unable to format external hard drive windows 7

#Unable to format external hard drive windows 7 drivers#
#Unable to format external hard drive windows 7 professional#
#Unable to format external hard drive windows 7 free#

ERROR0x8007045D: The request could not … I/O device error). (I tried with all USB ports available 3*)Ī)well my hard disk(950GB)is detected and I am only able to see the folders, if I try to enter them (error: The request could not be performed becoz of an I/O error.)with heading(Location is not available).ī) And fortunetly if I see (try to copy)files(example : *.mp3/*.mp4) (which are not in any folder) I recieve [An unexpected error is keeping you from copying file. When I click on MOUNT option, it will be disabled for few seconds then turns to mount option while other drive can be mounted at the same time. Next day I was not able to MOUNT my 950GB hard disk at all. I will explain you the difficulties I am facing.ġ) In PartionMagic – I continue from last time, I was able to tranfer few GB’s of data (50/950). The hard disk drive being used in this example is too damaged to do this but there is another article with instructions here that uses a drive that while not visible in Windows was accessible with a Linux LiveCD. Often you can access the data on the missing drive by booting with a Linux LiveCD. After making sure that these files are safely copied to another drive, you can continue with repairing the drive with a much more relaxed demeanor and thus be less likely to make a mistake.

It can put your mind at ease and make the process less stressful if you can successfully and quickly make copies of the most important files on the drive. This step is optional and does not always work.

Do you want to recover anything extra important first? They are very different than normal drives and can erase important data on a RAW partition just by connecting power to them. This repair does not apply to solid-state drives (SSD). Any other writing can overwrite data on the drive that you would want to keep.ģ. You DO NOT WANT TO WRITE ANYTHING TO THE RAW DRIVE except for the repaired MBR and repaired Boot Sector if necessary. Make sure that you stop and think things through carefully when the process becomes different than I describe.Ģ. You may very well come up with a different situation than I outline below. If you wish to continue on your own there are three important rules to remember.ġ. That means that there is definitely physical damage and it should be sent to a facility with the proper tools and environment to repair/recover it since trying to repair it as described in this post can make that situation worse. The drive should not be making strange clicking or beeping noises.

#Unable to format external hard drive windows 7 professional#

To minimize the risks, the drive can be taken to a professional who is experienced in this type of repair. If the problem with the drive is not simply a logical error but is a manifestation of physical damage then the more you use it and try to repair, the worse the damage may become.

This is a real repair not a manufactured example.īefore proceeding beyond this point, you need to be aware of the risks involved. Some images are from a virtual machine (simply to make it easier to get the screenshots) and some are from an actual desktop. The pictures of the repair process below are from the actual repair of this drive. The pictures of error messages above all came from this drive. The partition table is corrupted and the boot sector of the main partition is also scrambled. THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS POST HEREįor this example, I chose the most heavily damaged disk with this issue that I could find in my collection of damaged disks. Left click the icon on the taskbar, select the device from the menu, and wait for the confirmation message. This can happen in many ways such as a power failure, unplugging the drive from the USB port or from its AC adapter, a problem with the computer that causes it to temporarily disconnect the USB hubs and many more circumstances can lead to this occurring.Īlways use “Safely remove hardware” to disconnect the drive. The most common cause of external hard drives suddenly becoming RAW drives is if they are disconnected from a computer without using the “Safely Remove Hardware” option. Since Windows sees no filesystem in the partition, it prompts you to format it in order to create a filesystem on it. This often happens when the records determining the filesystem type or location on the disk are damaged or corrupted, usually the partition table or the boot sector.

#Unable to format external hard drive windows 7 drivers#

Therefore all the available filesystem drivers are unable to mount the filesystem as a drive.

#Unable to format external hard drive windows 7 free#

Properties of the drive show that both used and free spaces are 0 byte in size for the raw driveĪ RAW filesystem simply means that it is a filesystem that is not recognized by Windows.