Unable to format slave drive/vista

I have two 500gb WD drives, SATA.

Vista recognized both, but will not allow a clean format of the slave as
there is a windows driver in the HD from a previous install.

Apparently, VISTA will not allow this recognized drive to be reformatted..

I have tried to do access it through a DOS prompt with the VISTA boot DVD,
but when I request a format, it notes I must allow the drive to be removed
from the system.

I am somewhat reluctant to do this through a DOS prompt, as I may have
trouble getting it found in VISTA

Any suggestion on how to do the format in VISTA.

I have tried using Device manager in the Administrator mode, without success.

Use Administrative Tools>Computer Management and Disk Management to format the
drive.


"MGS9500" <MGS9500@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:36B224E4-95E4-463D-AEF7-069B4815131B@microsoft.com...
>I have two 500gb WD drives, SATA.
>
> Vista recognized both, but will not allow a clean format of the slave as
> there is a windows driver in the HD from a previous install.
>
> Apparently, VISTA will not allow this recognized drive to be reformatted..
>
> I have tried to do access it through a DOS prompt with the VISTA boot DVD,
> but when I request a format, it notes I must allow the drive to be removed
> from the system.
>
> I am somewhat reluctant to do this through a DOS prompt, as I may have
> trouble getting it found in VISTA
>
> Any suggestion on how to do the format in VISTA.
>
> I have tried using Device manager in the Administrator mode, without success.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I already tried that.

The system won't allow a format thru administrative tools as there is a
Windows file on the disc that Vista will not allow to be removed.

How do I get this disc formatted.

I can't remove the file, as it appear to be a system file, even though I
don't use the file.


"Cal Bear '66" wrote:

> Use Administrative Tools>Computer Management and Disk Management to format the
> drive.
>
>
> "MGS9500" <MGS9500@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:36B224E4-95E4-463D-AEF7-069B4815131B@microsoft.com...
> >I have two 500gb WD drives, SATA.
> >
> > Vista recognized both, but will not allow a clean format of the slave as
> > there is a windows driver in the HD from a previous install.
> >
> > Apparently, VISTA will not allow this recognized drive to be reformatted..
> >
> > I have tried to do access it through a DOS prompt with the VISTA boot DVD,
> > but when I request a format, it notes I must allow the drive to be removed
> > from the system.
> >
> > I am somewhat reluctant to do this through a DOS prompt, as I may have
> > trouble getting it found in VISTA
> >
> > Any suggestion on how to do the format in VISTA.
> >
> > I have tried using Device manager in the Administrator mode, without success.
>
>
>

Have you right clicked on the drive in Disk Manager and on the security tab
taking ownership/permissions for your account and then trying to delete the file
and formatting?


"MGS9500" <MGS9500@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:96941D80-AB73-4402-A239-1B125F5C0526@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the suggestion, but I already tried that.
>
> The system won't allow a format thru administrative tools as there is a
> Windows file on the disc that Vista will not allow to be removed.
>
> How do I get this disc formatted.
>
> I can't remove the file, as it appear to be a system file, even though I
> don't use the file.
>
>
> "Cal Bear '66" wrote:
>
>> Use Administrative Tools>Computer Management and Disk Management to format
>> the
>> drive.
>>
>>
>> "MGS9500" <MGS9500@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:36B224E4-95E4-463D-AEF7-069B4815131B@microsoft.com...
>> >I have two 500gb WD drives, SATA.
>> >
>> > Vista recognized both, but will not allow a clean format of the slave as
>> > there is a windows driver in the HD from a previous install.
>> >
>> > Apparently, VISTA will not allow this recognized drive to be reformatted..
>> >
>> > I have tried to do access it through a DOS prompt with the VISTA boot DVD,
>> > but when I request a format, it notes I must allow the drive to be removed
>> > from the system.
>> >
>> > I am somewhat reluctant to do this through a DOS prompt, as I may have
>> > trouble getting it found in VISTA
>> >
>> > Any suggestion on how to do the format in VISTA.
>> >
>> > I have tried using Device manager in the Administrator mode, without
>> > success.
>>
>>
>>

Sounds like there's a system, boot, or page partition for the Vista
installation that is currently running on the drive you're trying to
format. Look at the status of the partitions on the drive in Disk
Management.

On Sun, 13 May 2007 16:00:00 -0700, MGS9500
<MGS9500@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Thanks for the suggestion, but I already tried that.
>
>The system won't allow a format thru administrative tools as there is a
>Windows file on the disc that Vista will not allow to be removed.
>
>How do I get this disc formatted.
>
>I can't remove the file, as it appear to be a system file, even though I
>don't use the file.
>
>
>"Cal Bear '66" wrote:
>
>> Use Administrative Tools>Computer Management and Disk Management to format the
>> drive.
>>
>>
>> "MGS9500" <MGS9500@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:36B224E4-95E4-463D-AEF7-069B4815131B@microsoft.com...
>> >I have two 500gb WD drives, SATA.
>> >
>> > Vista recognized both, but will not allow a clean format of the slave as
>> > there is a windows driver in the HD from a previous install.
>> >
>> > Apparently, VISTA will not allow this recognized drive to be reformatted..
>> >
>> > I have tried to do access it through a DOS prompt with the VISTA boot DVD,
>> > but when I request a format, it notes I must allow the drive to be removed
>> > from the system.
>> >
>> > I am somewhat reluctant to do this through a DOS prompt, as I may have
>> > trouble getting it found in VISTA
>> >
>> > Any suggestion on how to do the format in VISTA.
>> >
>> > I have tried using Device manager in the Administrator mode, without success.
>>
>>
>>