Problem with external HD

Gozza · 8 Oct 2011 at 15:16

Just got a new Icy Box and put in a brand new 3.5 inch SATA-II HD. The drive seems to start but I can't see it in 'Computer' > 'Devices and Removable Storage'. I'm no techy so thought this would be a simple case of 'plug and play' then format the HD. Can anyone offer a solution to my problem? Thanks

tidusjar · 8 Oct 2011 at 15:23

Win7?
If so Start> Right Click My Computer> Manage> Under Storage > Disk Management > Find you drive and format it.

Gozza · 8 Oct 2011 at 15:59

Still can't see it

I'm running Vista. So far I've gone into Disk Mang't and formatted the disk. I gave it a Volume letter of Z. It says that it's 'Status' is still formatting (1TB disk) so presumably I have to wait until this finishes. No idea how long though. I'll let you know what happens!

Surveyor · 8 Oct 2011 at 16:01

Gozza said:
I'm running Vista. So far I've gone into Disk Mang't and formatted the disk. I gave it a Volume letter of Z. It says that it's 'Status' is still formatting (1TB disk) so presumably I have to wait until this finishes. No idea how long though. I'll let you know what happens!

If you're doing a full format it'll take a while depending on the size of the disk.

A quick format would have been sufficient and that's done in seconds.

Gozza · 8 Oct 2011 at 16:05

I've just realised I should have done a quick format or attempted to partition the drive, so it could be hours before its done! Thanks anyway for your advice.

Gozza · 8 Oct 2011 at 16:07

Is it possible to partition the drive after it has been formatted?

hibernian1875 · 8 Oct 2011 at 16:26

It is with software like partition magic but you'd be quicker deleting the 1TB partition in windows and doing the partitions you want with quick format. 1TB Samsung spinpoint takes just over 2 hours for a full format for me so you'll be looking around the same. Quick format is seconds.

Gozza · 9 Oct 2011 at 15:27

OK, the HD is formatted and appears in Disk Management as 'New Volume' and everything looks fine. It has no letter assigned to it and when I look at 'Computer' all my internal HDs and other devices and removable storage items appear but not this HD. It's clearly there but not showing where I can make any use of it e.g. backup. Can anyone offer a solution please?