Score:0

Formatted hard drive to ntfs with ubuntu gnome disks but doesn't work on Windows

it flag

I used GNOME Disks to format my external drive to NTFS. Now the drive works correctly when I am booted into Ubuntu but not when I am booted into Windows 10. I have a dual-boot pc and want to use this hard drive to transfer files between my two operating systems.

I also tried formatting it with the command line

umount /dev/sda
mkfs.ntfs -F -f /dev/sda

I still got the same result; it works on Ubuntu but not on Windows. On Windows 10, the hard drive only appears in Device Manager but not under 'My PC.' However, when I attempt to update the driver from Device Manager, I get a message that says 'Windows could not find drivers for your device.' Here is a screenshot of the Device Manager window:

Screenshot of Device Manager in Windows

Edit: When I first wrote this question, I didn't explain very well why it was relevant to Ubuntu. I want to know how I can format the drive in Ubuntu so it will work for both Ubuntu and Windows. I have already tried both mkfs.ntfs and the GNOME Disks app, but when they format the drive it only works on ubuntu. Since ntfs is supported by both Ubuntu and Windows, it should be possible to format a drive to ntfs in Ubuntu so that it will work for both systems without needing to format the drive using Windows.

Organic Marble avatar
us flag
What does this question about using an ntfs drive in Windows have to do with Ubuntu?
muru avatar
us flag
I think the problem might be that you didn't create a partition table - you just made the whole disk an NTFS filesystem. Linux can work well enough with a single block device, but I'd guess Windows is looking for a partition table.
xiota avatar
cn flag
"What does this question ... have to do with Ubuntu?" – OP is using Ubuntu to format the drive. Presumably, OP wants to know how to prepare a drive *in Ubuntu* so that it will work with Windows.
Score:0
cn flag

I also tried formatting it with the command line

umount /dev/sda
mkfs.ntfs -F -f /dev/sda

The problem is you are formatting the drive directly, rather than creating and formatting a partition. Use fdisk to create a new partition table (either msdos/mbr or gpt) and partition. Then format the new /dev/sda1 partition. If you prefer a graphical interface, use gparted.

Score:0
sa flag

Reformat the external hard drive as ntfs using the built-in Disk Management program in Windows. Formatting a volume will destroy any data on the partition. Be sure to back up any data you want to save before you begin.

  1. Open Computer Management by selecting the Start button. The select Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

  2. In the left pane, under Storage, select Disk Management.

  3. Right-click the volume that you want to format, and then select Format.

  4. To format the volume with the default settings (ntfs), in the Format dialog box, select OK, and then select OK again.

source: Create and format a hard disk partition

xiota avatar
cn flag
OP explicitly wants to know how to prepare the drive *in Ubuntu* for use with both Linux and Windows. Also, this is "Ask Ubuntu". Doesn't make sense to direct someone to use another OS unless absolutely necessary, and in this case, it isn't.
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