Hacking format a brand new HDD

[Benjay]

Hi !!

i've just bought a brand new HDD.(usb powered)
i've formated it with WBFS manager , added a game onto it , and tried on my wii : works flawlessly !!!
it's this model , payed 55€ on the web (not Amazon , on a french site)
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Portable-Ext...X/dp/B0013FSKSA

Now i know it works , i'd like to reformat it , and then create a FAT32 partition and a WBFS one.

What is the best way to do this ? (assuming i'm on XP service pack2)
Cause i'm unable to format a partition under FAT32 in XP (doesn't want......)

And what is the fastest way to clone my old HDD to the new one ? (copying all games the most quickly possible).

Thanks for your help

 

[Jeomite]

Create two partitions using Windows XP's Disk Management utiliy (you can get there by Right-Clicking on My Computer -> Manage) > if you must, delete any existing partition on the hard disk LETTER by right-clicking it and hit DELETE PARTITION
Keep in mind, that when you create two partitions, your first partition will be the FAT32 one. When you create the Partitions, do not choose to format them at all.

DISK MANAGEMENT IS A DANGEROUS TOOL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE IT PROPERLY. YOU CAN SIMPLY DELETE ANY PARTITIONS CARELESSLY IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

Google and download FAT32FORMAT.EXE
Use it with Command Prompt to it format both partitions. It will be quick and format it as FAT32.
Command line is >
fat32format.exe X:
where X is each drive letter found on your hard disk

Then use your favorite WBFS Manager to format/install your Wii games onto the second partition.

 

[Benjay]

Hi !!

thanks for these usefull infos

it worked great , i now have my 2 partitions , one fat32 and one WBFS.
btw don't be afraid , i'm not a noob with computers , but i was too busy with my kid (and lazy) to search google for methods ^^
Asking here is so more simple lol

Thanks again

 

[Eclipse01]

Create two partitions using Windows XP's Disk Management utiliy (you can get there by Right-Clicking on My Computer -> Manage) > if you must, delete any existing partition on the hard disk LETTER by right-clicking it and hit DELETE PARTITION
Keep in mind, that when you create two partitions, your first partition will be the FAT32 one. When you create the Partitions, do not choose to format them at all.

DISK MANAGEMENT IS A DANGEROUS TOOL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE IT PROPERLY. YOU CAN SIMPLY DELETE ANY PARTITIONS CARELESSLY IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

Google and download FAT32FORMAT.EXE
Use it with Command Prompt to it format both partitions. It will be quick and format it as FAT32.
Command line is >
fat32format.exe X:
where X is each drive letter found on your hard disk

Then use your favorite WBFS Manager to format/install your Wii games onto the second partition.

this is pretty much how I did it, only I used Swissknife to get it to format in FAT32

 

[shoshinkai]

I have a related question...Is there not a way to NON DESTRUCTIVELY create a second partition on your already WBFS-formatted (and populated) drive? I mean, surely there's a method to re-size the WBFS partition in such a way as to format the reclaimed free space as FAT32 for disc images, etc. without losing you ISOs you already have stored on the drive

Ultimately, I guess you *could* back up your ISOs to a secondary drive, but the time involved in doing so would be insane on a ~375GB of data, for instance.

BTW, long-time reader, first time poster. Love the work you guys have been doing on behalf of the scene.

-Sho

 

[Eclipse01]

I have a related question...Is there not a way to NON DESTRUCTIVELY create a second partition on your already WBFS-formatted (and populated) drive? I mean, surely there's a method to re-size the WBFS partition in such a way as to format the reclaimed free space as FAT32 for disc images, etc. without losing you ISOs you already have stored on the drive

Ultimately, I guess you *could* back up your ISOs to a secondary drive, but the time involved in doing so would be insane on a ~375GB of data, for instance.

BTW, long-time reader, first time poster. Love the work you guys have been doing on behalf of the scene.

-Sho

Welcome,

i'm pretty sure there isn't.

I ended up copying all my ISO's to my windows HDD and resizing everything, its not as bad as you think.