Microsoft KB Archive/177121

= Format Tape Command Unavailable for Certain Tapes Using Ntbackup.exe =

Article ID: 177121

Article Last Modified on 10/31/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition

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This article was previously published under Q177121



SUMMARY
When you are using Windows NT Backup (Ntbackup.exe), the Format Tape command on the Operations menu may be unavailable for certain types of tapes.



MORE INFORMATION
The Ntbackup.exe program included with Windows NT can format only tapes in floppy disk controller-based tape drives that are DC2000 compatible. The driver for this type of tape device specifies whether the device supports the format command. Ntbackup.exe uses this information to determine whether the Format Tape command is available. Ntbackup.exe cannot format tapes in SCSI controller-based tape drives.

Note that the Format Tape command is unavailable for some tape drives that do support the Format Tape command. With these devices, the Format Tape command is unavailable because formatting the tape would lower the tape capacity. For example, some Travan tapes have a 800-megabyte (MB) capacity with factory formatting, but have only a 250-MB capacity if formatted using Ntbackup.exe.

Please consult the tape drive's manufacturer or documentation for information about how to format tapes if the Format Tape command is unavailable.

Additional query words: prodnt greyed grayed out

Keywords: kbhardware kbinfo KB177121

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