Hi all. I just got a great deal on a 160G Seagate Ultra ATA hard drive. I am using it as a storage hard drive for my laptop, and hook it up to my laptop using a USB 2.0 external enclosure.
When I try to partition it into 3 50G partitions using window's Computer Management it was no problem. After partition i went ahead try to format into NTFS, and i got an error message saying unable to format properly. I did some research and found out there is an 137G limitation issue. So i download some software to find out that my version of XP is up to date and 48 bit capable. I have also tried using partition magic, which give me the same problem, formatting. Since both Computer Management and Partition Magic had no problem recognizing the 160G drive, I dont know whats wrong. The error only occur when I try to format.

So i also tried to first make a single 130G partition, and for some reason it formatted really fast, which is weird for such a large partition, and it worked fine. I was able to copy some files into it. However, when I try to make the remaing roughly 25G the second partition, I wasnt able to format it again! Then I tried to create only one single partition of the entire volume of 160G, again, i wasn't able to format it properly!

I have tried to format this hard drive for few days now, and its driving me crazy !!
any help would be really appreciated.

 

You have to boot format from a 3.5 disk. Worked like a charm/

I was having the same problem, let me find the program for you......

 

Here you go buddy, although it is Samsung, it works on all drives, worked on my Hitachi, WD, and Samsung drives

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ties/index.htm

 

1st your MB must support it.

then do this:

Support Large disk
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305098/EN-US/

same ting another link

http://voyager.adsl.dk/docs/large_drives.html

 

Well, niteQ, the thing is.. i have a laptop and i dont have a floppy. I guess i have to go to my friends again. He told me he used win2k to format it successfully. He tried to install a copy of win2k on the third partition and formated all three partition. He booted with the newly installed win2k fine, and said all 3 partitions looks fine. I bring it home, put into my enclosure, and stilll doesn't work. argh...

 

skyline did u try editing the registry

 

Ok, nova and niteQ.. thanx for the suggestion. Here is the result. I used my roomate's dsktop, which is a dell. Anyways, i basically just hooked up the hard drive with a IDE cable, then used Seagate's Disc Utility to partition and format. EVerything was done without a problem. Although prior to the first use of the Disc Utility program, it detected a issues with the 48 bit problem., and the smart program said it will reboot the PC and then enable 48 bit. So simple. Anyways, after the reboot everything was done.

After all the files i want to put on this 160G, i put it in the USB enclosure, and then tested it on my friend's desktop. Alright, first few hooks up didnt' work. THe hard drive just kept on making a repeated noise ( btw, this drive is the quietest compare to my other 2 hard drive, ibm and maxtor). Anyhow, i powered it off and on, still didn't work. The third time I powered it on, it found it !!! and listed the appropriate sizes and all the files are there! Then i tired again powering it on 4th time, still works! I am now convinced it works.


SSSoooooooooooo, now i plugged this USB enclosure with 160G into my laptop... Hmmm the laptop doedsn't recognize it! Now, i am pretty convinced its either my USB driver is screwed up because I tried to put in my old 30G hard drives that used to work perfectly with it in the USB enclosure hooked up to the laptop. For some weird reason i guess the USB decided not to work with any mass USB storage device. I want to reboot and see if this problem can be fixed.. but i am getting such a high dl speed on my emule.. LOL anyways, now i am pretty sure this hard drive is formated and works perfectly. Its very quite and cool compare to my maxtor and ibm.

oh btw, i got it for 49.99 fro Frys.com after $50 dollar rebate. its a retail box too ! with 5 yrs warranty. I am now a seagate believer! You can still get it for $99 @ www.outpost.com!

thanx for all the help guys !