windows cannot format HDD

liquidmonkey

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hi,
have taken an older HDD and put it into a new computer and went to
format it using disk management (NTFS) but at the end i get an error message
saying the "windows was unable to complete the format" and then says
"the disk in drive E cannot be formatted".
when clicking on the drive in explorer an error comes up saying the
disk is not formatted.
i've tried 3 times to format it, including a quick format and still the same.
this particular HDD had windows on it before but should that really
make a difference?

am using winXP pro SP2
the HDD is an IDE Maxtor 60gig. the jumpers are set to slave.

any help is appreciated and thanks in advance!
 
Check your connections to the drive.
The ribbon (red) should point to the power connector.
 
Right click my computer>Manage>Disk Management>Right click the disk>create partition>format.
 
this is crazy cause that HDD worked in my dads old computer for years and now when i try to reformat it goes to garbage? weird and not right, there must be something that can be done...
 
You can always try and use gparted. Gparted which stands for Gnome Parted, is a program that is used to partition by Linux distros. I would recommend it. Just download the livecd .iso file and then burn it to a cd with a program like imgburn. Then you can boot it and patition any hdd or partition on your computer.
 
cant you just right click the drive in my computer, go to format, and do it that way?

failing that use gparted ^
partition magic, or boot from the windows xp/vista disc.
it isnt a problem. theres loads of other ways to format it if the first fails
 
"the disk in drive E cannot be formatted".

i don't understand this part of his question first he mentions the hdd then he types this?
 
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