Window Disc will not initialize

[FluorideInMyWater]

i've got 2 western digital HDs, 1tb each. if i attach them via usb to a computer it is not recognized. if i try to install over the top, it fails. I get a blue screen that says windows haulted installation (OF ERD COMMANDER) in order to protect the machine.
if i go into disk manager, the disk is there but not initialized. i try to delete the disk and initialize it and it fails. it i will not initialize.
i'm wondering if this is an incompatability between old MBR X32 disks and new windows 8 - 10 allocation tables.

anyone ever seen this? i have actually 3 disks that are doing this. (2) 1 TB, and 1 500mb disk. they didn't all faiil at once..... i found an old xp laptop and trying to boot up ERD commander on it to see if i can recognize the disk from there and then reformat (or other)

any ideas?

[xfer42]

Might be password protected. Id check the specific models to see if they support that and if any WD tools can wipe them.

[Mute]

You might need to use an older system to delete all the partitions before trying to get them recognized. It would help to know what OS is on the system your attaching these to. Also, are you using some kind of USB enclosure to use these on USB?

[FluorideInMyWater]

You might need to use an older system to delete all the partitions before trying to get them recognized. It would help to know what OS is on the system your attaching these to. Also, are you using some kind of USB enclosure to use these on USB?

i was trying to attach it to windows 10. when i tried to initialize the disk it gave me an option to choose to mount it as a MBR, or as a windows 10 non-backwards compatible partition. both options failed.

[FluorideInMyWater]

ERD commander sees 1 of the 1TB disks. i can reformat it. first i'll boot to XP and see if it sees anything.

[WoodTurner]

I've had problems trying to use some drives through USB. You often need to have a powered dock/enclosure to get them to work.

[yellowsulphur]

If the system is using UEFI and not legacy you need to use GPT instead of MBR.

[FluorideInMyWater]

If the system is using UEFI and not legacy you need to use GPT instead of MBR.

when i try to initialize it gives me the option to try both. i've tried both and both fail.

[FluorideInMyWater]

I've had problems trying to use some drives through USB. You often need to have a powered dock/enclosure to get them to work.

i've used a usb adaptor as well as as sticking it in a machine to try to do a fresh install, or install it in the second computer bay. the disk fails both ways. i know there was data on it. i don't remember what, but i'd like to see what's on it before i blow it away with ERD commander.

[yellowsulphur]

Have you tried using diskpart to check the drive?

CMD as administrator and type this:


Just use caution with diskpart as it's powerful and the results are instant.

[FluorideInMyWater]

Have you tried using diskpart to check the drive?

CMD as administrator and type this:


Just use caution with diskpart as it's powerful and the results are instant.

no, i have not. i forgot about that tool.
most of the time when i boot up and go to diskmanager, it has not assigned the disk a letter. just a blank disk that's not initialized. it won't allow me to format it. i have to boot under ERD commander to be able to format the disk.

[xfer42]

WD drives can be password protected and results in encrypted data. It stays read only until unlocked. So no legible partition info and you cant create any. It can be put into read/write mode without a password, but results in data loss (lost encryption key too). If its password protected (and encrypted) you can use WD security tools to remove the password.

[FluorideInMyWater]

WD drives can be password protected and results in encrypted data. It stays read only until unlocked. So no legible partition info and you cant create any. It can be put into read/write mode without a password, but results in data loss (lost encryption key too). If its password protected (and encrypted) you can use WD security tools to remove the password.

is it just called "western digital security tool"?
i'll do a few searches and see what i come up with.

[xfer42]

Ive never used WD Security tools, but I would try that first. Im not sure if they limit it to specific models. I did work with locked WD 8GB internal drives back when modding the original Xbox was a thing. When you install the drive in another machine, its recognized, but you cant do anything with it. It appears to be broken and no indication that its locked. It just fails to read or write.

At the time, Windows 2000 & 2007 wouldnt give you any indication that its a locked drive. However, there were linux tools that could be used to query settings on the drive and you could verify that it was locked. A quick search shows there are lots of tools out now for Linux and Windows for this.

Drives become locked when someone sets a HDD password in their BIOS (not BIOS password). If the drive is moved to another machine, it will remain locked and unreadable. I believe its more popular in external drives. Although Im not completely sure if its the same ATA Security spec at play.

This very quick search indicates that ATA security can be done via USB and seems to result in a similar condition you see:

https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34466

I went down that rabbit hole because I had issues with unlocking IDE drives when I only had SATA controllers.
SATA to IDE adapters didnt work
USB to IDE adapters didnt work
Drive was detected, but I couldnt send low level ATA stuff to it. I suspect it was due to old tools referencing /dev/hdX in linux, whereas it would be picked up as an /dev/sdX device with SATA controllers. Anyways, sorry for that tangent.


I would personally connect it to a Linux host and query it with hdparm and look at the security section:

[root@localhost containers]# hdparm -I /dev/sdc

/dev/sdc:
(Lots of info)
--8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<--
Security:
        Master password revision code = 65534
                supported
        not     enabled
        not     locked
        not     frozen
        not     expired: security count
        not     supported: enhanced erase

If you dont have Linux installed, you can download a LiveCD/DVD/USB and boot from that.
Good Luck.

[FluorideInMyWater]

Ive never used WD Security tools, but I would try that first. Im not sure if they limit it to specific models. I did work with locked WD 8GB internal drives back when modding the original Xbox was a thing. When you install the drive in another machine, its recognized, but you cant do anything with it. It appears to be broken and no indication that its locked. It just fails to read or write.

At the time, Windows 2000 & 2007 wouldnt give you any indication that its a locked drive. However, there were linux tools that could be used to query settings on the drive and you could verify that it was locked. A quick search shows there are lots of tools out now for Linux and Windows for this.

Drives become locked when someone sets a HDD password in their BIOS (not BIOS password). If the drive is moved to another machine, it will remain locked and unreadable. I believe its more popular in external drives. Although Im not completely sure if its the same ATA Security spec at play.

This very quick search indicates that ATA security can be done via USB and seems to result in a similar condition you see:

https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34466

I went down that rabbit hole because I had issues with unlocking IDE drives when I only had SATA controllers.
SATA to IDE adapters didnt work
USB to IDE adapters didnt work
Drive was detected, but I couldnt send low level ATA stuff to it. I suspect it was due to old tools referencing /dev/hdX in linux, whereas it would be picked up as an /dev/sdX device with SATA controllers. Anyways, sorry for that tangent.


I would personally connect it to a Linux host and query it with hdparm and look at the security section:

[root@localhost containers]# hdparm -I /dev/sdc

/dev/sdc:
(Lots of info)
--8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<--
Security:
        Master password revision code = 65534
                supported
        not     enabled
        not     locked
        not     frozen
        not     expired: security count
        not     supported: enhanced erase

If you dont have Linux installed, you can download a LiveCD/DVD/USB and boot from that.
Good Luck.

that is a great idea.............unfortunately i no longer have a linux machine. sounds like you went to the ends of the earth to solve your problem.