HDD Query

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  • September 5, 2022 at 9:34 am #69906
    JukeboxJukebox
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      @jukebox
      Forumite Points: 4

      Hi All. I have recently ditched my trusty Samsung RV510 laptop and removed the HDD (spinner) to erase the contents. The spec of the laptop was that the drive was 320GB and indeed the label on the drive indicated this. However when I examined the drive using Disk Management it showed that the drive had a 320GB partition (active) and 160GB (approx) unallocated space. I deleted the active partition which left me with a 480GB unallocated space. However, on attempting to format this (not using ‘quick format’) it only went as far as 64% and stopped (no error message).The same happened using a third party formatter. Any idea what’s going on here? Have Samsung somehow fudged a 500GB drive to appear as 320GB and if so why?

      September 5, 2022 at 4:16 pm #69907
      Ed PEd P
      Participant
        @edps
        Forumite Points: 39

        Compressed drive?

        Incidentally the easiest and most secure way of permanently  erasing a drive is to do a quick format then ‘kill’ it with a pair of side-cutters. Just cut the small data loom in a couple of places and remove it. Only a very determined and highly skilled hacker would be able to access your data!

        September 6, 2022 at 12:25 pm #69908
        Wheels-Of-FireWheels-Of-Fire
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          @grahamdearsley
          Forumite Points: 4

          I take it you did create a new partition in the unallocated space ?

          If not, then right click the unalocated space and choose “new simple volume”.

          September 6, 2022 at 2:16 pm #69909
          JukeboxJukebox
          Participant
            @jukebox
            Forumite Points: 4

            Yes I did as you described above. Then selected ‘Format’, unticked ‘Quick Format’, and it was OK to 64% then just stopped. Note that 64% of 500(GB) is 320, so I suspect that somehow Samsung managed to rescue a faulty disk by reducing the capacity??? Just an idea!!!

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