"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
    2012-02-29T16:24:38+00:00

    Tks for the tips.. it work for me.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-02-25T10:44:46+00:00

    I also face the same prob in my MP3 player. But is it trustworthy to format the disk ??

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-02-14T15:33:42+00:00

    We need more information in order to help you.

    Try plugging the external HDD into another computer to see if it gives the same error message - it would be good to know if it's isolated to this one computer (then we can rule out problems with the external drive).

    Attach and power up the external HDD and then go to Start / Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Computer Management / Disk Management and then go to the external HDD and tell us EXACTLY what it says when you hover your mouse over it (Healthy, Primary Partition,...).  Also, in the upper portion, tell us what it says about the external HDD in the File System column (or tell us if it says nothing).

    Thanks and we await your reply.

    Good luck!

    Lorien - One - MCSE/MCSA/Network+/A+

    It shows me PRIMARY PARTITION, then what are the steps i need to follow...

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-02-12T16:15:44+00:00

    I also have this problem, asks me to format drive F ... 

    from reading here

    • chkdsk did not work
    • scan for hardware changes on usb controllers did not work
    • file system was the same (ntfs)
    • testing usb ports did not work (this might work for those who aren't in the reinstalled windows scenario)

    before reinstalling windows i backed up to an external drive ...got windows reinstalled and now windows doesn't recognize the drive and wants me to reformat.

    One thing i have noticed is when i plug it into my mac i can see all the files (tho read only) so if i can't find a good solution the solution will be to bring them all down to my mac and then grab them off the mac, then format the drive on the pc again and put which ones i want to stay on the drive back on the drive.  It'll take a ton of transfer time.

    My question is: is it a file ownership thing?  Were the files tied to the user/computer name of the old install and now that i've renamed the computer they're maybe tied to those?  Does DOS have a chown / chmod type command?  that's where i'm researching next before i move on.

    If this is (which it seems to be) a windows bug is it not enough people yet to fix this?

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