hd format

router · 19-Jan-08, 20:43

am currently formatting a hard drive,,,how long should this take?the drive is only 20gb..had it running last nite and gave up went to bed switching it off.have started it again it has been formatting now for 20 mins or so but seems to be taking its time..

**maidencaithness** · 20-Jan-08, 01:52

Originally Posted by router

am currently formatting a hard drive,,,how long should this take?the drive is only 20gb..had it running last nite and gave up went to bed switching it off.have started it again it has been formatting now for 20 mins or so but seems to be taking its time..

Depends on speed of drive as well as size but for a small 20Gb would have thought 30 mins max but really should be less.

**Mr_Me19** · 20-Jan-08, 11:40

Originally Posted by router

am currently formatting a hard drive,,,how long should this take?the drive is only 20gb..had it running last nite and gave up went to bed switching it off.have started it again it has been formatting now for 20 mins or so but seems to be taking its time..

If you switched it off and restarted formatting later then it will start formatting right from the beginning. What utility are you using to format? Is it a slave drive? External?

**seanyt** · 20-Jan-08, 17:45

If its taking a long time to format (e.g. Longer than an hour) the drive could be faulty.

Is it making any unusual noises when you are you trying to format?

router · 21-Jan-08, 11:02

used a boot disc for windows 98/xp i got from e bay,after i posted last it had run for two and a half hours it had only gotten to cluster 477,000 odd of 2,050,295 reckon would have to let it run for 24hours at that rate! have a copy of xp and stuck that in which formatted the disc it runs ok for purposes i want it for, though yes there does seem to be a problem with hd as windows wants to check it when powering up...would letting the full formatting procedure run until it was done solve the problem?

**coppertop 1958** · 21-Jan-08, 14:02

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**maidencaithness** · 21-Jan-08, 16:20

Originally Posted by router

used a boot disc for windows 98/xp i got from e bay,after i posted last it had run for two and a half hours it had only gotten to cluster 477,000 odd of 2,050,295 reckon would have to let it run for 24hours at that rate! have a copy of xp and stuck that in which formatted the disc it runs ok for purposes i want it for, though yes there does seem to be a problem with hd as windows wants to check it when powering up...would letting the full formatting procedure run until it was done solve the problem?

If hdd is having problems best to fit new one before it fails this link is for a 20gb one on ebay tested and £9.49 including postage can't be bad http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20-GIGABYTE-3-...QQcmdZViewItem

or for a bit more could get larger drive but these days even £30 will get you a good 80gb hdd.

**Mr_Me19** · 21-Jan-08, 17:12

I agree with maidencaithness. You are better to get a new one.

What are you using the hard drive for once it is formatted? If you are going to be installing another operating system on it, just put in the installer disk and it will give the option to format the disk.

router · 21-Jan-08, 19:47

like i just said,i put a copy of xp in and it formatted the drive though it still appears to have a fault.! i will try a full reformat and if its still havin trouble will replace the drive...as MC suggested.it is an older pc with a 700mhz processor in it ,was giving it to kids for playin games on.doing out of personal interest as well as worked in electronics industry for several years but getting a bit rusty.........thanks for all the input.