[MOVED] Trying to reformat a WD 500gb HD to run on a PC

[motzey]

The MAC WD external HD is connected to my laptop on a USB port. I can see the drive
as a connected device in device manager but it does not show up in "computer" as a connected device, which means I can't invoke a format command. How do I get to the point where a format command is available. Thanks for any help

 

[BradtheRad]

Re: Trying to reformat a WD 500gb HD to run on a PC

If you can't format a disk then you should find out if it has a valid mbr (master boot record) and one or more valid partitions.

If not then the disk needs to be reworked with the aid of utility programs that techies use. Some programs are available free at software download websites.

Does WD stand for Western Digital? They produce one or more diagnostic and formatting utilities for their own drives. These can be downloaded free if you try their website. They'll achieve just about all you need.

Incidentally does MAC mean Macintosh? If your laptop is a PC (in other words, non-Mac) then it cannot read your Mac formatted disk nor can it format it nor recognize its partitions. You would have to install a Mac-to-PC translation program.

If you have access to a Mac then its Disk Utility application can detect and read the external drive. It will even partition and format it for use with a DOS/Windows computer.

 

[alexan_e]

Re: Trying to reformat a WD 500gb HD to run on a PC

I don't see any relevance of your question with this category which is EDA Theory / Electronic Elementary Questions

The appropriate category for your post would be General Computer

Download pmagic from and create a bootable CD (or maybe bootable usb stick).
It is a live linux distribution (very light) which contains many useful utilities but especially for disk operations it has parted which is a great partitioning application that can create/delete/resize/move partitions.
Use it to do what you want, it supports many partition types.
You will also find other application in the bootable media very useful, there is a graphic interface for everything so it is very easy to use.

Alex

 

[cubanflyer]

Right click on my computer, select 'Manage', this will open the computer management console.

From there select 'Disk management', the mac disk should show up in the list, you can then repartition and format the drive from there.