"You need to format the disk in drive J: before you can use it"

Anonymous
2009-11-27T14:36:21+00:00

The error message says "You need to format the disk in drive J: before you can use it" I have a removable USB storage drive that i always plugged in to my computer everytime I download movies save disk space on my computer.  Now it want me to format this storage disk.  Also,where it used to label this disk as "Removable Disk", it is not labeled as Local Disk J:. I don't want to format this disk because it will erase all my files and folders on this removable USB storage disk.  Please help me.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2011-01-12T20:05:12+00:00

I had same problem.

And I have an solution for you... The problem is that when you plug in your HD first time, Windows 7 install your HD and associate it to only this USB port (let it be USB port "4") than if you wanna to use it (HD) again, you need to plug it, in the same USB port (USB port "4") where it was installed first time. It is Stupid!!!! But that's how it worked with my HD.

Just try all USB ports that you have on your PC.

Good luck.

Hope it was helpful. :D

PS: the same problem is with all divices you plug in to your pc.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-06-20T02:16:24+00:00

    I have this problem.  Tried the switching USB ports solution, did not work.  Tried to run CHKDSK and the command prompt told me "chkdsk is not available for exfat drives."  Any suggestions?

    Drive is a WD MyBook Essential 2.0 500GB.  Computer is an HP with Vista.  I just reinstalled windows and all my files were backed up on the external, but now I can't access it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-06-19T22:34:08+00:00

    I had this problem on June 19th of 2011 and all I had to do is move the drive to another USB slot and it worked.  Just to be safe I backed up my files to my computer just in case this method does not work next time.

    Good luck.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-06-16T18:47:49+00:00

    I had the same problem, it totally stopped asking me to format every few seconds when i plugged it into another usb port.... i think someone needs to fix that, it shouldn't matter which usb port something is plugged in to.. just sayin....

    I had same problem.

    And I have an solution for you... The problem is that when you plug in your HD first time, Windows 7 install your HD and associate it to only this USB port (let it be USB port "4") than if you wanna to use it (HD) again, you need to plug it, in the same USB port (USB port "4") where it was installed first time. It is Stupid!!!! But that's how it worked with my HD.

    Just try all USB ports that you have on your PC.

    Good luck.

    Hope it was helpful. :D

    PS: the same problem is with all divices you plug in to your pc.

    Was this answer helpful?

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-04-25T13:31:55+00:00

    I had the same problem with my seagate usb drive (NTFS).  i tried connecting to different usb ports on my laptop. no use. Surprisingly one simple step resolved it in a minute. I just did a chkdsk <usb drive letter:> and then bang it opened ... no more message ..no content lost .. no waste of time....truly it worked for my problem .. but i'm not sure about the bigger picture ... i did not tweak any registries or anyother s/ws to fix it..

    just a fluke try ..thats it.. not sure it will help everyone else's problem but may be you can give it a shot..

    Cheers....

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