kristisdad Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 For the last two days I've been trying to format the drives I've been messing with the last couple of months so I can start fresh and git rid of all the "garbage" files, vm's, dockers placed in the wrong place,appdata files in 6 places, 5 different plex files just a clean start. I've put them in a win7 machine, deleted the volume, assigned a letter, formatted ntfs, put them back in unraid, it's all still there. I've tried deleting files from the drive, hit delete, nothing happens. I'm just so frustrated, how in the heck can I format these drives, I don't want the junk that's on them. Any help is appreciated ~ Thanks, Dave
garycase Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 If you formatted them with ntfs, you should simply be able to add them to the array and they'll be reformatted with the default file system you've selected (e.g. XFS). However ... if you want to be certain they're completely re-initialized, put them in your Windows 7 machine; run Western Digital's Data Lifeguard (free download: http://download.wdc.com/windlg/WinDlg_v1_28.zip ]; and use the "Write Zeroes" function to write zeroes to the drive. You can do the "Quick" version -- it won't write zeroes to the entire drive, but it writes all that are needed to make the disk look "new" and will result in a re-initialization of the drive when you install it in your server.
itimpi Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 I feel there are some steps that are not being mentioned! What are you using the drive for (cache?). Are you unassigning the drive from unRAID before you try to reformat it?
garycase Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 I'd certainly assume he's starting "fresh" (newly formatted USB flash drive) ... or at least with a "New Config" ... since he's reformatting the drives (with ntfs) and doing other "stuff" from outside of the server. But it's a good point
sureguy Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 Why not just download and run preclear against the drives? Wipes them and ensures they're good, although it's slower.
itimpi Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 I'd certainly assume he's starting "fresh" (newly formatted USB flash drive) ... or at least with a "New Config" ... since he's reformatting the drives (with ntfs) and doing other "stuff" from outside of the server. But it's a good point I was just asking that as if those steps have been done and the disk has been repartitioned and reformatted it is difficult to see how the original data could still show up.
garycase Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 Agree ... that seems really strange. Have to wonder just what steps have been taken ... kristisdad => Can you elaborate a bit on exactly what you've tried ??
kristisdad Posted October 17, 2015 Author Posted October 17, 2015 I have formatted each drive, cache, parity, data drives and a fresh install of 6.1.3 on my usb drive. Like I said in the previous post, I deleted the volume,made a simple volume, with format ntfs and assigned letter E, figured that wouldn't make any difference, only to the win7 machine, then put the back in the unraid machine and there it is, all my directories and shares are still there. I just let out a sigh and back to the drawing board. Possibly the unraid partitions still exist, that's all I can figure as the xfs format still shows on the webgui, and when I try again to format with win 7, I go through the same process and end up at the same place. Kinda like beating your head against the wall. At this point I don't figure much is usable any more, I can't delete anything, VM and Dockers don't show anymore, but the files appear to be there, usable or not, I don't know. I like gary's idea, I'm going to give it a try this afternoon after I get my Honey Do's done for the day. At this point I'll try anything. I had considered the preclear, but I just can't seen to find a download for it or how to use it. Most references seem to go back to the unraid v4, I'm lost at that too. I'm just not sure of current applications. Thanks Again ~ Dave
itimpi Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 I had considered the preclear, but I just can't seen to find a download for it or how to use it. Most references seem to go back to the unraid v4, I'm lost at that too. I'm just not sure of current applications. Easiest way to use Preclear is via the plugin.
thestewman Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 I have formatted each drive, cache, parity, data drives and a fresh install of 6.1.3 on my usb drive. Like I said in the previous post, I deleted the volume,made a simple volume, with format ntfs and assigned letter E, figured that wouldn't make any difference, only to the win7 machine, then put the back in the unraid machine and there it is, all my directories and shares are still there. I just let out a sigh and back to the drawing board. Possibly the unraid partitions still exist, that's all I can figure as the xfs format still shows on the webgui, and when I try again to format with win 7, I go through the same process and end up at the same place. Kinda like beating your head against the wall. At this point I don't figure much is usable any more, I can't delete anything, VM and Dockers don't show anymore, but the files appear to be there, usable or not, I don't know. I like gary's idea, I'm going to give it a try this afternoon after I get my Honey Do's done for the day. At this point I'll try anything. I had considered the preclear, but I just can't seen to find a download for it or how to use it. Most references seem to go back to the unraid v4, I'm lost at that too. I'm just not sure of current applications. Thanks Again ~ Dave Are you sure you formatted the entire harddrive ? There have been instances of users who thought they reformatted the entire hard drive and left hidden partitions still in their original location. Windows wiii do that. Check the harddrive properties and see if the entire harddrive was formatted
garycase Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 Just do the WD Data Lifeguard write zeroes bit. That will absolutely wipe the drives
kristisdad Posted October 17, 2015 Author Posted October 17, 2015 Thanks, Gary! Working like a champ! ~ Dave
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.