[machv]

I have a HDD that was on its way out, so I low level formatted it. Which software do I need in order to be able to use the drive again? It does not show up in my list of drives. Plus partitioning software does not see it either. But the Low level tool I used does but it doesn't have a feature other than formatting the drives.

[Elvandil]

It may be dead. We have had some drives end up unusable after being wiped. That's why it is reserved for drives that are not going to be used again. There is never any reason to low-level format a drive that someone wants to keep.

If it was "on its way out", it was close to dead, anyway, right?

[machv]

I got a program called Mini Tool Partition Wizard Free Edition from Cnet and it seems to have fixed the reformatting and drive letter problem OK (sorry about the lack of tech speak describing what I did but I am er busy... so why am I writing this???) lol.

[machv]

Originally Posted by Elvandil

It may be dead. We have had some drives end up unusable after being wiped. That's why it is reserved for drives that are not going to be used again. There is never any reason to low-level format a drive that someone wants to keep.

If it was "on its way out", it was close to dead, anyway, right?

Yes it was and I am just playing around with it to see if I can, if possible, unallocate the bad clusters and keep the good ones, even if the drive size ends up being 1mb form the original 320gb, boredom breeds redundancy

[machv]

Well after the formatting etc... the health of the poor thing is still at 6%. Is that bad??? hahahaha

[Elvandil]

It depends what 6% means. It is an arbitrary measure made up by the company that made the program. But we would prefer 100%, I would assume, when it comes to drives.

If it had bad blocks, chances are that every time you test it, it will have more, and you will not be able to mark them as fast as they appear. Nothing can fix them.

[machv]

Interesting point about the context you put the 6% result in. I never thought about results like that that way before. I guess in the same vein another app may put health at 50% or 0%. I will keep that line of thinking in mind from now on. And as far as the bad blocks getting worse and therefore a losing battle I guess that means there's not much I can do. I guess I will turn the HDD into art for the wall. They look cool with the covers off. And the magnets inside are really strong 'uns. (sometimes I think that I never got past the age of 10yrs) Have a great day and thanks for the replies