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You need to format the disc in drive H: before you can use it

Anonymous
2010-10-03T01:42:04+00:00

Here's the deal, I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop with Vista. I have had no problems (for a while) until 2 days ago. I have a PNY jump stick, a SD card, and a Toshiba ex.HDD, all when plugged into any USB port will give me this error when trying to access them "You need to format the disc in drive H: before you can use it".

There is nothing wrong with the drive, jump stick, or SD card as they all work fine on my other computers, and have until 2 days ago worked fine on my laptop. I did the system restore, no luck. I have been pulling my hair out trying to resolve this (and I don't have much hair)! I'm reluctant to do a complete restore with a new image because of all the programs I'll lose and updates to Vista since I got it in 2008.

Please!! Anybody, do you have any idea how to fix this!?

Thanks for reading 0:)

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-10-03T14:21:47+00:00

    Hi Justin,

    I would suggest you to remove the drive letter ‘H’ using disk management and assign a different drive letter for the drive and check if it helps you fix the issue and if the drives works fine.

    To change the drive letter in disk management follow the steps below:

    a.    Open Computer Management by clicking the  Start button, clicking  Control Panel, clicking System and Security, clicking Administrative Tools, and then double-clicking  Computer Management. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

    b.   In the left pane, click  Disk Management**.**

    c.    Right-click the drive that you want to change, and then click  Change Drive Letter and Paths.

    d.   Do one of the following:

    ·        To assign a drive letter if one has not already been assigned, click  Add, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.

    ·        To change a drive letter, click  Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.

    ·        To remove a drive letter, click  Remove, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to remove it.

    Access the link below to know more about changing the drive letter.

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Change-add-or-remove-a-drive-letter

    Hope this helps. Let us know the results.

    Thanks and Regards,

    Srinivas R

    Microsoft Support.

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-10-09T12:06:44+00:00

    Hi I have the same problem. My external toshiba hard disk when plugged into my laptop says that I need to format it before use. I have been using the hard disk for a long time but never had this problem. I have tried attaching it to all the usb ports but to no success. My disk management says : (H:) Raw healthy(Active,Primary Partition) and also shows that my entire 298.09 GB space is free whereas the fact is that I have almost 200 GB worth of data in it. What should I do?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2010-10-05T17:37:20+00:00

    Hi justin7122,

    Which hardware item is installed in drive H? What happens when you plug them in one at a time? Try moving the hardware to a different USB port. 

    Dena

    Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2011-10-13T21:30:19+00:00

    Hello DilipPancholi,

    I would recommend creating a new thread for your issue.

    Due to the age of this one, there will be subtle differences between your issue and the one mentioned in this thread.

    Best regards,

    Matthew_Ha

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