How do I format a hard drive which won't boot

On this system, I have a dual boot setup with two hard drives, both with Vista installed.

The other night, I put the system to sleep. When I woke it up, everything was fine but, after about a minute, the whole system locked up.

I tried a reboot but, right after the initial loading of Windows, it just stopped responding. I tried to reboot and go to Safe Mode but the Windows files would load and then nothing would happen.

I tried another reboot and just let the system run. After about an hour (without ever booting into Windows), it said the K: drive need to be checked for consistancy. It then repaired the Master File Table with the MFT mirror. Then Checkdisk started and after about an hour I interrupted it.

I tried booting with the slave drive disconnected and that works just fine. I tried booting without the master drive connected and about half way through the POST, it says there's a read error and asks me to restart, which, of course, just puts one into a loop.

I then rebooted with both drives connected and let it run with the same results except that after a couple of hours, Checkdisk finished and Windows booted normally. I then got a message that the K: drive needed to be formatted. I clicked on Format but before it would run, I got a message that I needed to back up my files. However, when I try to do that, Windows looks for a backup device and can never find one, even when I insert a DVD- see attached. I don't know if it's because it can't find a target or it can't read the K:.

Last night and today, I went through the whole process again. It took Checkdisk almost 20 hours to complete. It always finds 22 records that can't be read and fixes a couple of others.
So, I'm sitting here typing and Windows is still trying to find a backup device.

The question is how do I format the K: drive or is there another means of recovering it.

Use bootable media... livecd, vista disk, or what not and run the format.

I suggest Ubuntu, or a ultimateboot disk.
Ultimate Boot CD - Overview

And try n fix it first.

Thanks Patonb-

I didn't mention that I had tried using the Vista recovery disc from the OEM. It got as far as loading files and then stopped, just like it did when I tried to boot with both drives connected. I don't know if it's because the drive can't be read or I just didn't wait a hour or two to see if it did anything. I'll give it another try.

It's interesting that Windows recognizes the drive in Windows Explorer but it can't read it during a boot. Perhaps Checkdisk did something in that regard. I haven't tried to boot to that drive since Checkdisc ran the second time. Will do that also.

I finally got around to trying to boot using the recovery disc. It loads the Windows files immediately but, after two hours, I only had a black screen with the mouse pointer. I'm going to try the Ultimate Boot CD although I'm not quite sure which option I'm going to use.

On the slave drive, there are three partitions (K:, L: and M: as viewed through Windows Explorer on the master drive). Vista is loaded on two of them (K: and M. The funny thing is that I can open the L: and M: partitions and see all the files from Windows Explorer on the master drive. However, I can't access the K: partition. I don't know if I can use the Format command from the master drive to format K: since K: isn't readable. Perhaps someone can help me with that if the Ultimate Boot CD is unsuccessful. Or, maybe someone has another suggestion.

Perhaps you can try to restore the bootloader with easyBCD; that might fix it. Are you trying to recover that installation or is a complete reformat an option? If you reformat make sure to set up the bootloader on the other drive or you won't be able to access either installation. Have you tried scanning the hard drive using diagnostic tools from the manufacturer?

Hey Townsbg- Good to see you.

I would rather recover the drive rather than reformat it.

I've got all kinds of thoughts about how to do this. I haven't tried the Ultimate Boot CD yet. I'm working on this in my spare time so days can go by before I get back to it. Right now, I'm thinking about going into Computer Management and seeing what options I have there, such as changing the drive letter for the K: and other things.

I don't know how to set up the bootloader.

I'd firstly recover any files you really need before you continue., then start playing.

You can use easybcd to work with the bootloader. Other than that it's command line. EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies

It so happens that I have a copy of EasyBCD on CD from NeoSmart. Might give that a try. Still working on things other than recovering the drive.

EasyBCD says it won't work with a drive that can't be booted. It says I need EasyRE. At the website, it says there's a free download but I can't find it. They want $20 and I'd rather spend it on a new hard drive. Strange thing is that EasyBCD sees my K, L, M partitions and I can select the K in the bootloader but don't really know what to do with it.

I'm downloading/installing Ultimate Boot CD right now.

Sounds to me like your drive is really hosed. When it comes to easyBCD if you don't know what something does don't mess with it.

I burned the Ultimate Boot CD to a DVD-Rom(ISO) but it doesn't boot (I have the first boot option in the BIOS set to CD-ROM device. Does it have to be burned to a CD?

Hmm, no idea honestly. Did you try in a different system?

And here I thought I was dealing with experts.

At least your were honest. I know it's called a boot cd but I don't think the ISO would care or the boot system would care.

I'll give your suggestion a try later.

I tried the disc on my win 7 system and the system doesn't boot to the disc.

I'll get a CD tomorrow and try it.

I selected the ISO file in Windows Explorer and right clicked on it and selected burn image to disc. the same software I used yesterday came up. I clicked on burn (to a DVD) and it burned. Now it boots to the ISO. Go figure.

Of course, I have no idea what I'm doing. I found a boot manager and it shows all three partitions and their contents. I changed the boot order to a different partition and exited. It started booting and after about two hours, it told me to install the installation disc. I did that and it booted and wants to install Windows. However, it gets to a screen where it shows a almost 500 Gb of unallocated space which I believe was my C: drive. I tried to install there but it said it couldn't find a volume suitable for installing Windows. So I chose a smaller partition size and it couldn't create a volume in the unallocated space. Now I'm starting over to install Windows. Not sure where it's going to go.

In the future download the free Macrium Reflect. You make an image of your drive every 2 weeks. In the case of problems like this, you just install the image. You have all of your stuff and software.

Well, you finally got here to help.

This is my secondary hard drive. It's where I store my Macrium Reflect images and back up files in case the master hard drive fails. Kind of ironic isn't it.

Problem is, the Windows installation won't let me install it on the unallocated space and the format option is greyed out. The option to select a different partition isn't there either. The ultimate boot cd does see all the partitions. I haven't figured out which option is the best to use.

You might have to do a complete reformat however I haven't used that cd before.

I agree but I don't understand why the format option during the Vista installation from the installation disc is greyed out.

I haven't looked at every program available on the Ultimate Boot menu's. I'll be on the golf course today so I'm not sure when I'll get back to it.