Western Digital which I can't format

Hi all

First post on here. Having hard drive problems

I have a Western Digital external drive but cant get it recognised as a drive in 'my computer'? It was a hand-me-down from a friend who I think had it formatted for his Mac.

I can see it in by going right clicking on my computer - 'manage' > 'disc management' but it doesn't have a drive name H:, I: etc which I think could well be problem.

Right clicking on it shows option to rename it but option is greyed out (I'm signed in as administrator).

Bit stumped can anyone suggest a work round?

Hi Joconnor and welcome to the forums. Please make sure you read the FAQ so you are fully aware of the rules of the forums. Thank you.

Regarding the slight problem you are having, Diskpart should be able to resolve this for you. If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, type "Diskpart" (Without the quotes) into the start menu search bar and click enter and accept the User Account Control elevation dialogue if you have UAC enabled. If you are using Windows XP, open up a command prompt and type "Diskpart" (Without the quotes). Then, enter the following commands:

• List disk

• Select disk # (Where # is the disk number)

• Clean - Before you go ahead with this command, please, please, please make sure you have selected the correct disk.

• Create partition primary

• List partition

• Select partition 1

• Format quick Label="Insert diskname here" Leave the quotes in place

• Active

• Assign

• Exit

The above also includes some of the steps which you would do if you used Disk Management and only takes a minute or so. The only real difference between Diskpart and Disk Management is the latter has a friendly user interface. Though, you do have a bit more control over things using Diskpart.

If you would like to completely erase the contents of the disk, the stage where you enter the "Clean" command, type "Clean all" instead (Once again, without the quotes). This will zero each and every sector of the disk, deleting all of the data on it. Though, depending on the speed and capacity of the drive, it may take a while. The difference between the "Clean" and "Clean all" command is "Clean" will only overwrite the Master Boot Record (MBR) and hidden sector information on MBR disks and GPT partitioning information and the Protective MBR on GUID partition table (GPT) disks. Where as "Clean all" will zero each and every sector on the disk, deleting all of the data on the disk as said above.

Microsoft said:

Clean and Clean all:

Removes any and all partition or volume formatting from the disk with focus. On master boot record (MBR) disks, only the MBR partitioning information and hidden sector information are overwritten. On GUID partition table (GPT) disks, the GPT partitioning information, including the Protective MBR, is overwritten; there is no hidden sector information.

all

Specifies that each and every sector on the disk is zeroed, which completely deletes all data contained on the disk.

Click to expand...

DiskPart Command-Line Options

Also, if you would like to scan the disk for any bad sectors, the stage where you enter the "Format quick" command (Ignoring the "Label" part for the moment), type "Format" instead. So, the new command should look like this - Format Label="Insert diskname here" - and remember to leave the quotes around "insert disk name here" in place.

Hi Fire Wizard, just a note to say big thank you.

Your clear instructions were perfect, I would never have solved on my own. Now I have a fully functioning hard drive very grateful, cheers.