[lela]

I'd appreciate any great advice on this matter.

 

Last week, I bought a new External Hard Drive (so brand new out of the box).  I want to format the External Hard Drive to exFAT to use on Mac and Win (Win 7 and 10)

 

Disk Management:  I tried a full format via Disk Management but the result was RAW.  However, a quick format seems to work.

 

Command Prompt:  I tried format e: /fs:exFAT  The result was varied and included not valid volume label (which was fixed via Disk Management). 

 

Right now, current state of External Hard Drive:

 

DISKPART> list volume

 

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info

  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------

  Volume 0     C   Windows      NTFS   Partition    118 GB  Healthy    Boot

  Volume 1         SYSTEM       FAT32  Partition    260 MB  Healthy    System

  Volume 2         Windows RE   NTFS   Partition    489 MB  Healthy    Hidden

  Volume 3     E   New Volume   exFAT  Partition   3725 GB  Healthy

 

DISKPART> list partition

 

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset

  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------

  Partition 1    Reserved           128 MB    17 KB

  Partition 2    Primary           3725 GB   129 MB

 

 

 

1)  Would it be possible for me to format each volume and partition via the Command Prompt to exFAT ? Or, would this present any problems?

 

2) Is it possible that the External Hard Drive was defective or previously used (and returned) by someone else? 

I had previously formatted a similar External Hard Drive (100% to NTFS via the Command Prompt).  I was wondering if this could explain the RAW and also explain the FAT32 partition.

 

 

 

[Advertisements]

If you did not create those partitions (volumes), I'm afraid the drive is not new.

[SpywareDr]

If you did not create those partitions (volumes), I'm afraid the drive is not new.

[lela]

Thank you SpywareDr

 

I think that you're right.  I just tried to reformat via the Command Prompt diskpart:

 

format fs=exfat

 

After a couple of hours of formatting (I could see the increasing number of the percentage), the following message appeared:

Diskpart has encountered an error: The parameter is incorrect. See the System Event Log for more information
 

[SpywareDr]

You're welcome.

 

Does sound like something's wrong with it. I'd request a refund or replacement.

[lela]

I bought one earlier and it formatted very smoothly (except the full format was to NTFS).  However, the problem with the HD was with detection by the tray - such as sometimes, it couldn't be detected by the tray for ejection or safe removal... if I rebooted, it was fine. 

 

So, I returned it and ordered a new one - but this one, as you already know, seems to have some bad sectors or something else.  

 

I already have two HDs from the same respectable brand (though not the same model) - and they're fine - so I kinda trust this brand.  The quality seems to have gone a downhill.  Maybe it's the new colors?  

 

Sigh... I'll try a 3rd one - maybe 3rd time's a charm... 

[SpywareDr]

Which brand and model number? The drive manufacturer may have a free hard drive diagnostic utility available for testing the drive. It should also show how many hours it has on it, number of times started up, etc. It should also show if it's failing.

[lela]

Thanks SpywareDr - It's a Toshiba Canvio Advance. I had earlier downloaded the manufacturer's StorageDiagnosticTool.  I tried to "diagnose" the drive, but it didn't really work.  I'll try again on the next "new" drive.

 

I already have two Toshiba Canvio Slims - and I've been using one of them on and off for the past few years (and all is well). 

Edited by lela, 14 September 2021 - 07:56 PM.

[SpywareDr]

Sounds good.