Windows (XP, 2000): Formatting Problems

Created on: May 25, 2013
Last updated: August 25, 2015

If you are using a legacy or current OWC drive enclosure with Windows XP or Windows 2000, and you find that you cannot reformat the drive or assign a new drive letter, this is most likely due to an OS incompatibility with the newer GUID partition map scheme. GUID is the most commonly used partition map scheme for modern hard drives, but this was not the case when Windows XP and Windows 2000 were released.

To work around this, please use these legacy formatting instructions:

http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/manuals/OWCMANPCFORMAT.pdf