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I'll try to be as specific as possible here:

I was using two Hitachi 2.5" 500 gb HDDs in my Gateway P-7805u laptop in a RAID 0 configuration. The array was causing the laptop to run extremely hot, however, so I removed them and deleted the RAID array through Intel Matrix HDD manager. I did a clean install of Windows 7 on the original 320 gb HDD that came with the laptop. I never did format the original RAID array HDDs before taking them out of the computer.

Now, I am attempting to format the Hitachi 500 gb RAID array HDDs externally through a USB external enclosure. The external HDD drivers install on my clean install OS, but when I go into 'My Computer' there is no external drive available. I cannot format in CMD Prompt because my computer will not designate a drive letter to the external HDD. The drivers install and the HDD is recognized as a Hitachi external drive, but nothing seems to show up in my computer window. I need to know if there is a way to format these drives to NTFS externally.

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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You might try Start -> Right click on My Computer and then select Manage. Under Storage, select Disk Management. This will allow you to view all drives connected to the system, and not just the formatted ones. Your external hard drive should show up here, and you should be able to right-click and delete any existing partitions and then right-click and create whatever partitions you need. Windows should then allow you to format the partitions either through this window or in My Computer.

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If Darth's answer doesn't work, you could try boothing into a Linux session using a Live CD and use the disk management tools in there to wipe the disks. Ubuntu would be reccomeneded for this.

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  • To note, GParted is a wonderful linux tool which will let you modify the partitions on the hard drive. I believe it's standard on the Ubuntu Live CD
    – Darth Android
    Commented May 31, 2010 at 18:33
  • GParted, that's it.
    – tombull89
    Commented May 31, 2010 at 20:08
  • System>Administration>Partition Editor, after booting in "try" mode.
    – Hello71
    Commented May 31, 2010 at 21:36

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