The problem with proprietary disk software is that it queries the drive's
firmware to read a special identifier unique to that manufacturer. The only
way I know around it is to use more generic disk imaging software that is
less picky about brand names. See what a Google search turns up for
alternatives. I would bet that your inability to format the drive in Windows
is because your imaging software has a resident program that runs on Windows
startup and locks the drive in use, much like how the operating system does
the same thing to the system drive. With that, your best bet is to find and
shut off that startup process, or boot in Safe Mode to do your disk
formatting, since Safe Mode bypasses all of that startup junk to run just
the barest essentials of Windows.

Kenneth Whyman
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"Chance favors the prepared mind."

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