Windows – External HDD i/o device error can’t format or read

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I'm using a 160GB Hitachi External HDD. When I was creating partitions, I accidentally formatted it from NTFS to RAW.

I tried to format it back to NTFS, but I got an error ("could not format").
I then tried to run chkdsk on it, but chkdsk doesn't work with RAW.

So then I tried with DiskPart, but the same formatting error occurred ("the request could not be performed because of an i/o device error").

I don't care if I lose any data, I just want to get my disk back in a usable state.

Best Answer

Boot from a Linux LiveCD/USB and try GParted (or perhaps from GParted's own Debian-based LiveCD/USB).

If that doesn't work, see if you can take the drive out of the case (obviously don't do it if it'll void the warranty) and directly attach it to a desktop so you can run GParted on it.

On Gparted you'll have to "Create a new Partition Table" and then create any partition you'd like because it's going to format for it.

If you still get I/O errors or GParted fails, use WinDFT and run an Extended/Thorough Test on the drive. If that passes, Erase the Disk and attempt to repartition:

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As long as you don't have any sensitive information on the drive, you can boot into a Linux LiveCD, and image the disk with zeros if you want to be hardcore about it with:

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress

Where X is the number of your USB drive.

It's also simpler to just format it from a Linux LiveCD using a utility like GParted. Sometimes that does not work, if it doesn't, then it is best to just do the above.

If you do decide to format the drive with zeros, create a new partition table (GPT is the best) and create a new FAT32 (best for portability) partition or a new NTFS (if you're only using it for Windows) partition.

Best Answer

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