Can't wipe external hard drive?

CuppaCocoa

I have a western digital external hard drive with a lot of files on it that I want to erase as I want to use it to back up my itunes library. When I try to delete the files I get the message 'cannot delete file, cannot read from the source file or disk'. Is there any way around this? I think the files on it were copied from my old computer which I no longer have. I tried a free programme called disk wipe but that wouldn't remove them either

burrentech

Check that the USB cable is OK, best to try another. If you're want to wipe all files from the disk a reformat will accomplish the job for you.

If you want to go further then you could use a low level formatting app such as KillDisk which wipes the data more completely. you will need to go into disk management to recreate a useable disk under Windows (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Manage Computer).

Also a good idea to run Check Disk to scan for bad blocks.

CuppaCocoa

Thanks. My cable is fine as I can delete recent files I put onto it. Have downloaded killdisk and it's in the process of erasing it now. Looks like it'll be doing it for the next 2 hours and 40 mins! Never mind, if it does the job that's the main thing

CuppaCocoa

Methinks something is wrong? It's been doing its deleting thing since 1 p.m. yesterday and its still only at 46% :eek: Surely it couldn't take that long - could it??

CreepingDeath

It could very well take that long.

"Secure" hard disk erasers will write over the same disk sectors many times in different bit patterns to ensure there's no chance of recovering the data.

So it could be doing the equivalent of writing 250Gb (or whatever size your HD is), 10 times or so.

If you wanted something faster, then formatting the disk probably would've worked.

CuppaCocoa

CreepingDeath wrote: »

It could very well take that long.

"Secure" hard disk erasers will write over the same disk sectors many times in different bit patterns to ensure there's no chance of recovering the data.

So it could be doing the equivalent of writing 250Gb (or whatever size your HD is), 10 times or so.

If you wanted something faster, then formatting the disk probably would've worked.

Darn. I unplugged it because I thought there was something wrong Now I can't get the drive to show up at all. It doesn't appear in 'my computer'. Any ideas on how to rescue this?

bonzodog2

Go to DiskManagement (MyComputer->Manage) and its probably Disk1. Remove any partitiions there and create a new one, then format it. Be sure you don't try to do this to the C: drive, which should be Disk0.

Lazarus2.0

In Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management the drive should show up . The path may be slightly different depending which Windows OS you are running .You can format it from there and you will then see the drive/partition in My Computer .

You can also click Start/Run (if XP) or Start (Vista/Win7) and type diskmgmt.msc to access the console .

CuppaCocoa

nessyguin wrote: »

In Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management the drive should show up . The path may be slightly different depending which Windows OS you are running .You can format it from there and you will then see the drive/partition in My Computer .

You can also click Start/Run (if XP) or Start (Vista/Win7) and type diskmgmt.msc to access the console .

Thanks, I found it. It's showing up as 114471 mb capacity with 114471 mb of unallocated space. How do I format it from here? Can't see any option

Dale Parish

Right click on the partition -> Format

CuppaCocoa

Dale Parish wrote: »

Right click on the partition -> Format

Great, it's formatting it now! Hope it doesn't take as long as the killdisk!

CuppaCocoa

Right....so I get the message 'windows was unable to complete the format'. 'The disk in drive J cannot be formatted'. When I click on drive J it asks me if I want to format it? Is there any way around it or should I just put the drive in the bin :mad:

Dale Parish

Delete the partition and create a new one

CuppaCocoa

Dale Parish wrote: »

Delete the partition and create a new one

Sigh....tried that and got 'the format did not complete successfully'.

Lazarus2.0

Doesnt sound too promising . Run Command Prompt and type chkdsk j: /f
(where J is the HD - if you have attached or removed other devices the drive letter can change) .

Even if chkdsk fixes the drive I personally wouldnt trust it as a backup of any valuable data in the future . Others may have had happier experiences in this scenario but alas not I ...

U_Fig

Personally I find doing any sort of formatting from windows to be a pain..I use goarted Mostly. It comes with ubuntu live cd.. It quick formats it usually takes like 30 seconds to format a drive max..the data will be recoverable but it will be good for storage again