pull the cord once it's been sitting there and no copying/moving etc. of the sort was being done. But I guess some kinda write was being done unbeknownst to me?

 

Oh, that's not good. You've double-checked your error scans?

 

I'd first do a clean wipe of the drive to eliminate any partitioning problems. open command prompt -> type diskpart and press enter. then list disk, pick the disk out of the lineup and do clean all. depending on the size of the disk it could take a couple hours but will eliminate all partitions/data on the drive. if you're still getting errors afterwards its definitely hardware related.

 

and never, ever remove a hard drive without going through the remove-device procedure. everyone thinks that they can cheat or second guess recycle bin maintenance or the caching mechanism that windows uses.

they can't. and neither can anyone here. It's not 'cool' to yank cables, it's irresponsible.

People who impulsively pull their external drive usb cables will eventually scramble things enough to cause 100% irretrievable data loss. 'Cool' thing about that is all it takes is one pulled cable to muck things up.

 

I don't think people incorrectly remove an external HDD because they want to be cool. I think it's more because they're ignorant.

 

You can loose a drive because if improper power to the USB as well. If the drive especially is a high amp draw item alot of notebook and netbooks are either borderline or short on the power to the usb. Use the drive even for a little while on an underpowred port and watch the drive go bye bye baby........

 

I think this got my drive back to normal. I did a full format then ran Diskpart, then did another full Format and the drive is now back to normal...at least for now. Diskpart FTW! ; See attachment below.

And about the pulling the cord w/out using Safely Remove Hardware that some of you guys talk about. Shouldn't the Quick Removal Policy setting prevent data from being written to the drive while idle...while no copying/writing is not being done to the drive? After all, that setting should protect the user and the drive from write cache mishaps. No? See attachment.

+Rep for all the Help guys. Thanks.

 

I think the problem at that point becomes exactly where the write caching resides. If it's just write caching on the windows end (i.e. in notebook RAM), then there could possibly be a problem, because most hard drives these days also have their own internal cache, and if that setting doesn't disable the cache on the hard drive, then if you suddenly pull out the plug (assuming that the hard drive is USB powered, without a separate wall adaptor) you may lose the data in that internal cache as the drive loses power. There may be backup capacitors and other power solutions to keep the drive running for that short while before it loses all power, but I'd be loathe to depend on that. This does, of course, assume that using the "Safely remove hardware" command manages to also shut down the hard drive "properly" as it were.

 

just a question although a little not on topic.. do u have to use safetly eject if ur using e-SATA or u don't have to as e-SATA is hot swappable?

 

'real' esata is hot swappable and the drive will show up as a removable device with the appropriate entry available on the taskbar.

unfortunately, there are a load of bad esata drivers out there with incorrect device class definitions that tell windows that the drive is not hot swappable/removable. Updated drivers are essential for all storage devices including removable/hot swappable storage.

 

what drivers have to be exactly updated?

 

chipset and disk controller drivers

 

ok i'll do that.. should i use intel matrix storage drivers or MS ones?

 

Other than their own keyboard/mouse drivers, MS doesn't write drivers. They might repackage original work and they 'certify' through whql.

Whenever possible, go to the original maker for hardware drivers.

intel.com is your friend.

 

ok i'll get the latest ones when i'm free.. i already have very up to date drivers.