Formatting SSD Advisement | Fixitfixitfixit Drops & Tech | Page 1

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 7:48 AM

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Spec List:
-12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700k
-MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI DDR4
-NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
-G.Skill TridentZ RGB Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB)
-Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB SSD, Samsung SSD 990 Pro With Heatsink 4TB SSD
-Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU fan, ARCTIC P12 PWM PST (5 pack) fans

I've very recently updated my CPU and motherboard as the latest and hopefully last step in attempting to solve the problem of "why one of my ssd's kept disappearing"; as part of the updating process I backed up my main ssd to the second one, and back again using an enclosure. Now, I'm attempting to format the second SSD, the D: volume, but I got the message pictured in the attached image.

Please advise, is there anything else I need to do to make sure I don't brick my ssd? I've made it this far, and I figured out the "Mark Partition as Active" part on my own, I just want to make absolutely sure clicking "Yes" won't cause any problems.

Note: I won't be able to directly respond until 4:30 pm EST or so today 1/2, I gotta go to bed and go to work in the morning.

modest ember Jan 2, 2025, 8:05 AM

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that is the standard formatting message and if that drive is empty/brand new go ahead

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only thing would be making sure you arent formatting to a different standard

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NTFS

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that is what you want

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why would you use an enclosure?

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that motherboard has multiple m2 slots

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 2:19 PM

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modest ember why would you use an enclosure?

The problem with the old motherboard was that one of the m2 slots was broken in such a way that an SSD plugged into it would disappear until I took it out and put it back in again. The enclosure was to test if it was an issue with the SSD or motherboard, and allow for data migration

The SSD isn't brand new, it just has an older computer backup on it I'm unable to completely delete without formatting

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 2:53 PM

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I'd go in slightly more detail, but as I mentioned, I gots to go to work

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 10:18 PM

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Ok, I'm back home now

open slate Jan 2, 2025, 10:56 PM

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if the D: is in an external enclosure, all that message is telling you is that it will be disconnected from normal usage so it can be formatted

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just make sure you have everything off it that you wanted to keep

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 11:40 PM

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open slate if the D: is in an external enclosure, all that message is telling you is that i...

It's inside the tower, in the second m2 slot. Everything that was on it was already migrated over to the 970.

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I'm slightly more worried about what application is running that might get unexpected errors, tho

open slate Jan 2, 2025, 11:41 PM

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the only reason windows will say it is going to demount the drive is if it's in use by a program

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so you must have something running off the drive still or you didnt properly transfer everything

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you should check in disk management that you are not currently running windows from that drive

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it's sometimes possible for windows to be running from the wrong partition

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how exactly did you transfer everything from the drive?

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was it a clone of the drive or did you just move files?

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 11:44 PM

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open slate how exactly did you transfer everything from the drive?

Uh, I used the data migration function in the Samsung Magician application.

open slate Jan 2, 2025, 11:46 PM

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rough bobcat Uh, I used the data migration function in the Samsung Magician application.

ok so it should have been a clone

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did it make a partition on the target drive that was at least the size of the source drive?

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 11:50 PM

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I'm not quite sure, I just know that the backup was exactly the same size as the main drive.

open slate Jan 2, 2025, 11:50 PM

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so what you were suppose to do was take the source drive out so it was only the new drive

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but if you leave it in, you need to make sure that you have changed the first boot drive

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because im suspecting that you are on the source/old drive still and the D: drive is actually the target/new drive

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 11:53 PM

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The thing is, I'm pretty sure it booted from the 970, because like. Before I tried formatting, I just straight up deleted stuff off of the 990. Nothing is borked on my end, so I figured what was on the 990 was just extraneous.

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The problem I ran into was that there were certain files I was unable to recycle as is.

open slate Jan 2, 2025, 11:55 PM

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which drive is suppose to be the new one and which is the old one?

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 11:58 PM

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the 970 is the main drive (C:) that I normally have everything needed to boot up windows and shit on it. the 990 (D:) I got last April, and was mainly used as storage for comics, videos, and other large files, and on my original motherboard kept on disappearing because of what I gather was some kind of hairline fracture in the slot.

open slate Jan 2, 2025, 11:59 PM

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ok so the 970 is suppose to be your main drive right now?

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 11:59 PM

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I transferred everything over to D:, and swapped the ssds around at one point to test and make sure there weren't any issues with the ssds themselves

open slate Jan 2, 2025, 11:59 PM

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ok so 990 is the main os drive now

rough bobcat Jan 2, 2025, 11:59 PM

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open slate ok so the 970 is suppose to be your main drive right now?

yeah. Before I removed my old motherboard, I transferred everything back to the 970 in an enclosure

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 12:00 AM

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you need open disk manager in windows and confirm which drive has d partition on it

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or the samsung program should be able to show that

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:01 AM

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Disk_Management_SSDs_01-02-2025_Screenshot_2025-01-02_190040.png

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 12:01 AM

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ok the 990 is 4TB which means D: is on the 990

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:01 AM

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yeah

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like I said, at first I just attempted to recycle everything on the 990 backup, but because it was a clone of the 970, there were important files that weren't able to be deleted as is

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so I turned to formatting

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 12:03 AM

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cloning the drive should get everything without issue

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the only problems i've run into before was virus scanners

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so if the D: partition on the 990 is the correct partition you want to format, you can go ahead and let windows demount it

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actually wait

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:05 AM

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when it was just recycling on it's own, it said this

Disk_Management_Recycling_Error_01-02-2025_Screenshot_2025-01-02_190419.png

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 12:05 AM

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you cant just delete files off the drive if you want to wipe it clean

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you have to format it

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or delete the partitions from disk manager

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:06 AM

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tbh, I can freely admit some of my computer skills aren't so hot.

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 12:07 AM

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formatting doesnt actually delete anything and neither does deleting the partitions. to fully wipe out the data you would need to write to the disk multiple times. you can actually recover lost partitions and often a lot of data if the drive hasnt been writen too much

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:08 AM

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hm

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 12:08 AM

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since you are just using it as storage, i wouldnt worry about doing that

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if the drive is just for storage, you could just delete all the partitions and make a single or more than one new partition

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i'd make a partition for games and one for files

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:09 AM

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ok then. so formatting is still the way to go, and I should ignore the warning I snapped a pic of in the top of the thread?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 12:09 AM

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well you actually want to delete the small partitions so windows doesnt confuse those for functional partitions for recovery

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the 700MB and 100MB

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you can just format D:

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:10 AM

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open slate i'd make a partition for games and one for files

I'm slightly lost, but I'll just say that so far, most of my game files are on the 970, and any time I attempted otherwise it was for larger load games.

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except that was during the period when the 990 would disappear, so there'd be some issues

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 12:12 AM

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for now just delete the partitions that are not D: and format D

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then you should be good to use it

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:18 AM

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ok, so wait, do I delete the things that say "Disk 1 partition 1" and "Disk 1 partition 2", 'cause I can't see a way to individually delete them first

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 12:33 AM

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I think? the delete thing shows up for Disk 1 partition 2, but not 1

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 1:10 AM

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will deleting 2 also delete 1?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:07 AM

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in disk manager you can right click the partition and click delete volume

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you dont need to do it through command line

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:08 AM

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ok, the problem is the red x for delete only shows up sometimes

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and right-clicking has the words in the pop-up whited out

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:10 AM

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oh yeah i forgot you cant jsut delete system volumes

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:11 AM

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so I should just format D: and be done with it?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:11 AM

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for now you can do that

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but when you are in diskpart, you just need to select the correct disk and then delete or format partitions

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disk 1 is your 4TB 990

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:11 AM

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diskpart is different than Disk Management, right? diskpart is a cmd line thing?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:12 AM

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disk 1, partition 1 and partition 2, are the ones to delete

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diskpart is ran as an admin through command prompt

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:13 AM

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ok

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:13 AM

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run command prompt as an admin

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i think you should be able to type windows key and x to bring up the system tools menu in windows 10 and 11

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:14 AM

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open slate run command prompt as an admin

before formatting D: in Disk Management?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:14 AM

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before or after doesnt matter

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you just dont want those recovery/system repair partitions hanging around so windows doesnt confuse itself later with those

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:15 AM

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ok. sorry about needing things spelled out step by step, I wanna make sure I don't mess up anything.

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running cmd, up to Diskpart

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:15 AM

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hold on let me get you instructions for this. i need to take off for a bit and clean dishes and stuff

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:15 AM

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sure thing, thank you.

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:21 AM

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you know what

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just format d:

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i may need to explain more stuff later

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:22 AM

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gotcha

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:22 AM

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the partitions are volumes in diskpart

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so you would be deleting what is named a volume instead of a partition

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it should still be listed as like disk 1 volume 1 and volume 2

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im not entirely sure on that. i have so many volumes i'd need to check it

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the 2 volumes to delete are 678mb and 100mb

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:24 AM

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thank you

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:24 AM

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you can also clean the disk and it will remove all the volumes and then you can just make a single new partition

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:25 AM

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ok, I'll probably need directions on that later, it's been a bit since I've messed in cmd line like that.

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:26 AM

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https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/85819-erase-disk-using-diskpart-clean-command-windows-10-a.html

Erase Disk using Diskpart Clean Command in Windows 10

How to Erase a Disk using Diskpart Clean Command in Windows 10

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:26 AM

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is that the same for Windows 11?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:26 AM

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make sure you dont use clean all command unless you dont mind waiting hours for it to finish

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it's the same on everything going back to i think vista

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actually maybe even windows 95

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just need to run command prompt as admin. type in diskpart and hit enter

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honestly maybe just format d for now

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skip cleaning the disk, because i dont know if ill be here to help if you if something goes wrong

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actually wait!

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i wonder if samsung magician can do it

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:30 AM

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open slate skip cleaning the disk, because i dont know if ill be here to help if you if som...

thank you, please take your time

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:30 AM

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open slate i wonder if samsung magician can do it

I'm looking at it now, I'm not entirely sure it does

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:31 AM

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it doesnt

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:31 AM

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there's about 268 MB left on D:, and also it's labeled "New Volume". Not sure how to change that

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:31 AM

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the commands are easy to use in diskpart, just need to be careful when selecting the correct disk and volumes

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:32 AM

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rough bobcat there's about 268 MB left on D:, and also it's labeled "New Volume". Not sure h...

new volume is just the name. you can change that later

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what do you mean by 268mb left?

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:34 AM

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open slate what do you mean by 268mb left?

Disk_Management_268_MB_01_Screenshot_2025-01-02_213317.png

Disk_Management_268_MB_02_Screenshot_2025-01-02_213340.png

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it appears the only thing left are two empty folders, and one with stuff in it I can't normally access, WindowsApps

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:35 AM

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does doesnt matter if you are formatting the partition

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everything is "erased" with formatting

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:35 AM

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so it would get removed with the disk cleanup thing in cmd line?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:36 AM

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you would be using diskpart to remove the other partitions except for d or delete every partition on the drive with the clean command show in that link

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for now, in disk manager, you just want to right click d: and click format

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:37 AM

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I just did, that 268 MB was what was left

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:37 AM

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formatting deletes everything

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there shouldnt be anything on the partition anymore

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actually you know what

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never mind it doesnt matter dont worry about it

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just use it

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Kekw

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:38 AM

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ok

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I did clean disk, ~~plz lemme know after you're done with dishes what's better to initialize, MBR or GPT~~, if that matters

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thank you

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ok nvr mind for now, I checked and GPT is a UEFI thingy, so that one presumably

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 2:58 AM

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gpt is the partition table type

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you want gpt on all new disk

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 2:59 AM

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I got that

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clean all wouldn't do anything at this point, would it?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:00 AM

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partition table only matters when activating the disk and can be changed if mbr was selected by accident but requires messing about with commands and stuff

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clena all will erase everything and overwrite the drive with zeroes or ones or how ever it does it

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use clean to just

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have it delete the settings that determine the data is there

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:01 AM

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okie doke.

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:01 AM

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clean is like doing a quick format. nothing gets deleted, just the markers on the drive telling windows data is there

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:04 AM

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according to Samsung Magician, there's still 220 MB there, but nothing in the actual partition/drive that corresponds to it. so I guess it's just hidden? the discrepancy annoys me a little, like not being able to get rid of a stubborn spot of dirt, but I can live with it

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:04 AM

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cleaning he drive removes all the partitions on the drive

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:04 AM

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hm

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:05 AM

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then you make a new on in diskpart or do it the easier way in disk manager

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:05 AM

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yeah, I re-initialized/did the stuff to get it up and running again.

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I dunno

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:06 AM

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honestly, as long as the drive is "empty" i wouldnt worry

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:06 AM

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that's prooooobably everything, unless I'm missing a step somewhere. thank you very much for the help.

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:06 AM

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all that matters is you can use it for your data

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:06 AM

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one side-digression, just 'cause it's bothering me:

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what should I do with my old motherboard?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:07 AM

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this is one of those things that is easy for me, but difficult to explain for people who have never done it before

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the kind of deep stuff i've done with drives in the last 20 years would go over your head and into space

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stuff i dont even remember how to do even

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:07 AM

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it's just been sitting on the living room table ever since I removed it from the casing, and I don't really know how to dispose of it.

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:08 AM

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i once waited for about 3 days for a dying drive to be copied so i could recover some files

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i had to do it with deep scanning software

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:08 AM

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open slate the kind of deep stuff i've done with drives in the last 20 years would go over ...

I am taking a few computer classes for some collegey/continuing education stuff, so hopefully I can reach that skill one day.

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again, thank you for the help

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:09 AM

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everything i know i taught myself/googled it to learn

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the best way to learn something may be when something goes wrong and you spend an entire night trying to fix it

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:10 AM

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I hear that

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:10 AM

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rough bobcat it's just been sitting on the living room table ever since I removed it from the...

did you ever get it rma'ed?

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:10 AM

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open slate did you ever get it rma'ed?

funny thing is, I had my 990 ssd rma'd first, and by the time it came back with an all-clear, the warranty for the motherboard had just ran out

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this was back in August, and a few tech support threads ago.

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:11 AM

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probably should have rma'ed everything at the same time just in cae

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if you cant use it, might as well rma just in case

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:13 AM

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I think I contacted MSI asking for an RMA pretty-please even after the warranty ran out, but they said no.

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in any case, should I just drop it off at an electronic recycling place? or what.

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:19 AM

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you can but you might be able to sell it online

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oh actually... ehhh it might not be worth selling online. it's not a ggreat board

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:21 AM

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I don't know who'd want to buy a motherboard with busted lanes/m2 slots/whatever the hairline fracture problem was

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is the MPG Z490 that bad? the PRO Z790-P is better at least, right?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:23 AM

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well z490 is old

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and the cpus cost too much for it. so not really worth more than probably $30 broken

rough bobcat Jan 3, 2025, 3:25 AM

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I did get it in 2021, tho as I recently learned, the CPU and GPU I had were a bit of a mismatch, and couldn't get the best speed out of it or something

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would a electronic recycling place still take it tho?

open slate Jan 3, 2025, 3:37 AM

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probably but you might need to pay them to take it

#Formatting SSD Advisement