Hard disk problem (i am newbie)

[blitz10]

hi! i am newbie in this forum i just want to ask stupid question...Is it possible to format the external hard disk while connecting to usb? i had bad hard disk but externally connected via usb (by the way i am using laptop) but i have no idea how to format or even erase it. It does recognize and can be seen in "My Computer" but it take a while (i think almost 5 minutes waiting) and sound will be hard during recognition. Any help are welcome if you think can solve my problem. I really appreciate your help.....

thanks in advance!

[johnncyber]

Originally Posted by blitz10

Is it possible to format the external hard disk while connecting to usb?

Yes, you format by going to My Computer, right clicking on the external HD and select Format. Then just choose a file system (probably FAT32), label, etc.

Menus may vary due to ver of Windows.

[bookworm]

if the drive is over 20 GB and you will be useing win xp it is better to format to NTFS, if it is for backup when you backup over 4GB FAT 32 can't take it.
http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com...externa lthis thread tells you exacaly what to do
Hope this helps

[blitz10]

Originally Posted by johnncyber

Yes, you format by going to My Computer, right clicking on the external HD and select Format. Then just choose a file system (probably FAT32), label, etc.

Menus may vary due to ver of Windows.

thanks for prompt reply! Actually when the HD detect in the My computer and attempt to right clicking to format it hangs-up until it show the explorer display "not responding", HD is busy with something else and keep on trying but i heard clicking sound from the case. It will solve the hang-up once the HD forced to safely remove. Retrieving files nor browzing the content is not possible even waiting for couple of minutes. I had the feeling that i could be "mechanical problem" or in other way around because of sound produced once i connet to the laptop.

I just want atleast to retrieve or if not possible to format the HD. I have no desktop pc only laptop that's why its so hard to repair or even diagnose the HD. The only hope to investigate the problem is to connect the HD to IDE but the is my main problem where i can find it. Do you have any idea how can i save my HD via usb? There are lot of softwares in the internet but none of diagnostic tools works on usb, most of available tools run on dos mode.

once and for all thanks again!

[blitz10]

Originally Posted by bookworm

if the drive is over 20 GB and you will be useing win xp it is better to format to NTFS, if it is for backup when you backup over 4GB FAT 32 can't take it.
http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com...externa lthis thread tells you exacaly what to do
Hope this helps

I did that thing before but my problem is that the HD does appear on the My computer but i can't even retrieve nor seen the files. I attempt to format but i failed because it was not responding. By the way the HD is connected externally via usb, i need to diagnose the problem but none of tools available for low level fomatting, only on dos mode and the HD should be connected via ATAPI or SCSI. Or do you have any idea?

[IneRtia dRaft]

reason why not much ppl have external HD. format over DOS