how do I format a second hard drive?

Forgive my ignorance, as long as I've been a member here, I should be smarter. I just bought a 250 gb seagate external usb2 hard drive for my windows ME pc. It came with very little instructions, and only said that with windows ME the hard drive MUST be formatted prior to installation. How do I do that?

 

If just a storage drive, then it should already be formatted FAT32 or FAT. If you plug it in, and it shows in My Computer, right click on Properties for the drive, and what does it show for drive format type?

 

Not sure with ME but can you see the drive in windows explorer? If so right click on it/format.

 

that seems to be my problem, I plugged it in and it shows up down in the right corner as a usb disk, but it doesn't show up in My Computer. There are no additional drives shown. It's kind of strange how the crappy instructions capitalize the word MUST in their message to format prior to installation. If I try to restart the computer, it won't unless I "eject" the drive and unplug it first.

 

Does it need any software/driver to be installed first. But if you have the install instructions there I guess not. Weird.

 

Have you tried www.Seagate.com for directions?

 

I just checked the jumpers on the drive and realized that I had it set wrong I changed it from cable to master, (that's what a little sticker in the case said to do) but still no difference. It says on the hard drive to run computer bios/system setup program, select auto-detect option and enable logical block addressing (LBA) save and exit program. I couldn't figure that out at all.
this is what I bought http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-detailsInactive.asp?Sku=TC3T-1012
the only lights lit are the blue ones at the top -power led power blue. The others
access LED---HDD access RED LED FLASH is not lit.
Is this just because the hard drive isn't recognized, or could it be dead?
thanks for any help you can give, as I'm not real good at this stuff, obviously.

 

can anyone help me set up the bios as described above, I see no setting for auto detect or enable logical block addressing. All I get when I plug this thing in is the blue lights indicating that the power is on, but the red ones indicating HD access only flash real quick when the PC is booting and then never light again.
I have a shuttle MB AK32A and Bios V6.0 PG if that helps.

 

Beware, with Win9x and ME systems, there MAY be a problem with Hard drives greater than 137 gigs. You may need special Seagate formatting program. As suggested in an earlier post, contact Seagate, or google it. Bazza

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I'm sorry, but the thing I REALLY don't understand is, how do you format it BEFORE you install it?

 

What I do not get, is if the drive is an external drive in an enclosure, why are you messing with the settings on the pin jumpers? Now if the drive is being installed in the case for the computer motherboard, that is another story.

External drives such as these, come with an install disc to do all the work of installing the correct software for backing up, and any drivers that may be needed for the OS.

 

as I stated, there is a sticker inside the ultra case that says to be sure the hard drive jumpers are set to master and not cable, my seagate HD was set at cable so I changed it to master as instructed.
This drive did not come with any install disk, the only disk enclosed was a usb driver, but it's not for ME, only win 98. There was no install disk. The only thing that the very small instruction book say's is " For drive installation in Windows 98se or ME, the hard drive MUST be formatted prior to installation."
I went to Seagate and downloaded the install disk called "disk wizard", but when I setup and restarted as instructed then start the program the PC freezes. SO I removed it, DLed it again, setup again, and again it freezes.
This is really getting frustrating now, I thought maybe it's because I plugged in the hard drive to the usb before I installed "disk wizard", and it was recognized as a usb disk and that somehow that is screwing me up, or am I just grasping at straws? I used "GO Back" to go back to a time before I plugged in the hard drive, but it didn't help.
Should I try removing disk wizard again and clearing it from the registry or something, and removing the driver that windows installed for the usb device, if so, how do I do that?
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. (aside from purchasing XP) Thanks for your help

 

Any ideas why this disk wizard keeps freezing? The only way out of it is to reboot. I tried seagate support but they're closed till monday and I'd really like to figure this out.

 

Someone will probably correct me on this, but why not try the Win98 driver.
ME is an "improvement" on W98SE, but the W98 driver may work. Bazza

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I did try the 98 driver cd and when I entered setup it said that it was for win 98se and couldn't be installed on my machine. Come on guys, I'm totally confident that someone here knows how to do this, MG always comes through for me.

 

Looking at the resources at http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/external/index.html on all the Seagate external drives (unless you changed out the drive), states that no other drivers need to be installed for the drives, due to ME loads them. I would start looking at USB driver update for the computer itself.

So, lets go to the beginning. Model & Manu. of computer, exact model of external drive, and are there any other USB devices connected at the same time.

 

the computer is an older everex, but there's not much left of it, I changed the mother board etc. Not much of a machine, but I don't want to buy a new one yet. Mainboard is Shuttle AK32A, 384 sd ram, I added multi ports PCI usb 2 card (don't know the brand) powering a printer and mouse. Hard drive is Seagate model st3250824a, in a ultra ult-31309 3.5" mini case.
The thing that really stumps me now is why I can't run the disk wizard. It started to work once, but when it said to close it and close other programs that may be running, I did, and now it won't run at all even if I uninstall and reinstall the program from a fresh download.

 

Try unplugging the USB card, plug the enclosure directly into the shuttle board, and make sure that you have the latest drivers from Shuttle for that board. Once it is working with the mainboard, then plug back in the pc card, and let the OS find it, then if not, you will have to find the drivers, which means that you may end up having to use Everest to do so.

Since that board is a Athlon XP board, why are you running ME on it, when XP will work much better. Ditch ME, and buy a copy of XP and all your problems will be behind you. Also, when you installed the board, ME most likely was still on the old drive, and it was not re-installed as a fresh install most likely, so this can cause problems.

 

Also, I should add that support for ME ends as of July 11th this year, along with 95 & 98, so going with XP is a better move.

 

I've also found that I can't enter safe mode on startup. I tried pushing F8, it did nothing, so I tried again this time pushing ctrl, still nothing.
Instead of throwing away money on more MS crap, wouldn't I be better off to bite the bullet and just buy a Mac?

 

And how would that solve the problem in what you are having? And as for purchasing XP, that would solve the problem, along with the fact, that it is most likely like I stated that I am guessing that ME was not reinstalled on the original disc, along with the fact that the motherboard you have is manufactured for 2k/XP, not 95/98 or ME.

 

thanks for the reply and the help brownizs, I don't know about it being a windows XP board, but I've been running it for over 3 years now without problems, so I'm inclined to believe that it's fine with ME. I know that MAYBE I should upgrade to xp, but I'm not sure why I should spend $100 on an OS, if ME works for me, especially if XP is due to be replaced soon with another OS that we will all be told we NEED to buy.

 

thanks for the reply and the help brownizs, I don't know about it being a windows XP board, but I've been running it for over 3 years now without problems, so I'm inclined to believe that it's fine with ME. I know that MAYBE I should upgrade to xp, but I'm not sure why I should spend $100 on an OS, if ME works for me, especially if XP is due to be replaced soon with another OS that we will all be told we NEED to buy.
Anyway, back to my main problem, I updated my usb drivers (I had already done this, but it must not have worked the first time for some reason), then I changed a setting in device manager for that drive from int 13 unit, to removable. Then it showed up as a drive in "my computer" so I was able to format it and run scandisk (wow, took all night!) So I think I'm on my way, if I can figure out what to do next.
Thanks for all the help from all of you, and sorry if I seem too cheap to spend some money on a new OS, but I broke my back a couple yrs ago and I'm self employed so money's tight, I need it more than Bill does.

 

Who knowsyYou might have had the same issue with XP. You were better to stick with it & figure it out. Good stuff.

 

I think what they might have meant by "format before installing" is if u intended to use the hdd outside of the enclosure (I'm assuming it is a standard hdd in an enclosure, or a notebook hdd anyway), as in install it into the machine.
Your machine will see it as a usb disk drive, and win98 doesn't have support for usb drives hence the drivers on the cd, I wasn't sure ME had support for usb drives either. Have you got a friend with Xp on a machine you can check it on?
I wouldn't be formatting it NTFS in case your ME has issues with it.
It's a hard one without seeing what's actually happening.






*****edit I see you are away, good for you and good luck*************

 

I think the reason I had to format is that it was set up for XP and wasn't recognized by ME until I erased it. Does that make sense? Anyway I have been trying to check my machine for maleware as per the instructions in that forum, but I can't enter safe mode, and can't run any of the online scans, I keep getting a notice that it can't load. Any thoughts? I really don't like this no safe mode problem, I can't get in with f8, ctrl, or through msconfig, no matter what I do it just starts normally.

 

Well, I've been working with PCs ever since the DOS 5.0/Win 3.1 days, and resisted every upgrade because "what I have works just fine." However I always ended up upgrading, and every upgrade I've done - DOS 5.0 to 6.0 & 6.2, DOS 6.2/Win 3.1 to W95, 95 to 98, 98 to 98SE, and 98SE to XP - has been more than worth it. I'd definitely fork over the money for XP right now even if I knew that in a year I'd be buying a new OS.

 

What he said.
And who says Micro$haft's new OS is going to have anything you desire anyway, I mean you have made do with ME for how many years? Who says XP won't do you for same if not more?
Here in Australia you can score an XP accademic upgrade for $99AUD thats about $70US so surely you can find it there somewhere for around that money.
Make the jump, you won't regret it.

 

I do know that Vista is more bloated from people are saying then XP was as a Public Beta release. Problem is, Vista is a Hardware seller, and Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers seem to think that they have this huge Buyers market, but in actuallity, it is a Sellers market, and they are going to loose.

Off side is, XP will sell huge along with MCE for the next four years.

 

Agree with both mulletgut and NH2112.
I'd put off Vista until the SP2 release of it, at least.
Let others be unpaid testers for M$ until then. Bazza

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just a thought on safe mode: (from microsoft.com)


If Windows Me does not start in Safe mode, there may be a registry problem. To diagnose a registry problem, run the Windows Registry Checker tool (Scanreg.exe). 1. Restart your computer with the Startup disk in your floppy disk drive, and then choose the Minimal boot option.
2. Type scanreg /restore, and then press ENTER.
The Windows Registry Checker tool (Scanreg.exe) is not included on the Startup disk. When you start your computer with the Startup disk, the folder where the Windows Registry Checker tool is located (C:\Windows\Command) is added to the path.

or here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/118579/EN-US/

 

To add to your post thesmokingun, the OP can get a bootdisk from http://bootdisk.com

 

the problem is though that I've already tried scanreg/restore from the boot disk, and all I ever get is "bad command". I can't scan the registry.

 

Just in case I misread your reply. Try scanreg /restore. That is, a space between the 2 words. It might help.

PS: How about posting photos of your rod in the Lounge forum.
Not here as someone may get upset. Bazza