Dunno how to start this so ill just explain...
Ok so i have 3 hard drives, 2 internals and 1 external..
my External 500GB HDD was having some problems which i tried to fix in safe mode. When i tried going into my portable it requested for me to format it. I did so knowing i had several issues and it seemed the best way to do it. After reformatting it i now have... 7GB total hard drive capacity >< Im missing 493GB of hard drive space and there is 100% nothing on the 7GB that i can see. I dont know what to do to restore the rest.. can someone help ><

Hi Ghend and welcome to Geeks to Go.

Since you already attempted a reformat, I will assume that there is no data on the external that you wanted to keep.

Lets see what the drive looks like in Computer Management.
Go to start....Go to run...Type in compmgmt.msc and hit ok
Go to disk management (found under storage). Click on disk management.

Is your external drive shown?
Is it showing any partitions?
Can you take a screenshot and upload?

Thanks man



the F: is the portable 500gb drive. it does say it is a partition but i can not find the unallocated part at all. i have removed the drive and plugged it back in etc etc but to no avail..

EDIT: ok um playing around with it, i now have beside my f:\ partition, i now have an unallocated 458.61 GB partition.. is there any way you could teach me how to link the 7GB with the 458GB, then can you teach me how to make partitions properly? this way if something ever happens again im not running the risk of losing it all preferably i would like to make it into 3 HDDs/ partition drives if possible

this is the new screenshot after playing around with it for a bit



This post has been edited by Ghend: Sep 7 2009, 07:46 AM

Reformat it using NTFS instead of FAT32
This is why it won't see the whole capacity of the drive

i first reformatted it in NTFS thats when the problems first started, i then did it again in FAT32 and nothing changed
but now i can see the unallocated amount i just would like to know if its possible and how i can rejoin the 450GB and the 7GB together then if u can teach me how to seperate it into 2 or 3 different HDD's it would be very much appreciated

EDIT: i took ur advice and reformated it to NTFS, but it is still partitioned

This post has been edited by Ghend: Sep 7 2009, 08:09 AM

Fat32 will not allow for a full capacity of 500 gigs.
NTFS will allow it.
To join the two and then split it is not the way to do it.
If you want two different partitions and there is nothing on the existing partition then just start over.
When you initially setup the drive then setup two partitions for the sizes you want.
What program are you using to partition the drives with?

im not using a program >< all i did was try to format it, i right clicked the drive and clicked format (vista).. thats it, thats how this whole issue started.. i have no idea what to do or what happened all i know is i had issues with the hard drive. i tried resolving it by formating and it did this. hence why im after help i have never partitioned a drive before

rshaffer61, your right on top of things this morning.

I believe she got the partitions by default (luck).

Ghend, you are going to need a partitioning program to partition the drive.
I have been playing Easeus Partition Master and find it quite easy to use.
It is also free.

Leave the partitions as you have them, then resize what you have. Decrease the biggest one to give "unallocated" space. Then you can format that space.

ok i have the program i think i have worked it out. however after making the partitions / drives or w.e they are actually called. do i need to reformat them? and whats the best way to do it?

If you have the partitions setup then yes before the partitions can actually be used they must each be formatted.
If you try to use them without being formatted the drive will not be accessible.

Thanks 123runner just thought I would help.
You had it under control.

do i format them through the Easeus program? or is there a better way to format them?

You can format them through the windows management screen.
Just right click on each of the partitions and one of the options will be to Format
Once it is done do the same to other partition.

thanking you two very much. Im glad this has been resolved i was somewhat freaking out as it is my gaming hard drive basically and as everyone knows 7gb is not really worth jack lol

thanks <3

Not a problem. I have limited time today. I am sealing my deck.

Gwend. Glad that we could help and you are up and running.

I just want to echo 123Runner's statement and say

Congratulations. for a successful resolution for your issue. I am happy everything has been worked out for you. With that being said I am happy to say:


You are very welcome. I'm glad we could help and please let us know how everything works out for you.
If there is anything else we can do to help please feel free to ask. I appreciate that you allowed 123Runner and myself to assist you with your issue and for your patience. Thank you for choosing GeeksToGo for help.