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Question

Hard drive won't erase for some reason?

Jan 3, 2015 9:40AM PST

Alright, so there's something strange going on with my computer, and even after some research on Google, I can't find any answers and something tells me that what's going on here is a rather unique problem. Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum or something but if it is then I'll be ok with it if the mods move it or something. <_< >_>

So a while ago one of my computers suddenly acted a bit strange and then eventually stopped working entirely, beginning to load the OS but then stopping because of reasons that sadly, I can't exactly remember, but what I do remember is that it was a rather vague reason which didn't help me out at all. >_> So eventually I decided to try installing a different OS on it and see if that works by wiping it and hopefully getting rid of the problem. Wink

But that didn't help at all, now the same thing happens except the error message is "Insufficient memory to initialize OS" or something like that, and my dad thinks it's because the hard drive wasn't wiped all the way for some reason, and even after messing around with it for a bit, it always- ALWAYS said that, even AFTER we tried burning some programs that are meant for this kind of stuff to discs and ran it through, effectively wasting a disc and a whole lot of time =(

So my question is, is there any other reason why this hard drive refuses to erase, and how? Any responses will be much appreciated, as we have been trying to fix this darn thing for a while but haven't had much luck :/

Thanks! =)

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Download stand alone disk diagnostics from Seagate or WD
Jan 3, 2015 10:11AM PST

My guess is that something happened to the hard drive's controller circuitry, but that's just a stab in the dark since I don't know the make, model, size, or what you've tried. I'd start with the Seagate stand alone Seatools and see what tells you. If that doesn't help, you could boot from a Linux DVD and check it out. If nothing else works, there's always Darik's Nuke and Boot (DBAN).

Good luck.

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Answer
Strange, indeed...
Jan 3, 2015 10:52AM PST

You gave no details of your PC setup. It always helps to know what we're dealing with.

As for the HD not erasing, if you have some HD wiping pgm. that you burned, then it should access it. If it doesn't or again refuses to work, then you have a real h/w problem. Then you have to find what h/w is at fault. I suggest you burn either DBAN or KILLDISK for the express purpose of wiping a HD clean of any past installs. In most cases if you have partitions then select the primary one or what would have been the "C" drive. I mention that just in case you have a hidden partition that's a factory recovery/restore one.

A decent test is burning a "live version" of Ubuntu that's bootable. It boots from the CD drive and basically checks that side of the PC. If you had burned other test discs, what were the results? Of course, if you burn a HD wiper pgm. I mention above that too is a decent test to see if will boot from it. Alas, HD do go bad and/or the path to it to include the mtrbd., as that can be the result of overheating, stress or plain age.

tada -----Willy Happy

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Answer
I would suspect RAM before anything else
Jan 3, 2015 12:30PM PST

Try with just one stick of RAM in it, and if that doesn't work, swap sticks of RAM. Rarely both sticks go bad at the same time, but still a possibility.

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Answer
Re:
Jan 4, 2015 1:58PM PST

External hard drives consist of a hard disk inside a durable housing, and usually connect to a computer through a USB or Firewire cable. These devices provide a great way to back up data on your computer, transfer files from one computer to another, or just store additional files that won't fit on your computer's hard drive. There are several reasons you may want to wipe all the data from an external hard drive (in a process called "formatting"). You may want to remove clutter from the drive and start with a fresh volume, or you may want to remove any sensitive data before selling the hard drive to another person. Formatting a drive will also allow you to change the file system used by the drive to organize data. Learning how to wipe clean an external hard drive can help you accomplish these tasks with ease.

1. Back up any important data on the hard drive.

2. Format the external hard drive.

3. Run a disk cleaning application on the external hard drive.

4. Physically destroy the hard drive

For more detail please click on the following URL:

http://www.wikihow.com/Wipe-Clean-an-External-Hard-Drive