Format external HDD

[PaulB]

I got a good deal on an external 2TB USB2 HDD yesterday. I decided to format the disk after reviewing (and rejecting) the backup software that came pre-installed. It's now been about 12 hours and the job is only halfway finished judging by the progress bar. Is this normal? (Win 7 Home Premium x64)

[Bigaldoc]

I got a good deal on an external 2TB USB2 HDD yesterday. I decided to format the disk after reviewing (and rejecting) the backup software that came pre-installed. It's now been about 12 hours and the job is only halfway finished judging by the progress bar. Is this normal? (Win 7 Home Premium x64)

I've never had anything larger than 500 gig, so I don't know about yours. I didn't time it the last time I had to format one but I remember that it DID take a LONG time.

My most recent purchase(s) were already formatted so all I had to do was convert them from FAT32 to NTFS.

Twelve hours DOES seem awfully long, but you might give it some more time before you abandon, especially if the progress bar does look like "something" is happening.

[Leif]

Going by some of the responses in Time to format a 2TB drive? - AnandTech Forums, it seems to depend on your connection - and USB doesn't look fast (#16)

[PaulB]

Thanks, Leif. Based on the information provided in the link. it looks like full formats of terabyte USB2 drives are usually measured in days instead of hours or minutes. I'll let the formatting hum along in the background as it does seem to be working. The lights are blinking and the progress bar is progressing (albeit slowly).

I think that in the future I will be looking at eSATA or USB3 disks instead of USB2. I wonder if the good deals on USB2 HDDs are due to trying to reduce existing inventory prior to the mass release of USB3 devices.

Al, how did you convert from FAT32 to NTFS? Quick format?

(Update: 12 to 15 hours into the format. Looks like it is about 60% complete.)

(Update 2: Now 2:00 PM, 75% complete.)

[John Gray]

My 2 TB drive (admittedly internal!) seemed to be formatted already, and a quick format took about 30 seconds!

[HansV]

My 2 TB drive (admittedly internal!) seemed to be formatted already, and a quick format took about 30 seconds!

You have an internal USB drive?

[Bigaldoc]

... Al, how did you convert from FAT32 to NTFS?

At a command prompt. But note that I did mine in XP. Not familiar (yet) whether it's the same for Win7.

See here: How to convert a FAT16 volume or a FAT32 volume to an NTFS file system in Windows XP

EDITED: Here's the page for Windows 7. Looks the same but for the "Run As Administrator." Convert a hard disk or partition to NTFS format

[viking33]

how did you convert from FAT32 to NTFS?

Standard Windows utility that is called CONVERT serves this purpose

Just go to the Command Prompt and execute the command:

C:\> CONVERT C: /fs:ntfs

Where C: is a name of the drive you want to convert.

After machine re-boot conversion process will start and you'll have your FAT32 converted to NTFS without of data loss.

[PaulB]

Al, Bob: Now I feel like a dummy... I shoulda known that! Is a convert a lengthy process? Does it depend on how much data is on the disk or partition?

[viking33]

Al, Bob: Now I feel like a dummy... I shoulda known that! Is a convert a lengthy process? Does it depend on how much data is on the disk or partition?

Seems to me it didn't take very long to convert? Disk size is a key but for your size, I would start it up before dinner time and it should be done before dessert.

[PaulB]

FINALLY! The format that started late yesterday evening has successfully completed at 7:10 PM this evening.