Reformating a PS2 HD to NTFS

onesickpuppy · Joined: Dec 07, 2002 Posts: 23

Traded an IDE HD for this SATA HD that was previously in a PS2

Vista and XP Pro dont "see" it.....claim it needs to be initialized.

Under Disk Management, it does show up (size), but again needs to be initialized.

When I try...it attempts, and then times out.

What must I do to be able to format to NTFS to use in a laptop Question

BudDurland · Joined: Dec 05, 2002 Posts: 475

Before you can format it, you have to delete any existing partition, and create an NTFS partition. Does it not let you whack the existing partition?

onesickpuppy · Joined: Dec 07, 2002 Posts: 23

Unfortunately....no

I thought that when Windows couldn't see it, I'd be able to go into Disk Management as a work around, delete the fat file, etc and rebuild.

But no matter what I try, windows states it need to be initialized, but fails at doing it.

Rumor around is that I need to do this under Win98...due to the PS2 structure being under FAT32. But that seems far fetched

BudDurland · Joined: Dec 05, 2002 Posts: 475

Does the BIOS of your computer think it's there? If not, you've got a hardware compatibility problem. I've seen where some SATA-II (300) drives have to be slowed to SATA (1500 speed to work with some motherboards.

Maybe one of the many free disk partitioning tools on the web will do it for you? "free disk partitioning utility" on google finds many of them

onesickpuppy · Joined: Dec 07, 2002 Posts: 23

Under Disk Management, it does show the proper size of the drive..

But that is the only place it shows up.

Under My Computer, no show.

Being usb hooked up, I didn't think to look in the bios....I'll check
there as well.

I will see what I can do with the free disk partitioning deal

thanks

BudDurland · Joined: Dec 05, 2002 Posts: 475

Oops, I didn't realize that this was an external disk via USB. The BIOS settings may or may not be of use to you.

When you right click on "My COmputer", then choose "Manage', then choose "Disk management, do you see a graphics showing the partition (Vista calls them "Volumes")". When you right click on thatdo you get a menu with "Delete partition (volume)" as choice?

zzron357 · Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 43

Hi onesickpuppy,
I normally use gparted via a puppy linux live cd to repartition and format
hard drives (internal and usb). A windows option is Easeus PM
which looks like a windows variation of gparted. Very handy to resize
partitions, and invaluable to detect hidden partitions. Puppy linux is
great when you want to transfer data from an otherwise dead pc to
an external drive or flash drive.
Hint for Vista users: If you want to reduce the size of C:\, use Vista
(disk manager) to reduce the initial partition, then use gparted or
whatever to partition the now unused part. It seems only Vista knows how
to deal with Vista's shadow files. Can anyone confirm that SP1 improved
Vista handling of shadow files? I saw a large drop in drive space usage
after SP1 was installed. Seemed to be shadow files. Easeus has several
other useful apps. One is a defragmenter with visuals, lacking in Vista.
M$ is hiding the shadow files, imho. VBW, zzron357

onesickpuppy · Joined: Dec 07, 2002 Posts: 23

One of the problems here is where/when the drive is "seen"

Under My Computer......can't see it

Under Drive Management.....its seen, but won't allow you to do anything with
it as it claims it needs to be innialized first....when you click on it to do it, it comes back and states it can't be found.

So my question would be.....to use one of the partion programs (any of them),
how would I go about doing it....if my computer doesn't see it ????

zzron357 · Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 43

Hi again,
Linux live-cd disks boot the system independent of M$ and should see all
hard drives, usb, ide or sata. I use Puppy linux most often. Versions 412 and 420
are current releases. Partition Magic and UBCD also can be used, anything with
G-Parted included. I think we are still not clear whether the sata drive you describe
is connected externally by USB or internally direct to motherboard. zzron357

onesickpuppy · Joined: Dec 07, 2002 Posts: 23

Its connected via usb....either in a usb enclosure, or usb to sata connector

goretsky · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 2:28 am Post subject:

Hello,

Have you tried mounting the hard disk drive into the notebook in which it is intended to be used and the partitioning it using GParted to format it--or just letting Microsoft Windows create new partitioning during the installation process?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky