Why on earth is formatting this drive taking soooo long?
Discussion
I bought a cheap 2.5" 2TB external drive and put some movies on it to play on a TV but the TV complained about the file system so I allowed the TV to format the disc the way it wanted it. When i then plugged it back into the PC loads of files with senseless names had been created so i put it back the way it was and gave up and decided to use it as a back up drive instead.
Then i noticed that accessing it was very slow so i thought maybe a full fat format might be required.
I started that process nearly a day ago and this is where it is at!
The USB port is USB2 as the machine is a few yrs old but, seriously?
Then i noticed that accessing it was very slow so i thought maybe a full fat format might be required.
I started that process nearly a day ago and this is where it is at!
The USB port is USB2 as the machine is a few yrs old but, seriously?
Penelope Stopit said:
Have you tried NTFS?
There is a file size limit when using Fat 32 that may be too small for your needs
Anyway, the drive might be faulty
You could try formatting with Gparted
from what I have read 'exfat' doesnt have the same file size restrictions that fat32 has, but to be honest I dont think i will be putting any files over 4gb on it anyway.There is a file size limit when using Fat 32 that may be too small for your needs
Anyway, the drive might be faulty
You could try formatting with Gparted
I agree, the drive might be faulty.
Just downloading Gparted and will give it a go, thanks
Shuvi McTupya said:
from what I have read 'exfat' doesnt have the same file size restrictions that fat32 has, but to be honest I dont think i will be putting any files over 4gb on it anyway.
I agree, the drive might be faulty.
Just downloading Gparted and will give it a go, thanks
Thanks, you've taught me something. I've never used exfat and thought all the FATS had limitations, I've learnt about this too late as I've as good as binned WindowsI agree, the drive might be faulty.
Just downloading Gparted and will give it a go, thanks
Good luck, Gparted has never failed me
Penelope Stopit said:
Thanks, you've taught me something. I've never used exfat and thought all the FATS had limitations, I've learnt about this too late as I've as good as binned Windows
Good luck, Gparted has never failed me
gparted has failed me, or i have failed the initiative test!Good luck, Gparted has never failed me
I downloaded 'gparted live 0.33.0 - 2-i686' but the program that actually installed was 'Roxio CD and DVD burning software' No mention of Gparted at all.
I am now formatting to NTFS with 'ease US' partition master and will see what happens.
Well, 'EaseUS' said it had successfully formatted the drive but windows (7) can not access the drive as 'The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable'.
I have never had issues with external USB drives before. this one was a budget one off ebay. It is a 'Nemko expansion portable drive' but weirdly if you google that name all that comes up is seagate drives and this one looks like the seagate drives but it definitely does not say seagate on it!
I have never had issues with external USB drives before. this one was a budget one off ebay. It is a 'Nemko expansion portable drive' but weirdly if you google that name all that comes up is seagate drives and this one looks like the seagate drives but it definitely does not say seagate on it!
You could download and run this to get the SMART information from the drive https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskin...
The tool will tell you if the HDD has failed or is failing
Others have posted to the net that this tool works for external USB Drives
Be sure to select the correct drive before running
The tool will tell you if the HDD has failed or is failing
Others have posted to the net that this tool works for external USB Drives
Be sure to select the correct drive before running
Penelope Stopit said:
What a pain of a problem, not that it's any consolation I've had 2 Drives fail on me this week and one hadn't done hardly any work
Two in one week? Do you use them professionally or something?This will be my first ever failure (of a drive of any sort) and it was brand new and unused until two weeks ago .
Shuvi McTupya said:
Penelope Stopit said:
What a pain of a problem, not that it's any consolation I've had 2 Drives fail on me this week and one hadn't done hardly any work
Two in one week? Do you use them professionally or something?This will be my first ever failure (of a drive of any sort) and it was brand new and unused until two weeks ago .
Good luck with yours
Edit....I couldn't help but notice that you've been computing to this place for longer than many people live
Edited by Penelope Stopit on Saturday 4th May 16:44
Yeah i have been kicking around here for a while
So, the format failed and spewed out a message about the disc being read only so i just looked for help and did some stuff on the command prompt to clear the read only status. It then performed a quick format in a matter of seconds and now i am copying a 5gb folder to it to see if it all slows down again.
Fingers crossed!
So, the format failed and spewed out a message about the disc being read only so i just looked for help and did some stuff on the command prompt to clear the read only status. It then performed a quick format in a matter of seconds and now i am copying a 5gb folder to it to see if it all slows down again.
Fingers crossed!
Both good suggestions and funnily enough I do have another cable and it is working better than the one that came with the drive, it is running somewhere between 12-17Mb/s which is much better but I still think it should be a fair bit quicker.
I have also tried updating the drivers but it says they are fine.
My attempt to format to NTFS has now failed twice.
Crystal disk still doesn't see the external drive so I cant get a report.
I am going to move a bunch of stuff onto it and see if the access speed slows down again and if it does i might try a 'full fat' format again and just leave it for as long as it takes.
As it is though, windows can only format it as exFAT, everything else fails.
Atleast its not life and death or anything
I have also tried updating the drivers but it says they are fine.
My attempt to format to NTFS has now failed twice.
Crystal disk still doesn't see the external drive so I cant get a report.
I am going to move a bunch of stuff onto it and see if the access speed slows down again and if it does i might try a 'full fat' format again and just leave it for as long as it takes.
As it is though, windows can only format it as exFAT, everything else fails.
Atleast its not life and death or anything
Drive Blind said:
combination of cheap hdd plus the usb to sata interface slowing things down?
nail/head i think.Its a 2TB drive for about £30 delivered, so i guess i shouldn't expect too much, but i don't see why the TV's I have tried using it on don't like it, maybe they just cant handle a drive as big as 2TB?
And it has slowed right down again. i am moving 15Gb of movies onto it and it has dropped back down to 3mb/s.
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