"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
    2012-02-12T16:15:44+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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  2. Anonymous
    2012-02-03T18:47:07+00:00

    thanks.

    It worked for me.

    I suggest to use chkdsk first and then still if it is not working then go for disabling autoplay for all media type.

    i was scared as i had 500gb around data on my 1tb external hard disk.

    I ran following command on command prompt .My external drive is J

    chkdsk j: /f 

    it found errors and fixed all of them and my external hard disk is working now

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-01-26T23:22:02+00:00

    Yeah, I bought a Verbatim 2TB USB3 external storage drive and it has NEVER worked right. Right out of the box, Windows 7 was asking to format it. Even after I did, I had issue after issue. 2/3's of the time whenever I would wake the PC up from hibernation, and even just a regular reboot, Windows wouldn't see the drive. I would have to mess around in device manager to get it to see the device.

    Since Moving, suddenly Windows again wants me format the thing, and it has over 1.5TB of backup data on it. I used FileScavenger to recover all the data and temporarily move the data to other drives. I format it AGAIN...finally, I can use the device, but often still have the problem of windows wanting for format it. After a week, I cannot access the data on it, for the same <removed> reason.

    I am really starting to hate Microsoft I have a 16GB Flash Drive with similar issues. Good freakin job on Windows 7. Supposed to be such an improvement over Vista. Can't even do something as simple as acknowledge drives, or acknowledge that they are plugged into a USB 3 port.

    I installed the right USB3 drivers for the USB 3 port (yes, it's blue, as all new USB 3 ports are), and yet from day one keeps telling me that the drive will perform faster if plugged into a USB 3 port. IT IS PLUGGED INTO a USB 3 PORT! There are two of them and nothing else is plugged into the 2nd one.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-01-26T07:28:36+00:00

    Thanks, faridbachshesh ur ans works  great for me , many many thanks to u !!!

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