I was in the process of fully formatting my external 2TB HDD with Windows 11 when I accidentally unplugged it at about 90% completion. Now, while the drive is detected when I plug it back in, it isn't usable— it shows up in the file manager, and there's even an eject option, but attempts to format it again have been unsuccessful. I've tried using Disk Management, but it just fails after reaching 100%. I also tried the diskpart 'clean all' command through CMD, but that fails midway as well. Is there a way to repair the disk without physically opening it? I don't need data recovery, just want to get the drive working again. The drive is a Seagate Backup Plus Portable 2TB, model SRD00F1, and it's almost 5 years old.
4 Answers
It's worth noting that if the drive had bad sectors even before the unplugging, you might face issues down the road, even if you manage to get it formatted now. Checking the SMART values can give you insight into the health of the HDD.
Just a heads up—before changing BIOS settings or messing with disk setups, always ensure your data backups are up-to-date to avoid any unexpected losses.
If the interruption didn't physically harm the HDD, you should still be able to format it. Check if it was moved or bumped when you unplugged it, as mechanical drives can be sensitive to shocks. If formatting in Windows continues to fail, consider using a tool like GParted from a Linux Live USB to create a new partition table.
You might want to try formatting the drive again through Disk Management. First, delete all existing partitions from the external HDD, then create a new simple volume before formatting it. This usually resolves the issue if there’s no physical damage to the drive.
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