How to format a 3" drive without a laptop?

[micky]

How to format a 2.5" drive without a laptop?

I didn't realize this would be a problem. I have an old laptop whose
PATA HDD had failed.

(Please don't tell me just to get a newer laptop. I know of that
option and I might but I want to fix this one regardless.)

I have a new, bigger 40G PATA HDD, and I thought I could partition it,
format it, and restore my backup files to it from my regular desktop
computer, running X SP3.

But nothing recognizes that the drive is even there, inluding Easeus
Parrtiition Master Home Edition and Windows Disk Management, I guess
the latter isn't meant to recognize unpartitioned drives.)

Is the problem that the drive is only connected by a USB adapter??

Because it is 2.5" and the connections on the mobo seem suited only to
3 1/2 and 5.25" hard drives, I used a Rosewill PATA/SATA/CD/DVD to
USB adapter, which has always worked fine, including yesterday, with
PATA drives that already have data. I just plug the USB plug into the
port and XP recognizes the drive like any external USB drive.

What am I missing?

Do I have to find a CD that will boot the laptop, put the HDD into the
laptop and partition the HDD there?

I think it has only 256 Meg RAM. I have Hiren's Boot CD which runs a
smaller version of XP. Is 256 Meg enough? And I have the originan
MS winME CD.

The laptop is a Thinkpad that came with 98 and was upgraded to ME but
I wanted to also put 2000 on it ASAP, in order to use newer AntiiVirus
and Web Browsers.


Thanks.I

 

[mscotgrove]

How to format a 2.5" drive without a laptop?

I didn't realize this would be a problem.  I have an old laptop whose
PATA HDD had failed.

(Please don't tell me just to get a newer laptop.  I know of that
option  and I might but I want to fix this one regardless.)

I have a new, bigger 40G PATA HDD, and I thought I could partition it,
format it, and restore my backup files to it from my regular desktop
computer, running X SP3.  

But nothing recognizes that the drive is even there, inluding Easeus
Parrtiition Master Home Edition  and Windows Disk Management, I guess
the latter isn't meant to recognize unpartitioned drives.)

Is the problem that the drive is only connected by a USB adapter??

Because it is 2.5" and the connections on the mobo seem suited only to
3 1/2 and  5.25" hard drives, I used a Rosewill PATA/SATA/CD/DVD to
USB adapter, which has always worked fine, including yesterday, with
PATA drives that already have data.  I just plug the USB plug into the
port and XP recognizes the drive like any external USB drive.

What am I missing?  

Do I have to find a CD that will boot the laptop, put the HDD into the
laptop and partition the HDD there?

 I think it has only 256 Meg RAM.  I have Hiren's Boot CD which runs a
smaller version of XP.  Is 256 Meg enough?   And I have the originan
MS winME CD.

The laptop is a Thinkpad that came with 98 and was upgraded to  ME but
I wanted to also put 2000 on it ASAP, in order to use newer AntiiVirus
and Web Browsers.

Thanks.I

Are you using a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter? This is passive 40 pin 34 pin
including power.

USB etc will be fine

Michael
www.cnwrecovery.com

 

[Rod Speed]

micky wrote

How to format a 2.5" drive without a laptop?

I'm not convinced that you need to do that.

I didn't realize this would be a problem. I have an old laptop whose
PATA HDD had failed.

(Please don't tell me just to get a newer laptop. I know of
that option and I might but I want to fix this one regardless.)

I have a new, bigger 40G PATA HDD, and I thought I could partition it,
format it, and restore my backup files to it from my regular desktop
computer, running X SP3.

You dont need to format it to restore to it with most decent backup software.

Particularly with an image restore, the imager should restore to an unpartitioned drive.

And even if you do need to partition and format the drive,
because you backup is actually a manual copy of the files
on the original, you can partition and format it fine in XP SP3.

But nothing recognizes that the drive is even there, inluding Easeus
Parrtiition Master Home Edition and Windows Disk Management,

That last is just plain wrong; Disk Management will partition and format a drive
and it will see a viable drive that has not been partitioned and formatted.

There must be something wrong with the drive or the connection to it etc.

I guess the latter isn't meant to recognize unpartitioned drives.)

Yes it does and I use it to partition and format new drives that are
used with my PC based PVR that replaces the video recorders.

Is the problem that the drive is only connected by a USB adapter??

Nope, thats how I partition and format the PVR overflow drives,
they are in a USB2 docking station.

Because it is 2.5" and the connections on the mobo seem suited only to
3 1/2 and 5.25" hard drives, I used a Rosewill PATA/SATA/CD/DVD to
USB adapter, which has always worked fine, including yesterday, with
PATA drives that already have data. I just plug the USB plug into the
port and XP recognizes the drive like any external USB drive.

It may be that that adapter has a problem with drives that have not
been paritioned and formatted.

What am I missing?

That XP SP3 Disk Management will partition and format a blank drive
fine;. So either the Rosewell adapter has a problem with an unformatted
drive which is unlikely, or the drive has not been connected properly.

Are you sure you have got power to the drive properly ? Does
the drive even spin up ? You should be able to feel it spin up.

Do I have to find a CD that will boot the laptop, put
the HDD into the laptop and partition the HDD there?

Nope although that would resolve the problem with the drive
not spinning up if it does spin up in the laptop.

I think it has only 256 Meg RAM. I have Hiren's Boot CD
which runs a smaller version of XP. Is 256 Meg enough?

Yes. Tho that is a bit quirky user interface wise, it should work.

And I have the originan MS winME CD.

That should do it fine too, its got a partitioner and formatter on it
if its a bootable CD.

The laptop is a Thinkpad that came with 98 and was upgraded
to ME but I wanted to also put 2000 on it ASAP, in order to
use newer AntiiVirus and Web Browsers.

Nothing like living life in the fast lane.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

How to format a 2.5" drive without a laptop?

I didn't realize this would be a problem. I have an old laptop whose
PATA HDD had failed.

If you're in the US, here's an adapter for running 2.5" PATA drives
from a desktop PATA port. $1.59, delivered:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/3-5-to-2-5-hdd-converter-727

When you say 3" drive, do you mean a 3.5" desktop drive or a 2.5"
laptop drive? Also when the driver of a car sees a fork in the road
and asks you which way to go, do you tell him to go straight?

 

[micky]

Are you using a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter?

No, just a USB to PATA, etc. adapter. It has a black thing about 2"
by 1.5" that the USB cable plugs into and so does the drive, any size,
PATA, SATA, CD, or DVD, except for floppy. and maybe some drives I've
never owned, like ZIP.

Only 20 dollars from Rosewilll, some of the best money I've ever
spent.

But it's working now. See my answer to Rod. Well, that has been
delayed, but sometimes today or tomoorrow.

 

[micky]

If you're in the US, here's an adapter for running 2.5" PATA drives
from a desktop PATA port. $1.59, delivered:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/3-5-to-2-5-hdd-converter-727

Thanks a lot.

How can they sell anything for 1.59. delivered?

For that matter, I found on ebay some 40mm fans, almost what I need,
for 99 cents, free shipping, all the way from Hong Kong.. I didn't
think people in Hong Kong worked that cheap anymore.

 

[Rod Speed]

micky wrote

Thanks a lot.

How can they sell anything for 1.59. delivered?

I've bought some similar stuff for $1 delivered, from china to australia.

For that matter, I found on ebay some 40mm fans, almost what
I need, for 99 cents, free shipping, all the way from Hong Kong..
I didn't think people in Hong Kong worked that cheap anymore.

Yep, just bought a heap of cheap cables etc that way.

 

[micky]

micky wrote


I'm not convinced that you need to do that.

I guess not. Was I thinking of flooppies? You have to do it for
them:?

You dont need to format it to restore to it with most decent backup software.

Particularly with an image restore, the imager should restore to an unpartitioned drive.

Well, I do want parftitions, .

And even if you do need to partition and format the drive,
because you backup is actually a manual copy of the files
on the original, you can partition and format it fine in XP SP3.


That last is just plain wrong; Disk Management will partition and format a drive
and it will see a viable drive that has not been partitioned and formatted.

Yes, I was wrong. I can't remember from one day to the next what
things some progrrams can do,, and I think DM has a lot of its
commands under the right mouse key, and I didn't look there.

There must be something wrong with the drive or the connection to it etc.

You're right again.

I was trying to remember what was different from the one other time I
used this adapter with a 2.5" drive, and I realized I had used a
different USB cable. It was a black one, and the one this time was a
white one.

I think the white one had worked fine with 3.5 inch drives and with CD
drives, but I'm not certain now. Of course I forget things all the
time in the last couple years.

For the the bigger drives, there is a separate power supply, and the
adapter has 2 blue lights. One goes on when the power supply is
connected, and the other when the USB** cable is connected. But
with these 2.5" drives both blue lights were on with the white cable
so I thought it was good.

Today I found the black cable and the computer recognizes the good
drive and even 2 or the 3 bad drives., and It's copying now.

I hae to confess. I bought the whit one at a dollar store. I've had
trouble before with their electrnonci stuff, but I wanted spare cables
for the basemetn. I'm sure this or the other white cord I bought
worked. Althought the self-rewinding USB cable didn't work and the
rubber part of the button on an LED flashlight keeps falling out.
But other stuff has worked, .and thist was only a dollars, compared to
29 dollars at Radio Shack. (Yes, I know there are good cheap ones
online, but it was right in front of me and only a dollar .)

And I found out there are only 4 or 5 wires in a USB cable, and it
seems strange that the power is the problem, not the signal, since
this low level of power doesn't need a quality conductor.

**It also works with E-SATA.

Yes it does and I use it to partition and format new drives that are
used with my PC based PVR that replaces the video recorders.


Nope, thats how I partition and format the PVR overflow drives,
they are in a USB2 docking station.


It may be that that adapter has a problem with drives that have not
been paritioned and formatted.

It turns out it's a used drive and had been partitions and formatted
alreeady and even had one directory and file on it, System Volume
Information, that I couldn't delete. But I deleted the whole
partitoin and created a 10 gig one for winME. Therre are still 30gigs
left from win2000 and more data.

That XP SP3 Disk Management will partition and format a blank drive
fine;. So either the Rosewell adapter has a problem with an unformatted
drive which is unlikely, or the drive has not been connected properly.

Are you sure you have got power to the drive properly ? Does
the drive even spin up ? You should be able to feel it spin up.


Nope although that would resolve the problem with the drive
not spinning up if it does spin up in the laptop.


Yes. Tho that is a bit quirky user interface wise, it should work.


That should do it fine too, its got a partitioner and formatter on it
if its a bootable CD.

Good to know.

Thanks for the question above that pointed to the cable, and for all
the questions

Aha, it just finished. 3,250,000,000 bytes copied.

When I copied it Friday from the older, maybe 60 gig drive I was using
for backup the last time the Thinkpad wokred to the harddrive in
my computer now,, it took almost 3 hours.

Copying from that computer to this newer 2.5" 40Gig drive took 32
minutes.

Nothing like living life in the fast lane.

For much of my life, I'm still living in the 50's!

Actually i' enjoyed fiddling with this old one tonight as much as I
would enjoy fiddling with a new one!. It doesn't all work yet but it
was really fun.

Thanks again.

 

[Rod Speed]

micky wrote

I guess not. Was I thinking of flooppies?
Maybe.

You have to do it for them:?

Some of them come formatted.

Well, I do want parftitions, .

Yes, but the restore operation restores them too, to an unpartitioned drive.

Yes, I was wrong. I can't remember from one day
to the next what things some progrrams can do,,

Yeah, can be a problem.

and I think DM has a lot of its commands under the right mouse key,
Yep.

and I didn't look there.

Yeah, thats the way I normally do it.

You're right again.

I was trying to remember what was different from the one other time
I used this adapter with a 2.5" drive, and I realized I had used a different
USB cable. It was a black one, and the one this time was a white one.

I think the white one had worked fine with 3.5 inch
drives and with CD drives, but I'm not certain now.

Its more likely that you dont realise that the 2.5" drives are
powered differently. They dont have a separate power
connector, they are powered via the only connector,

Of course I forget things all the time in the last couple years.

Dont worry, you'll soon be forgetting where you live and who
that woman who cooks for you and cleans your house is.

For the the bigger drives, there is a separate power supply,

Yes. But the 2.5" drives still need to be powered, its just done
using some extra pins on the single long connector on the drive.

and the adapter has 2 blue lights. One goes on when the
power supply is connected, and the other when the USB**
cable is connected. But with these 2.5" drives both blue
lights were on with the white cable so I thought it was good.

Today I found the black cable and the computer recognizes the
good drive and even 2 or the 3 bad drives., and It's copying now.

I hae to confess. I bought the whit one at a dollar store. I've had
trouble before with their electrnonci stuff, but I wanted spare cables
for the basemetn. I'm sure this or the other white cord I bought
worked. Althought the self-rewinding USB cable didn't work and
the rubber part of the button on an LED flashlight keeps falling out.
But other stuff has worked, .and thist was only a dollars, compared
to 29 dollars at Radio Shack. (Yes, I know there are good cheap
ones online, but it was right in front of me and only a dollar .)

And I found out there are only 4 or 5 wires in a USB cable, and
it seems strange that the power is the problem, not the signal,
since this low level of power doesn't need a quality conductor.

You can get a significant voltage drop if the cheap cable doesnt
have thick enough wires used for the power and ground lines.

**It also works with E-SATA.

It turns out it's a used drive and had been partitions and formatted
alreeady and even had one directory and file on it, System Volume
Information, that I couldn't delete. But I deleted the whole partitoin
and created a 10 gig one for winME. Therre are still 30gigs
left from win2000 and more data.

Good to know.

Thanks for the question above that pointed to the cable, and for all the questions

No problem, thats what these technical newsgroups are about.

Aha, it just finished. 3,250,000,000 bytes copied.

When I copied it Friday from the older, maybe 60 gig drive I was using
for backup the last time the Thinkpad wokred to the harddrive in
my computer now,, it took almost 3 hours.

Copying from that computer to this newer 2.5" 40Gig drive took 32 minutes.

For much of my life, I'm still living in the 50's!

Yeah, quite a few do.

Actually i' enjoyed fiddling with this old one tonight as much as I would
enjoy fiddling with a new one!. It doesn't all work yet but it was really fun.

Thanks again.

No problem, happy to help.