Methods to Fix External Hard Drive Not Formatted/Unable to Format Error

External hard drives are one of the most commonly used data storage devices. However, while enjoying their convenience, we might encounter various issues, such as the hard drive not being recognized, files not showing on the external hard drive, and the focus of our discussion – the external hard drive format error. There are two types of format errors: when the external hard drive prompts for formatting or when you're unable to format the external hard drive. Depending on your specific situation, follow the corresponding solution to address the problem.

Part 1: External Hard Drive Unformatted

"Recently, I've been having issues with my Seagate 160 GB external hard drive. Whenever I try to access it, Windows prompts me that my hard drive is unformatted and asks me to format it. It's really annoying! Is there any way to fix this problem without losing my data?"

The reason is

Usually, when Windows prompts you with a message that the external hard drive is unformatted, you will find it displayed as RAW under File Explorer or Disk Management. This happens because:

• Your storage device's file system might be corrupted due to power failure, abrupt ejection, or virus attack.
• The files that your computer's operating system recognizes.

A file system error is preventing you from accessing the external hard drive, so Windows will prompt you to format the device since formatting will assign a new file system to the external hard drive. A file system allows a hard drive to be used for data storage again. In general, you would need to format a hard drive before using it.

Solution

Some people suggest running CHKDSK to fix the “external hard drive not formatted” error. In fact, when you attempt to run CHKDSK on a storage media with file system issues, it will fail to fix the disk and CHKDSK will report RAW issues. Therefore, the direct way is to format the external hard drive directly. If you don't want to lose files on the device, recover data first and then format the hard drive.

Scenario 1: Recover data from RAW external hard drive

When you see the "You need to format the disk in drive before you can use it" message, you can actually recover inaccessible files with a hard drive recovery tool like Data Recovery Wizard. The utility handles data retrieval after deletion, formatting, RAW disk status, and other instances of data loss.

Download the software right away and follow the detailed steps to perform External Hard Drive Data Recovery in advance.

Note: To ensure a higher chance of data recovery, install the data recovery tool on a different disk from the formatted one.

Step 1: Run the Undelete Wizard. Select the hard drive partition you accidentally formatted and click “Scan”.

Step 2: The software will start scanning all the lost data and files. Once the scan is finished, you can click on “Filter” to filter specific file types and quickly locate the files you need. Alternatively, you can click on “Search for files or folders” to select the data you wish to recover.

Step 3: Preview the scanned files. Then, select the files you want to restore and click “Recover.” Choose a new location to save these files and then click “OK.”

Step 2: Format the External Hard Drive

After backing up your external hard drive to a safe location, you can proceed with formatting. The easiest way is to format the external hard drive through File Explorer. Here's a step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Open File Explorer (in Windows 10) and navigate to Devices and drives.

Step 2: Right-click your external hard drive and select "Format."

Step 3: Select the file system and click “Start”.

Step 4: Click "OK" in the warning message to begin formatting the drive.

If you can't format your external hard drive, skip to the next part.

Part 2: External Hard Drive Won't Format - Format Did Not Succeed

"I have an LG external hard drive which I pulled out without safely removing it one day. Now it's not working. My computer detects it in F Drive and disk management shows the status as healthy (primary partition). But I am unable to format it. Under file system, the drive is described as RAW. I don't need any data recovery, but it's only 6 months old and I really don't want to throw it away and buy a new one. Any help would be appreciated." – From the How-To Geek forums

When you try to format an internal or external hard drive, you might receive one of the three error messages indicating that the formatting failed:

• "Format did not complete successfully."
• "The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error."
• "The drive is inaccessible. The parameter is incorrect."

The reason is

Unlike a prompt to format an external hard drive, the inability to format an external hard drive can be caused by several factors, including:

• Your storage media is infected with a virus
• Your hardware drivers are out of date
• System files (such as DLL, SYS, EXE) are missing or corrupted
• Your hard drive is damaged

Solution

There are six feasible solutions to resolve the issue of an "external hard drive not formatting," based on possible causes:

1. 1. Remove Viruses
2. 2. Update Hardware Drivers
3. 3. Run the System File Checker Tool
4. 4. Run CHKDSK
5. 5. Format External Hard Drive with DiskPart
6. 6. Delete the Partition and Recreate a New Volume

Method 1: Remove the Virus

You can run an antivirus program that you have installed on your computer, or use Windows Defender to scan for viruses.

Step 1: Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security.

2. Click on "Virus & threat protection."

Step 3: Click Scan Now in the Threat History section to scan for viruses on your computer.

Method 2: Update your hardware drivers

Outdated device drivers can easily cause a hard drive format error. You can update them under Disk Management.

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive to your computer, right-click on “This PC” (in Windows 10), and select “Properties.”

Step 2: Click on “Device Manager,” and then expand “Disk Drives.” Find the problematic USB drive, right-click it, and select “Update Driver.”

Step 3: Click on "Search for drivers automatically online."

Step 4. Wait for the driver to update, then restart your computer. Try formatting the external hard drive afterward.

Method 3: Run the System File Checker utility

Windows' built-in System File Checker tool can repair missing or corrupted system files, including DLL, SYS, or EXE files that might be causing the external hard drive formatting issue. Here's how to run it: 1. **Open Command Prompt as Administrator:** - Press `Win + X` on your keyboard and select "Command Prompt (Admin)" or "Windows PowerShell (Admin)" from the menu. 2. **Run the System File Checker:** In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter: ``` sfc /scannow ``` 3. **Wait for the Process to Complete:** The tool will now scan your system for any corrupted files and attempt to fix them. This process may take some time, so please be patient. 4. **Reboot Your Computer:** After the scan is complete, restart your computer for the changes to take effect. 5. **Check if the Problem is Resolved:** Try formatting the external hard drive again to see if the issue has been fixed. If the System File Checker doesn't solve the problem, you might need to consider other troubleshooting steps, such as checking the hard drive for errors using `chkdsk` or using a third-party disk management tool.

Step 1: Click on "Start" and type in cmd.

Step 2. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

Step 3: Type the commands in order. (Use the DISM command to create a Windows image to protect your data.)

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
sfc /scannow This is a command-line text used to repair system files in the Windows operating system. Translated into Chinese, it reads: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
sfc /scannow Translation: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth: This command uses the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool to check and repair the system image online, restoring it to a healthy state. sfc /scannow: This command runs the System File Checker (SFC), which scans for and repairs any issues with system files.

Method 4: Run CHKDSK

If you can't format the external hard drive and the device isn't RAW, run CHKDSK to fix any possible errors on the disk.

Step 1: Press the Windows key, and type cmd.

Step 2. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

Step 3. Type chkdsk G: /f in the CMD window and press “Enter.” (Replace “G” with the drive letter of your external storage device.)

Step 4: Windows will start checking and fixing disk errors and corrupted files. Wait for the process to finish.

Method 5: Format External Hard Drive via DiskPart or Third-party Software

As mentioned above, there are more than one ways to format a hard drive. If it fails in File Explorer, you can try DiskPart or a third-party hard drive formatting tool. The steps using DiskPart are as below:

1. Press `Win+R`, then type **diskpart** and hit Enter. Click "Yes" when prompted to run diskpart.exe.

Step 2: Enter the following commands in order:

List Volumes
Select volume X (where "X" is the drive number of the RAW drive)
Format fs=ntfs quick (or format fs=fat32 quick)
Exit

Method 6: Delete the partition and create a new volume

If all else fails, you might try deleting the partition and creating a new volume.

Step 1. Right-click on "This PC" and select "Manage".

Step 2: Right click on the problematic disk or partition and select "Delete Volume". In the "Delete Simple Volume" prompt, click "Yes" to confirm deletion.

Step 3: The deleted partition will now show up as “Unallocated” space. Right-click on the “Unallocated” space and select “New Simple Volume…”

Step 4: Click Next in the New Simple Volume Wizard to proceed.

Step 5: Specify the size of the volume, assign a drive letter to it, and format the partition as instructed by the wizard.

Create new volume

Bottom line

Many users reported that they encountered the external hard drive not formatted error after forcefully ejecting their device. Hence, it's crucial to safely remove any external storage device using the “Safely Remove” option. The reasons for the external hard drive not formatting error vary. However, practicing good habits when dealing with storage devices (be it an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or SD card) is necessary. Hopefully, the solutions presented in this article were helpful to you.