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Switching from NTFS to FAT32 - problems.

2

2336

Elite Member
Folks,
I just got a hard drive that had an NTFS partition. I think I finally wiped it and am in the process of reformatting in FAT32 so I can run some diagnostics and it keeps saying "Trying to recover allocation unit" I've been reformatting for over an hour. Does this sound like I might have a problem with the HDD? LMK, please. Thanks.

UpdateGang, I've been working on this reformat since about 8PM Eastern, it's now 12:22 and it's still looking for those allocation units!
 
That means the FAT32 format is finding bad sectors on the disk and is mapping them out so the OS won't try to write to those areas.

You should download your drive manufacturer's utility disk from their website and run it on that drive. That way you can see if the number of bad sectors is worth concern and so that the drive itself will map out the bad stuff so the FAT32 format doesn't see them at all.

 
Exactly what Bozo said, but also many manufactuer utilities now have the ability to low-level format the harddrive properly. This is only done as a last resort after other recover methods fail and normally only if the harddrive is not responding reasonably. If it cannot low-level format properly, then you will need to RMA the drive. Get with the HD manufaturer and their tech support for the whole process.
 
Guys, thanks for the help. I ended up running SeaTools diagnostics and it identified the drive as being physically defective.
 
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