Hard drive "Not initialized"

Discussion in 'Windows Vista' started by Big Dave, Jan 2, 2009.

  1. Big Dave

    Big Dave MDL Novice

    Apr 16, 2008
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  2. 911medic

    911medic MDL Guru

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  3. zort

    zort MDL Expert

    Feb 19, 2008
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    Choose MBR since that will be compatible with all OS'es.

    If the hard drive gives you any more trouble, download the hard drive manufacturer's utility to write zeroes to the drive and to test for bad sectors.
     
  4. Big Dave

    Big Dave MDL Novice

    Apr 16, 2008
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    Well actually I have tried to do it with Ubuntu and no luck at all because it does not recognized the hard drive. Also I tried to install Ubuntu on it and nothing happen it gave me an error of some sort. So is there any tool on Ubuntu to do this with besides Gparted? Thanks
     
  5. Big Dave

    Big Dave MDL Novice

    Apr 16, 2008
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    I done this like you told me to and everytime some error comes up, it ask me to restart the PC but after that nothing happen, why? Is there any software for this for vista. One more thing I use XP a lot and everytime I boot on XP it takes for ever to get into the system and also once Im in the system it does not recognize the hard drive on "Device Manager" or "Disk Management" I don't know what else to do? Do you think the set up on my BIOS has to do anything with it?
     
  6. 911medic

    911medic MDL Guru

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    I would say use the live cd and use the gparted. Another option is the killdisk or Dban. I think the live CD is the best option. I have never had GParted not recognize a disc:eek:
     
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  7. Big Dave

    Big Dave MDL Novice

    Apr 16, 2008
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    Believe it or not I tried that this afternoon because it has work for me in the past and when I tried it today it was getting ready to install the system and an error pop up, then I went to Gparted and it did not recognize the hard drive it just showed my other two disks. Do you think Im running out of options? Thanks for replying fast.
     
  8. 911medic

    911medic MDL Guru

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  9. Big Dave

    Big Dave MDL Novice

    Apr 16, 2008
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    Hey man I download Power Max, the program you told me too, and I double click and the an error pop up "Error reading drive. No diskette or drive failure"
    I do not have a floppy disk on my PC so, do you think it has anything to do?
     
  10. Big Dave

    Big Dave MDL Novice

    Apr 16, 2008
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    I also use kill disk but no luck it just don't do anything I used it on Windows mode and MDOS mode but no luck. And every time I tried to delete it or format it it just don't do nothing it get stuck on 0%.
     
  11. HMonk

    HMonk MDL Addicted

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  12. THC-Mind

    THC-Mind MDL Novice

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    Try disabling AHCI support from BIOS, this should make your hrd drive recognizable even from DOS.
     
  13. HMonk

    HMonk MDL Addicted

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  14. HMonk

    HMonk MDL Addicted

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    #19 HMonk, Jan 4, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2009
    Advanced options in Windows; DL DOS also

    Make haste slowly . . . in the order listed.

    FOR ADVANCED TESTS IN WINDOWS VERSION

    In the Windows version, Click Basic Tests> arrow down to last item: click on Advanced Tests. Read the warnings then click F8. This will enable the Advanced Tests button in the tool bar.

    Click on Advanced Tests>Format>Basic and read the warnings etc. Attempt to format the disk. Does this work? If so, skip to Initialize section; if not continue.

    FOR ADDITIONAL ADVANCED FIXES IF YOU HAVE A 3 1/2 FLOPPY DRIVE

    At the same URL as Windows DL, DL the DOS version. Run the DL which will extract to floppy. Reboot with floppy in drive. Click Advanced Options>Erase Track 0. Advanced Options>Set Capacity to Native.

    Exit and restart Windows.

    INITIALIZE DISK: TWO METHODS

    Partition and Format

    Open Disk Management>Manage>Disk Management under the Storage
    category.

    When the drive is first seen by Disk Management it will not be seen in Explorer. For the drive to be seen in Windows Explorer the drive will need to be configured through Disk Management. Vista will normally see the unpartitioned drive when you open Disk Management and will start the wizard for you, but it may be necessary to set it up manually.

    WIZARD METHOD

    1.Select the drive to partition.
    2.A summary screen will tell what the wizard will do if you press finish. Confirm that the correct drive is selected.
    3.Once you press Finish, the drive will be initialized and you will be taken to the Partition Wizard.

    MANUAL METHOD

    1.Right-click the new drive to initialize it. This prepares the drive to be used with Windows.
    2.Once you choose to Initialize another window may come up asking you to confirm which drive to Initialize. Once the drive is initialized, the data on the drive will be erased.(Choose the correct drive. Windows will usually only display uninitialized drives, but if you have a dual boot system, drives from other operating systems will show up in this list.)
    3.Once you choose OK the drive will be initialized but it still will not be seen by Windows Explorer.

    PARTITION THE DRIVE

    Once a drive is initialized, a partition option becomes available. If the drive WAS NOT initialized this option is not available.

    Vista defaults to the NTFS partition; select Primary Partition.

    This should make the drive good to go.

    Monk
     
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  15. Big Dave

    Big Dave MDL Novice

    Apr 16, 2008
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    Thanks for all your guys replies but after fighting with this trying to fix it I just gave up so I decided to buy a new one. Thanks to everyone. Cheers!:D