Hi everyone,

I have gone from finding this issue a problem, to actually now finding it intriguing, 
because it appears to not meet the 'normal' parameters that are assumed by others 
who have commented on previous solutions to this error message when I looked around.

In short, on Friday last, I gleefully installed my new Nero package that was given 
to me as a festive gift. After the standard bog-standard reboot to finalise the install 
of this software (out of box CD), I found that when I went to access my USB 160GB 
External hard drive to make my first test DVD with this package, that drive (in 'My 
Computer') no longer appeared as an 'external drive', and was renamed 'local drive' 
and in trying access everything stored on it, I got the error message "The Disk in 
drive 'G' is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?"

In addition, and much to my annoyance my other spare internal HD, drive 'E' can longer 
be accessed with the same error message being thrown up (!!!???)

Now here is the strange part! I have OSLoader as my dual boot option on my PC. The 
main drive 'C' is a W2K, where I do virtually all my work, and the other drive 'E' 
has XP Sp2 on it, which I use for graphics package work only. If I try and access 
my Xp drive 'E' and external backup drive 'G' I get the same error now when inside 
my W2K main primary drive as I said. Perior to this I could access all/either of 
the drives happily prior to this. However, when I reboot and choose to access my 
Xp drive through OsLoader, it boots happily to login, then desktop and perfectly 
functioning, all flies intact....it also happily recognises my external hard which 
is also perfect...so in this way both drives are fine, information stored, do not 
need formatting at all etc etc...all rather silly. I cannot understand why W2K now 
tells me these drives need formatting and/ or what caused this sudden inability to 
access them through my W2K HD when it had been doing it contently for ever since 
I've had it !?

In searching over the last few days for solutions I have done the following proceedures 
to try and attempt to rectify the problem, but without success :

Removed Nero 9 installation.

Performed 'Last Known Good Configuration' reboot.

Installed and ran 'TestDisk 6.10'

Ran 'CHKDSK /P' & 'CHKDSK /R' in Recovery Console

Ran FIXMBR also on Console

Full Sophos scan (which found nothing)

Full antispyware that came up with nothing untoward.

Ran 'Emergency Repair' install of W2K

None of the above has made a blind bit of difference. Can anyobody shed any light 
on this issue please? Oh, yes, I for got to say there is Hotfix for this issue offered 
by Microsoft, and I ran it too.....but nothing changed. I dont know why, when my 
W2K has been able to acces both these drives for years, it has just stopped, and 
refuses to acknowledge there is any information on these drives, or that they are 
fully formatted. I cannot back up anything now because W2K cannot recognise my external 
drive, and I am left currently with an otherwise perfectly functioning W2K HD isolated 
from anything else, but for this stupid error message. I dont want to format it with 
so much on it unless it is truly the last resort. Any suggestions please?

Hope you had a good festive and Happy New Year to all!

Nathan

Tip: Run a free scan for common Windows errors ad

re: "Disk in drive 'X' is not formatted. Do you format this disk now?" Error Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 9:40 am Posted by geek9pm (1030 messages posted) Did you recently update to SP4 on the Wins2K? After reading your post, I would not do anything. All of the things lyou tried should have worked. Here is a question. What are your internal drives? Are the IDE (ATA) or SATA? What size? How mauny partitions? Until you know what the problem is, you need to be careful. If the XP is working alright, it can make a backup of the Win2K partition. What is OSLoader? Does it have options to 'Hide' partitions and drives? Geek9pm     New Bird Logo. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: "Disk in drive 'X' is not formatted. Do you format this disk now?" Error Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 12:04 pm Posted by Nathan (11 messages posted) Hi Geek, Thank you for the reply but in the end things got so intolerable I just formatted the W2K drive, and I have literally only just got back online from rebuilding that about 20 minutes. I think (not sure) that I have completely lost the Xp Pro Sp2 drive as well now, because it is caught in the Autochk bootup loop, and I cannot get out of it and revover the drive or its contents. Maybe you might know?...Otherwise I had resigned myself to formatting that later and starting over again too. To answer your questions, I did not install any update from W2K auto update but the latest version of the 'Malicious Removal Tool'. Trying to find that swine to maybe to take it out again (if it was the problem) was near impossible to locate. I was interested in your comment about Xp being able to possible save the other partition, and would appreciate the advise for the future should it ever happen again...please!? Both were/are physical drives W2K 80GB and Xp Pro 40GB both IDE. OS Loader is a great small piece of software that allows you to choose which drive to boot from before an OS and drive are chosen. So that way you can have multiple trays of drives if you want (I dont), and just interconnect if need be. Look it up...its great! What happened is that though the two drives could read each other, and third external too (if connected) the parititions just suddenly failed to be accessed, only the option to format them was offered, when clearly I didn't need it. And the main drive (the W2K reverted to RAW) which would allow no Chkdsk option. Not be able to do without my PC, and having tried everything I listed, I felt I had no choice, but I would love to hear the options you might have suggested. Thanks for your time, and happy new year! Nathan On Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 9:40 am, geek9pm wrote: >Did you recently update to SP4 on the Wins2K? >After reading your post, I would not do anything. All of the things lyou tried should >have worked. >Here is a question. What are your internal drives? Are the IDE (ATA) or SATA? What >size? How mauny partitions? >Until you know what the problem is, you need to be careful. If the XP is working >alright, it can make a backup of the Win2K partition. >What is OSLoader? Does it have options to 'Hide' partitions and drives? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: "Disk in drive 'X' is not formatted. Do you format this disk now?" Error Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 12:46 pm Posted by geek9pm (1030 messages posted) Yeah, I know how you feel. I have had that sort of thing happen two many times, so now I keep backups. With the right software, you can make backups of entire partitions. Or copy a partition to an empty are on a drive. So I like to partition my drives to have more that one OS and more that one or two places to store data. In both 2000 and XP their is an option to move My Documents to another place, even another drive. Do a right click, properties. (See screen Shot Below.) Here is a link to a great free backup and partition program. Requires XP, but can copy Win 2000 partitions as well as other standard partition types. Even re size partitions. Free XP Backup from Runtime Software. No, I don't work for them. I just like it 'cause its free. http://www.runtime.org/driveimage_faq.htm Move My Documents: Geek9pm     New Bird Logo. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: "Disk in drive 'X' is not formatted. Do you format this disk now?" Error Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 1:35 pm Posted by Nathan (11 messages posted) HI Geek, If you would be so kind, I am now suffering with one last irritation please? I backup my OE6 files into DBX's.....now when I try to import them back into Clean OE6 I can't get the new setup to recoginise them and dump them dump back. Might you have the answer please? Since I posted back to your message, thats all I have been trying to find an answer to onle, but many say stupid things like 'just copy them over dude!' which is kinda indolent non-specific to my vital need with the issue LOL Any help greatly appreciated Thank you! Nathan [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: "Disk in drive 'X' is not formatted. Do you format this disk now?" Error Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 1:55 pm Posted by geek9pm (1030 messages posted) Look at: http://www.petri.co.il/forums/showthread.php?t=9845 Also: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/270670 Geek9pm     New Bird Logo. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: "Disk in drive 'X' is not formatted. Do you format this disk now?" Error Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 2:25 am Posted by Nathan (11 messages posted) Sorry to be so late on this.....I just wanted to thank you for your time! Cheers nathan [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows 2000 Discussion Forum