Korean Job Discussion Forums

[on_me_head_son]

Hi all. Just a quick question for you. I got a new HDD and external case recently but I'm having a bit of a problem getting it working.

The computer is recognising the HDD no problem but says it's not initialized. When I select to initialize the HDD it tells me it can't be done because the HDD is write-protected. What can I do?

Thanks a lot for any advice or suggestions.

[the_beaver]

Right click on it and format it.

Assuming that it's new and has nothing on it yet, that is.

[on_me_head_son]

Thanks Beaver. Ok, I didn't give enough information. I can't simply right click and select 'format' because the icon for the new HDD doesn't appear in My Computer folder.

Where I have found it is in the computer management folder under 'disc management'. It has a HDD icon with a red circle with a white line through it on top. It is described as 'Not Initialized' and when I choose to initialize it pops up with 'cannot initialize, write-protected'.

I'm not even sure about the difference between initializing and formatting a HDD. Are they the same thing?

This is really annoying me, any help or suggestions are very gratefully recieved!

[the_beaver]

(you've been here already, but from the start)

Right click on the 'my computer' icon on the desktop.

select <manage>
under storage, select <disk management>

It should show up there. Just right click on it and select <format> (and before selecting format make sure that it's the correct HDD). That should be all you need.

[on_me_head_son]

Beaver, thanks a lot for taking the time to help me.

When I open disc management I can see a list of discs. I can see it's the right disc because of the size and device type. When I right-click on it there is no option to format, only to initialize. When I choose to initialize, a pop-up appears telling me 'the requested operation cannot be completed because the media is write-protected'.

Are 'initialize' and 'format' the same thing? How can I solve this 'write-protected' problem? Bah!!

Thanks again dude.

Oh yeah, the HDD is brand new.

[the_beaver]

[the_beaver]

Probably won't work, but with the drive selected, go to the Action menu and then <all tasks>. Any interesting commands in there.

And initialize and format are different.

[spliff]

Format it NTFS

[on_me_head_son]

[on_me_head_son]

[agoodmouse]

I've never heard of this problem before. In Windows, normally I'd get an error saying the drive can't be read and that it needs formatting. I've never heard of initializing. I mean, it's turned on. Maybe the jumper settings are ill-configured. Jumpers are on the rear of the hard drive itself.

[spliff]

If you bought the case w/ the drive already installed it is usually formatted already in fat32...just reformat it it in NTFS.

[JustJohn]

That was going to be my guess. I don't remember ever seeing this before, but maybe jumpers can be set to write-protect the drive. Look through the manual and check your jumper settings.

[on_me_head_son]

[spliff]

Sounds like a faulty drive then if the com doesn't recognize it when you plug it in. It should the drives not formatted and then ask you if you want to format it....