Ever have a Drive you cant' see??

oneeyejack · Jun 11, 2011

Hello !! ever have a drive you can't see in Windows Explorer, and you need to clean it up, but can't do any thing with it in Disk Management. Try this!!
Using MSDOS to CLEAN a harddrive:

First go to Start, Settings,Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, then Disk Management.
Find the "unseen drive", and notice the number it is assigned in the left side of the box, located on
the lower right side of the screen.

THEN...
To "clean" an "unseen" drive so it can be seen & formatted in Disk Management, use the following commands:

Click on Start

Then type the word, cmd & tap Enter (This opens up an msdos box.)
Type the word diskpart & tap Enter
Type the word select disk 3 tap Enter be sure to leave a space between select and the disk number.
Type the word clean & tap Enter

Then go back to Disk Management.
Initialize the same disk...
Then FORMAT the disk.

DavidGP · Jun 11, 2011

Hi

What does it do? what benefit does it have for the average PC user?

In the modern age and from XP onwards its not been a mass benefit to the average user to use msdos or let alone diskpart (that is a dangerous command to use as it can wipe a HDD easily with wrong commands) to clean or manage a HDD.

Diskpart "clean" or "Clean all" command will blank data from a HDD which in theory may if you are to discard this HDD allow another to gain personal data if you didnt securely erase a HDD, rare but could happen.

SO to warn others who may wish to try this ill advised information as text is missing as to what it actually does, in that it is not a cleanup routine like CCleaner but will zero write a HDD so all your information is removed, see info HERE (search the page CTRL+L for clean [all] for what the command will do)

More information on what a set of command do "if you actually know what they do opposed from reading on a website somewhere" is needed to advise users as to what they are actually doing or going to do to their PC, this is one I would have never posted as a tip, unless it fitted a specific scenario to fix a PC issue.

oneeyejack · Jun 11, 2011

Using MSDOS to CLEAN a harddrive:

These instructions came from a technician with Hitachi, so I could fix the Hitachi 3TB external harddrive.
The drive was setup for a 32bit computer, but since my 2 computers are 64bit,.. for some reason,..
I was unable to even see new 3TB external harddrive using windows explorer...
and I was unable to do anything to it using Disk Management.
This is to be used only if the above conditions exist.
This tip came from my neighbor who is a computer tech and has been for years. I repeat only use this if you can not see a Drive in Windows Explorer and have no control in Disk Management.

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Ever have a Drive you cant' see??

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