Hard drive formatting software?

[blueonblack]

I've run up against an odd problem: I have a hard drive that I want to format so I can use it for other things, but it won't let me. Using Win7, all it tells me is "Windows was unable to complete the format". I can't even delete the files individually manually.

Can anyone recommend a simple freeware (or shareware) third-party program to do this?

[mDust]

I haven't had to use it in years, but KillDisk (http://www.killdisk.com/) will format it outside of Windows. You'll have to use their utility to make a bootable floppy or CD and boot from that. Actually, I haven't used it since floppies were still legit. It's been a while.:D

[slaveofconvention]

I wrote an article a couple months ago on installing windows 7 on a netbook via usb - you might want to take a look at that, specifically page 2 (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/frontpage/?q=node/441&page=0%2C1) which shows you how to use a command line interface to prepare and format a drive. I only mention it because I had an issue with a USB stick a while back - I made it into a bootable eeepc linux recovery device, and it went from 2gb to 1.3 and nothing I could do with the graphical tools in windows would get that other 700mb back once I was done, but this command line tool did it no problem. I'm assuming from that experience that this tool works on a lower level than the graphical ones in windows itself....

You'll have to ignore the bit about using a win 7 DVD and the bit at the end about copying the files, but I think all of the command line bits might well help.... With a little minor modification of course

[OvRiDe]

DBAN is a great utility for wiping the disk. It comes as a bootable CD so that Windows doesn't have control of the drive. Once its wiped, Windows should have no problems formating it.

http://www.dban.org/

[x88x]

++ for DBAN

[blueonblack]

Excellent, thanks very much all!