hard disk Format

[smilerpete]

I have recently bought second hand a 4.3 Gb Fujitsu hard drive
Model MPB3043AT. I used FDISK to partition the drive into one drive deleting all other partitions which were on the drive.
When I came to format the drive it got to about 30% and then came up with a message "Trying to recover allocation unit"
I let this continue which it did for ages , with just a counter which counts up in one steps. I have tried to redo this several times without sucess.
Have I bought a dud? or is there something I'm missing?
I think the drive was initially used on NT, would this make a difference?
Thanks Pete

[europanorama]

go to gateway2000.com enter gwscan in the search-machine an download the low-level-format-file gwscan.exe

you will be instructed how to make a bootdisk(dos). i use this tool to "repair" defective hdd or/and use it on every new one. it checks them too.
after that you will have to use fdisk to make the parttitions and make the format. i had some troubles too-maybe i made mistakes- i could not reconstruct this(is there someone who knows why the following can occur): if you see non-dos-partition in fdisk then you will have to delete this partition, i use only win9x/winme.

when you have installed windows you can easily change the size of the partions with partition magic 6 (i use 2 disks, with the second one opened for writing. btw: if you will have to duplicate one harddisk you can use ghost. its wonderful. you can use a bootdisk too or start from dos.

[smilerpete]

europanorama
Thaks for the advice ''ll try it and let you know
Pete

[europanorama]

if you use winnt 4 or win2k then the partitions are called non-dos. or do i err? and winxp?

[smilerpete]

I have just tried the gwscan on the hard drive but this does not seem to have had any effect. (Thanks europanorama)
I was intending to put win 98se on as I have this OS.
After retrying to format again it reaches 30% and as Isaid before it just repeats "trying to recover allocation unit"
Very baffling?
Could I have done something wrong?
Pete
:confused:

[europanorama]

use gwscan and use a bootdisk to make the partitions and format and make win98-setup.

check your cd on a second pc with cd-check check your cd-rom-drive with cdspeed99(cdspeed2000.com)

if you do make the zerolevelformat with gwscan all your harddisk will be repaired or it is defective.
maybe there is a poblem on your cd. do you use a backup-copy?
if you are not sure that the cd is ok will lose a lot of time and gain nothing. ask for a second cd from your friends.

check with fdisk that there are no non-dos-partitions. if yes, delete them.

i just had a similar problem but scandisk could repair it. use scandisk /all when booting from bootdisk. scandisk(with its diagnostic programs) is loaded into a virtual-drive. change to this drive and enter scandisk /all

[ukulele]

This type of error means the drive is toasted. I have run into this problem more then a few times and never did get one to work. Good luck.

[Foggy]

If you can get a copy of WIPE it will "0" out the drive removing everything. sorry I don't rememer the web site for wipe but maybe some one else can help.:)

[smilerpete]

Thanks guys
I'll keep trying.
Pete
:confused:

[europanorama]

Originally posted by ukulele
This type of error means the drive is toasted. I have run into this problem more then a few times and never did get one to work. Good luck.

you can test your harddrive before or after zero level format with gwscan. it will tell you if the drive is non reparable. if its still defective after zero level never try to setup windows. i have done that and windows worked but this could cause troubles in the future. i never use a harddrive with unrepairable errors. if you have no alternative and if the drive is for yourself and not for your customer you can use it.

[europanorama]

Originally posted by smilerpete
Thanks guys
I'll keep trying.
Pete
:confused:

ontracks diskmanager 2000 has a repair-function.

[smekerman]

instead of using fdisk try and use the following command in dos mode:"gdisk 1 /mbr /wipe" (it's used to delete other than dos partitions, like Unix/Linux), and who knows (maybe you shoud try to find that too) what was installed on that disk!