Having trouble with WD Element 2TB reformatting...

EOTW · Jul 4, 2010, 02:56 PM

I'm new here and am having trouble with a new WD 2TB Element external hard drive. It is the first Element HD I have purchased. I needed a larger HD to back up all my music and video. I bought it brand new and plugged it into my 13 inch white Macbook and found out that it has to be reformatted before I can write to it. I have bought and used several other WD HDs in the past and never had to do this. I could find no directions on ho to do it in the scant instruction booklet and have looked all over online but have not found any help, so I am hoping a vet here can lend a hand. I really appreciate any help I can get. Really flying blind here.

Abyssgh0st · Jul 4, 2010, 03:29 PM

Open Disk Utility via Spotlight search, and reformat the harddrive (should be called WD something) and reformat it as "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)".

EOTW · Jul 4, 2010, 04:42 PM

I did as you posted. However, I could find no reformat option. I looked further into that stuff and it says that the drive "can not be formatted." So, does that mean it can't be done, though it says it can on the packaging? When I clicked on the volume, I got no format options, but I am new to a lot of this tech stuff and might not be reading it correctly.

EOTW · Jul 4, 2010, 05:03 PM

Also, when you click on the information for the drive, it does say it is writable, but I can't reformat it or write to it as it is now.

EOTW · Jul 5, 2010, 01:37 AM

Hey, thanks for your help. I was FINALLY able to get it formatted correctly. I searched for the answer and found it on a support site. It was simple and fast. I've never had to do this, os it was all new to me. I'm no techie but it was simple. I'm just glad I was able to make it work. I didn't want to have to send it back to Amazon.

DoFoT9 · Jul 5, 2010, 01:47 AM

glad u got it EOTW! goodluck with it, 2TB is massive

CainFool · Jul 6, 2010, 07:33 AM

Lucky - I only got 1TB.

Jul 4, 2010, 02:56 PM	#1
EOTW macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2010	Having trouble with WD Element 2TB reformatting... I'm new here and am having trouble with a new WD 2TB Element external hard drive. It is the first Element HD I have purchased. I needed a larger HD to back up all my music and video. I bought it brand new and plugged it into my 13 inch white Macbook and found out that it has to be reformatted before I can write to it. I have bought and used several other WD HDs in the past and never had to do this. I could find no directions on ho to do it in the scant instruction booklet and have looked all over online but have not found any help, so I am hoping a vet here can lend a hand. I really appreciate any help I can get. Really flying blind here.
	0

Jul 4, 2010, 03:29 PM	#2
Abyssgh0st macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Norman, OK	Open Disk Utility via Spotlight search, and reformat the harddrive (should be called WD something) and reformat it as "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)". __________________ 27" 2.93 i7 iMac 11" 1.8 i7 MBA iPhone 5
	0

Jul 5, 2010, 01:47 AM	#6
DoFoT9 macrumors P6 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: CWB, Hong Kong	glad u got it EOTW! goodluck with it, 2TB is massive __________________ Official MacRumors IRC @ irc.krono.net #macrumors (Or http://kewlirc.net:9090/) 2012 2.5GHz Mac Mini Dual - 16GB RAM Win8 PC - i5-3570k - 16GB RAM - SSD
	0

Jul 6, 2010, 07:33 AM	#7
CainFool macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2010	Lucky - I only got 1TB. __________________ 17" iMac G5 - 1GB Ram, 80GB harddrive, 1.8GHz, Mac OSX Leopard 10.5 8GB iPod Touch (3.1.2) WD External USB 1TB
	0

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Jul 4, 2010, 04:42 PM	#3
EOTW Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2010	I did as you posted. However, I could find no reformat option. I looked further into that stuff and it says that the drive "can not be formatted." So, does that mean it can't be done, though it says it can on the packaging? When I clicked on the volume, I got no format options, but I am new to a lot of this tech stuff and might not be reading it correctly.
	0

Jul 4, 2010, 05:03 PM	#4
EOTW Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2010	Also, when you click on the information for the drive, it does say it is writable, but I can't reformat it or write to it as it is now.
	0

Jul 5, 2010, 01:37 AM	#5
EOTW Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2010	Hey, thanks for your help. I was FINALLY able to get it formatted correctly. I searched for the answer and found it on a support site. It was simple and fast. I've never had to do this, os it was all new to me. I'm no techie but it was simple. I'm just glad I was able to make it work. I didn't want to have to send it back to Amazon.
	0

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