Raw HDD Format

Hey guys, i wasn't exactly sure where to post this (since it's not exactly a win8 problem) but since this is the hardware section i thought i'd post it here. So sorry if this is the wrong section.

Moving on to the point, i got this WD My Passport 500GB Hard Disk and well it's not exactly working. At first it asked to be formatted when i plugged in one day. I tried to find a way to open it without doing that but there was nothing of value inside so i decided to format it. But that didn't work. After i tried to format, it shows the hard disk as a RAW type. I searched the net and tried different things (like using TestDisk) but no luck.

Anything i can do to fix this? There's nothing in it that i want. I just want the harddisk to work again.

Thank you

Hello gulhipe,

I'm not sure I quite understand why you tried to open it; however, did you read the installation instructions? Anyway, if not, I would strongly suggest you visit this WD site:

WD Support / Installation / My Passport / My Passport Essential

Note: There is a utility in the download section that can get you back to the default format if necessary. Please read carefully and good luck.

I've been using this harddisk for couple of months and used to store some movies and tv shows. I wanted to retrieve those first but i decided i could get them later from a friend so not worried about the data inside. Now i'm just looking for a way to make it work again.

try this:
Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command - Windows 7 Support Forums

then you create an entirely new partition.

gulhipe said:

I've been using this harddisk for couple of months and used to store some movies and tv shows. I wanted to retrieve those first but i decided i could get them later from a friend so not worried about the data inside. Now i'm just looking for a way to make it work again.

Click to expand...

IMHO, that is the way you should have started the explanation of your problem in your opening statement. You also could have tried to explain what happens when you tried to access the drive to retrieve those files because not working doesn't tell us much.

@norepli
Sorry about that. Yeah i should have been a bit more clear.

@MrShowdown
I tried that but when i try to clean (or clean all) it says
"DiskPart has encountered an error: The system cannot find the file specified. See the System Event Log for more information"
And after that, the hard disk disappears (Even from disk management)

Also when i plug in the harddisk, "My Computer" opens up really slow and the harddisk is shown but only the name (it's total space/free space is not shown).

Once again, really sorry if i'm not able to explain it clearly

Open elevated command prompt and try:

1. diskpart
2. list disk
3. select disk n where n is the WD disk
4. list partition
5. select partition n where n is partition #
6. delete partition
7. create partition primary
8. assign
9. a popup windows will ask you to format Use the default settings

EDIT: Skip 5 & 6 if there's no partition listed


If this does not work, there's a possibility:

1. The power provided to the Hard disk is inadequate or flaky. Try another USB port.
2. The USB cable is defected. Try another cable.
3. The USB interface board inside the enclosure is defected.
4. The Hard disk is defected

Wanted to try that but now the harddisk is not being read. Doesn't even show in diskpart (although it does appear in "Safe removal" place)

I have a 1 TB WD Harddisk as well and it works perfectly with the USB port so nothing wrong with that. And i switched the cable as well and it seemed to be working fine. So i guess, it could be a problem with the disk itself. I'll still do some reading and try to see if there is a solution.

Thanks again for the replies