can't get hard drive to format?

[wissard0ne]

Hello to all im an new here ..I have a ?....i HAVE A maxtor 20g hard drive that has a ext.lba partition on it.Ihave tried everthing to get it formated... herion's boot disk ...evertime you delete the partition on reboot it comes back I HAD LINUX INSALLED ON IT ONE TIME ..BUT on most partioning software like on format it has an i/o error so may be a bad drive but you can get to it from inside windows an see everthing...weird huh.....any help would CoOl..thanks

 

[PC eye]

Since you are new here then you must have need for a Welcome to the COmputer Forum! http://www.computerforum.com/70672-official-welcome-thread.html along with the reminder given to all new members to review the http://www.computerforum.com/52038-forum-rules.html

You had Linux on the drive but are trying to use MS type partitioning tools? Haven't you ever heard of "CFDISK" or the Gnome Partition Editor? That's also commonly known as GParted Live for cd. You will find that will delete even Vista or even Solaris partitions off of any drive.

Windows can't read Linux partitions while live for cd distros like Knoppix and ubuntu can read MS partitions especially Knoppix live. It's an effective data recovery tool for inaccessible MS partitions. But your concern now will need a cd writer and a program that can burn iso disk images to cd-rs in order to make up a bootable GParted cd. The 0.3.3.0 version is the newest that still lacks a need for mounting it. http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828

 

[wissard0ne]

thanks

So I went an download the tool so you say boot from cdrom an delete partition from there.....thank for you help

 

[PC eye]

Do you have a program that burns iso type images? One good one that's seen some great results for this is BurnOn found at http://www.burnworld.com/burnoncddvd/

You may want a little instruction on how to get upto the main gui once you have it burned to disk. You'll have to keep pressing the enter key to load the defaults seen at each prompt until you see the option for the default 1024x768. That's the best until you get familiar with it. The screen shots that make it easier are found at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php

You may even want to unplug the OS drive or simply try a dry run to get a look over at how things are done. You don't want to wipe the OS drive! A small tan on the upper right side is a dropdown menu of the hard drives detected and their partitions. With Linux you probably had a swap as well as the root that will need removing too. Once you select the right one click on the delete option and click apply after to watch the scroll bar get busy.

Once that is done select the "eject disk and restart" option and remove the GParted cd when the drive tray comes out. Remember if you wonder around with the various setting when first booting with GParted you will get lost fast. The newer releases require mounting a folder for the new "start x" automatic screen detection feature. The 0.3.3.0 release retains the easier way of simply pressing the enter to get upto the gui.