Unable to initialize disk in Disk Management

goldenblind221

New Member
Messages
11
Location
Houston. TX
Hello, thanks for reading and any help you may be able to offer.

I have a Western Digital external hard drive. Model WD5000C032 500GB. It's an older device that was working just fine on my Mac (I don't know what OS it was running and do not have access to it any longer). I have brought this HD with me and am now trying to use it on my Windows 8.1 lap top. When I plug it in, the device is not assigned a letter. I can search for it in disk management, but it is uninitialized. I have right clicked on the drive to initialize, and receive an error message "the specific disk is not convertible because the size is less than the minimum size required for GPT disks." I searched online and found a thread on sevenforums that suggested downloading and using Partition Wizard. I downloaded the program and opened the wizard, but it does not see my hard drive. The screen shot will display as far as I've gotten.

I am completely at a loss. I am NOT computer savvy and all of this is a little over my head. I'm hoping someone will be able to help. Screenshot (166).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
I have tried basic troubleshooting (rebooting computer, unplugging device from wall outlet, unplugging device from USB, switching USB ports). At first I thought it was a problem with the driver, but the properties states that the driver is compatible and up to date. I do not want to lose any data that is on the drive if possible (lots of photos, music, etc.). Thanks again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Hi welcome to 8Forums,

I think since you've used it in your Mac before, that drive must have been formatted in a different file system format that Windows cannot understand. With that said, you might try to download and install HFS file system drivers to your Windows system so that it might possibly be able to read the file system format of that drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
You can try diskpart, open admin command prompt: Win+X->Comand Prompt(Admin)
  1. Type: diskpart <ENTER>
  2. Type: list disk <ENTER>
  3. Type: select disk # <ENTER> where # is the disk number, probably = 1, check on the list for correct #
  4. Type: clean <ENTER>
  5. Type: Exit

Open disk management and right click on the disk to initialize->Simple and follow the screen to create a primary partition and format
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Hi welcome to 8Forums,

I think since you've used it in your Mac before, that drive must have been formatted in a different file system format that Windows cannot understand. With that said, you might try to download and install HFS file system drivers to your Windows system so that it might possibly be able to read the file system format of that drive.

Downloaded HSFExplorer and per instructions How to read Mac OS HFS drives in Windows for free - PC Advisor on this site, am unable to select the hard disk. It is not being detected. Not sure how to proceed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
You can try diskpart, open admin command prompt: Win+X->Comand Prompt(Admin)
  1. Type: diskpart <ENTER>
  2. Type: list disk <ENTER>
  3. Type: select disk # <ENTER> where # is the disk number, probably = 1, check on the list for correct #
  4. Type: clean <ENTER>
  5. Type: Exit

Open disk management and right click on the disk to initialize->Simple and follow the screen to create a primary partition and format
If I do this, the files saved on the external drive will not be erased, correct? That's my primary concern.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
You can try diskpart, open admin command prompt: Win+X->Comand Prompt(Admin)
  1. Type: diskpart <ENTER>
  2. Type: list disk <ENTER>
  3. Type: select disk # <ENTER> where # is the disk number, probably = 1, check on the list for correct #
  4. Type: clean <ENTER>
  5. Type: Exit

Open disk management and right click on the disk to initialize->Simple and follow the screen to create a primary partition and format
If I do this, the files saved on the external drive will not be erased, correct? That's my primary concern.
No, The files will be deleted so you need to somehow get the data saved first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
You lost me,

you want to initialise a disk in Windows which does not work right now, but on the other hand you want to keep the data??????

Or do i understand this wrong.?

Jeff
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WINDOWS 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    INTEL CORE I--3770K LGA1155
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V
    Memory
    KINGSTON 2400 MHZ KHX24C11K4 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    INTEL HD GRAFICS 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philip BDL3245€ 32 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 SAMSUNG 840 PRO RAID 0 ON BOARD 2 x 128 GB
    Keyboard
    LOGITEC MX™ 5500
    Mouse
    LOGITEC MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    120 Mbps
I would grab a live Linux DVD download and run it. It may give you the chance to lift off your data on the HD, before you go ahead and wipe it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Use several different computers during a day, so specs are irrelevant.
You lost me,

you want to initialise a disk in Windows which does not work right now, but on the other hand you want to keep the data??????

Or do i understand this wrong.?

Jeff

I'm sorry. I might not be explaining this correctly. Computers are not my language, I'm trying to pick it up as I go.

From start to finish:
I had a hard drive at my parents house that I used to back up my photos, videos, and music.
That hard drive was connected to a mac and was working before I unplugged it and brought it with me.
When I came home, it would not work.
Lights came on, whirring of machine in use, unable to pull up the drive via a letter.
Opened control panel -> hardware and sound -> devices and printers and saw that the drive as there.
Opened up the properties for the drive, everything seemed right except that I could not get it to state the drive's capacity.
Still could not access it. Computer knows its there, just cannot open it.Screenshot (167).png
Googled for HOURS. Came up with the solutions as explained in my first post. Don't quite understand what any of it means.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Since your HD is in HFS format and Windows will not be able to read it. Please download:
Catacombae - HFSExplorer
and install this program, you might be able to read and extract data from Windows. After you backup the data then you can use my post above to initialize the HD. If your HD is less than 2TB capacity, just initialize it as MBR partition style.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Since your HD is in HFS format and Windows will not be able to read it. Please download:
Catacombae - HFSExplorer
and install this program, you might be able to read and extract data from Windows. After you backup the data then you can use my post above to initialize the HD. If your HD is less than 2TB capacity, just initialize it as MBR partition style.
Screenshot (175).png
Screenshot (176).png

The first screen shot is when I open the program. The second is the result of me going to file -> load system file from device -> autodetect. I can't seem to find the HD.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
If HFSExplorer could not detect it. I think you might have to get hold of a MAC pc from friends/acquaintance to try in on.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
I would grab a live Linux DVD download and run it. It may give you the chance to lift off your data on the HD, before you go ahead and wipe it.
I don't have a disc drive on my lap top. Is that something that I can safely download from the internet?

Yes. Perfectly safe. You could put it on a USB drive also, and try it from there

This is one I have handy for such emergencies:

Knoppix | The LiveCD List

But try the alternative suggestion from my colleague, first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Use several different computers during a day, so specs are irrelevant.
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