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1.5TB WD HDD won't format

0dervish0

0dervish0

Member
My 1.5TB WD caviar green HDD got corrupt and tried to recover it but recently gave up on it as I have about 95% of the data backed up. So I right clicked on the drive and selected format and then NTFS, 4000 and deselected the quick format as It was corrupt and want it to fix the bad sectors. My problem is after about 4 hours it had only done about 10% and then I left it for 8 hours over night and it failed. Then I went into disk manager and am currently formatting it there now but it has been running for about 11 hours and its only 14% and its been stuck on 14% for the past 2 hours. It won't be my computers processing power as just last week I built my new desktop (i5 2500k, 16GB RAM, corsair force gt SSD and so on) so it shouldn't take this long.

Why is it taking so long? Why is it not working? Should I use an free software to format it instead?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
 
I had a similar issue with a HDD once and I found that I could only break the loop by taking the drive out of Windows and deleting everything possible. What I did was:

Download and burn GParted (Linux partition editor)

Boot GParted and get into the partition editor

delete all the partitions from the disk until it is all unallocated space

create a single partition the size of the disk and format it into FAT32 while in GParted

exit GParted and reboot back into Windows.

Go back into disk management, delete the partition and then make a new one in NTFS and do a full format.

If this fails, I would run the drive through SeaTools or something similar on a full scan to see if it is actually faulty.
 
I don't have any partitions on it so that saves a step. Why can't I format it straight to NTFS? Can I save the iso file on a usb and boot from that? I will try it tonight.

Thanks for your helpful advice Coup27
 
0dervish0 said:
I don't have any partitions on it so that saves a step. Why can't I format it straight to NTFS? Can I save the iso file on a usb and boot from that? I will try it tonight.

Thanks for your helpful advice Coup27
Click to expand...
You could format straight from GParted into NTFS but as Linux has never natively supported NTFS I've always prefered to let Windows do it.

You can boot it from a USB stick but you can't just save the ISO on it. You will need a program like YUMI (link below) to make a bootable USB stick with your chosen ISO.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/
 
Stupid question but want to double check, when it asks for "Select a Distribution from the following Box to put on your USB" what do I select? Is it just GParted (Partition Tools) or Windows Vista/7 Installer?

Thanks for your help
 
0dervish0 said:
Stupid question but want to double check, when it asks for "Select a Distribution from the following Box to put on your USB" what do I select? Is it just GParted (Partition Tools) or Windows Vista/7 Installer?

Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
No. You need to download the GParted ISO from the GParted website and save it on your PC. Then, in YUMI one of the options at the bottom reads something like "try and unlisted ISO". This then allows you to select an ISO you have saved on your PC. Select the GParted one and then it should work.
 
Well I downloaded the ISO file "gparted-live-0.10.0-3.iso (115.1 MB)" and used YUMI to install it on the usb drive (empty) and selected the option for pre downloaded iso and loaded the iso from my desktop. It did its magic and I went into the bios and set the usb as boot 1 and disabled boot device 2 but when it loads it just goes to the asrock screen and if the ssd is set as boot device 2 it loads windows. So its like it can't detect the usb device. Am I doing something wrong?
 
It doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong. I would google to see if your board has any issues booting from a USB stick. You're not using a USB3 stick in a USB3 port are you?

Failing that, could just burn it to CD. I still have a couple of CD-RW's kicking about for this purpose.
 
I tried booting with the CD but that didn't work so I tried it on my laptop and it worked. Eventually I got it to boot from the usb via changing some more boot settings in the bios and it finally noticed the usb. I installed the software and ran the Gparted program and selected the 1.5TB HDD to be formatted (FAT32) but after 30 minutes it said there was an error with the conversion to FAT32 and now it won't detect the drive at all.
 
Also whenever I start the computer and the 1.5TB HDD is plugged in it pops up with the error code A2 and won't boot. Error code A2 is "IDE detect".
 
When you're in the gparted LiveCD, there should be a way to open up a terminal (can't remember off the top of my head). Try a format (any filesystem is fine) and wait for it to error out. Then type "dmesg" into the terminal. If you see a bunch of errors that are related to "media error", "I/O error", "write error", etc. then the drive itself is toast and no software tool will fix it.
 
I did what you said and here are some photos of what the terminal said (about 50% of it):

DSC_5620.jpg

DSC_5619.jpg

DSC_5618.jpg

DSC_5617.jpg


Does this tell you anything?

Thanks for your advice
 
Presumably the subject drive is a secondary drive connected to an MB controller.

The error log shown suggests that the problematic drive is ultimately causing other malfunctions in the OS.

Suggest attempting to wipe the subject HDD, then attempt to re-partition and execute a long format. After that check the drive integrity with SeaTools (Long Test). If that fails, print the results and include them with the RMA to WD for a drive replacement.

PS: It is assumed also that your OS is WIN7 SP1 or at least VISTA SP1 as XP does not support WD's HDD need for use of AFT alignment.
 
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Hello C1

Yes it is a secondary drive not sure what a MB controller is. It is connected to the z68 sata2 controller and the primary drive is a SSD. Also got a 2tb WD drive but that is working fine. Has the hard drive damaged any other components or corrupted the SSD or 2TB drive? As the desktop has been freezing sometimes with programs even when the drive is unplugged.

When I try to access the drive windows 7 says it is corrupt and can't access it. I have tried formatting it 4 times (long format) and it failed. If I partition the drive will it maybe let me format it then? Should I use Gparted to partition it? I ran SeaTools before and all the tests failed. Trying to open it again now and the computer has completely froozen. I purchased this drive about 1-2 years ago but I can't find the receipt. I will have a proper look for it later. Can I RMA it without a receipt? I have the warranty info and I think for Australia it has 3 years limited warranty.

Originally it was a external HDD but I pulled it out of the case and pulled the sata to sub converter off and plugged it into the desktop but this should case any problems.

I'm using windows 7 Ultimate but I don't think I have updated it to SP1 yet.

Thanks a lot for your help. I really have no clue what to do.
 
I've actually tried to install the SP1 update about 4 times now and every time it says Error(s) found:
Code 8024200D

and fails to install.
 
0dervish0 said:
I ran SeaTools before and all the tests failed.
Click to expand...
If all the tests failed then the drive is clearly nackered.

Even if by some fluke it began working again I certainly wouldn't be trusting it with my data.

If the rest of the system is now showing signs of instability since all of this, it's nothing which cannot be fixed by clearing CMOS and reformatting and installing your OS.
 
Any HDD brand/model you recommend buying? Do I need a receipt for a RMA?

Is there a program that can test for instability? When I unplug the drive the system seems to run ok again. I've spent ages setting it all up so I don't really want to redo it all. My mobo has has clear cmos button on the rear. Can I just press that? Does the computer have to be switched off?

Thanks for your help
 
Western Digital have probably the best perceived record in reliability. There's not much in them anymore. Because of the flooding in Thailand, you may just end up getting the most sensibly priced drive.

I have no idea on WD's RMA proceedure. Check their website.

Theres many many programs that will test every aspect of system stability. You could spend the rest of the week running those. Some can take 24 hours and thats only for one piece of hardware.

In my experience, when you have an unknown software fault I find it's just as quick to start fresh than it is to spend ages debugging. You have the benefit that you know for sure you've nuked the problem but most of the time it's on a system which is crying out for a format so I hit two birds with one stone.

If your problem is because your CMOS has gone a little wacky then clearing it may fix it. Turn your PC off, press the button, turn back on and it will either boot with defaults or give you the option to go into CMOS and change your BIOS settings. This may fix your problem.

If your problem is Windows itself then it could be anything now. If you're having issues installing SP1 with the drive removed, may not be what you want to hear but I would just format. If you decide to do that route, combine the two. Turn off, clear CMOS, then boot into the Windows installer, delete all the partitions, make them again, format them and then start completely from scratch.
 
Yeah I might just reinstall windows and be 100% sure its not the software and data causing problems. I ran 8x memtest86 programs at 2000mb each for 1 hour and had no problems (was recommended to test for 20 minutes) so basically the ram should be fine, tested the cpu with occt for 8 hours and no problems and GPU with MSI Kombusor and it was all good. So when I figure out what I'm doing with this drive I might start from scratch again to be safe. Is windows installer in the BIOS or does it pop up when booting from the WIN7 CD?

Thanks for your advice. This is the first time a drive has got corrupted, so I had no clue what to do.
 
Regarding RMA, you shouldnt need the purchase receipt, just the HDD's S/N which is found on the drive itself. Here is URL to WD's site that allows checking the warranty status of your drive:
http://support.wdc.com/warranty/index_end.asp?lang=en

Presumably it is still under warranty. If so, registering onto the site will provide the instructions for the RMA process/procedure.

It does sound like the drive is bad and I doubt that it has caused the other issues (ie, system freezes) by damaging something. Concerning the freezes, you will just have to carefully go thru the system to determine the cause. Usually this is done thru a process of elimination such as removing or disabling components until the issue no longer occurs.
 
I actually applied for RMA just before and it seems like an easy process but thanks for the link. It says "DATE: 03 FEB 2010" on the drive and it has 3 year warranty so it should be fine.

Do you think its worth formatting my 2TB HDD to make sure it won't cause any problems? Would have to transfer 1.5TB of info to another drive which would take ages.

Hmmm not sure if I should reformat the boot drive. I will see, if I have more instability problems such as programs freezing I will just do it to be safe.

One problem I have is sometimes when I boot the windows starting page is all green, not the right aspect ratio and fuzzy but when it gets to the welcome screen its all fine again. Is this maybe because the GPU takes a bit to start up? or should I re install the drivers?

Thank you so much for the help C1.
 
Is your 2TB drive just used for storage or do you install programs on it? If it is just used for storage then you should not need to format it. Though it doesn't sound like you have a backup of this drive, unless that was the drive which just died. If you install programs on it as well then formatting Windows without dealing with the programs on that drive may become a bit messy. You'll want to manually delete all the programs on the drive after you've formatted.

The Windows 7 installer is contained on the Windows 7 DVD. You set your BIOS first boot device to be the CD/DVD drive and then it will boot into the installer.

The fact you've failed to install SP1 4 times without the drive present suggests to me that your system has issues.

Reinstalling your GFX driver may help this problem, but as it's only in pre-boot then it's not a big issue.

I'm not really bothered about reformatting my main machine these days. SSD's have slashed the time this takes from 1-2 days to 3-4 hours, and this includes all updates and all my software. The difference is immense.
 
Its just used for music, movies, photos and documents. All the programs are on the SSD.

I will take the 2TB HDD out and try and install the update and see if it works.

But also when I watch movies the image is really unsharp and blurred, aswell as my photos are very patchy and some colours look off. Its not as bad as it sounds but it isn't normal. Could this just be the GPU drivers failing?

Thanks for your help and great advice Coup27.
 
If I want to reinstall windows do I need to reset the product key by calling windows? or if I run through the installer will it remember it?
 
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