Formatting harddrive

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G

Guest

I have an un-used harddrive that I am trying to install in my new vista pc.
It was listed as "not initialized". So I attempted to initialize it and
recieved the message that it was write-protected. How do I get around this?
 
Tom,

You partition, format and assign a drive letter using Disk Management in
Vista: Right click Computer (formerly My Computer) select Manage and then
Disk Management.
 
Yes, I did all of that. My question was about the harddrive being write
protected, and how to get around that problem.
 
Right click on the drive in Computer and select properties. Then select the
Security tab and check what permissions are set. You should be in an
administrator account when you do this. Your administrator account should
have full control.
 
I was in an administrator account when I did what I did. Next suggestion
please. How do I un-write protect this harddrive? Could it possibly be a
jumper that needs to be moved around on the harddrive?
 
Ok, I did a bit of exploring on the Maxtor/Seagate website, since this
harddrive is a maxtor. They have a troubleshooting section. One of the
initial steps in the troubleshooting is to list your OS. Vista is not even
listed as an option. So I am wondering if this harddrive might not work with
Vista. Its an ATA internal.
If this is the case, would it be possible to boot up to Vista, then try to
install XP on the ATA drive, letting XP take over and do the formatting,
using fat 32? This is very important to me. I want to setup a dual boot
system, so that I can use my stuff from before Vista.
 
I have tried your link a few times and the directions do not work, because
when I click on the properties there is no security option to click on. I
have tried it both from windows explorer and from control panel. Any more
suggestions? I still can not access my new unused drive.
 
Control Panel (Classic view) > Administrative Tools > Computer Management
(approve UAC) > highlight Disk Management (near bottom of left hand pane) >
Right click on the new disk in the left pane and first set up Partition (s),
then format and assign drive letter.

Search Vista's Help and Support for partition and format for guided
instructions.
 
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