Problem erasing my HD

My external hard drive has been playing up. Time machine fails to back up as do other files, so I decided to erase and re format it.

Problem is when I use Disk Utility to re format it it gives the error message:

Volume Erase failed with the error:

Could not unmount disk.

I've ran first aid, and it's giving no problems.

Is there a way to reformat the drive? Is it now only good for the bin?

Please help.

GP

try quitting all applications apart from Disk Utility and the finder, maybe ITunes or some other app is using it

Also try switching off TimeMachine before you attempt to reformat it

Whilst your external is connected and showing up in Disk Utility, select it and run Repair Disk and see what is reported.

All sorted now, even though I had all Applications closed I think Time Machine was still assessing the drive even though it was showing shut down.

I restarted the computer and managed to re format the drive.

The problem I re formatted the drive for I still have. When I transfer certain files I get Error -36, which when I've look around seems to be an import/ouput error. I'll keep trying!

GP

Have a look at SuperDuper. It is extremely easy to use:-

SuperDuper!

You can use it without registering for starters.