SHFormatDrive error

Gagan 20

Hi all... I am trying to format my pen drive by calling API SHFormatDrive function but it gives an error message. I am using the following lines of code :

Private Declare Function SHFormatDrive Lib "shell32" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal iDrive As Long, ByVal iCapacity As Long, ByVal iFormatType As Long) As Long
Const SHFD_CAPACITY_DEFAULT = 0 'default drive capacity
Const SHFD_FORMAT_QUICK = 0 'Quick format.
Const SHFD_FORMAT_FULL = 1 'Full format.

Private Sub btnStart\_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnStart.Click

         Try
   
            Dim drvToFormat As Long = 6 '6 is the index of pendrive for G: drive.
            Dim ret As Long

            If chkQuickFormat.Checked Then 'Check for quick format.
                ret = SHFormatDrive(Me.Handle.ToInt32, \_
                drvToFormat, \_
                SHFD\_CAPACITY\_DEFAULT, \_
                SHFD\_FORMAT\_QUICK)
            Else
                ret = SHFormatDrive(Me.Handle.ToInt32, \_
                drvToFormat, \_
                SHFD\_CAPACITY\_DEFAULT, \_
                SHFD\_FORMAT\_FULL)
            End If

            Select Case ret
                Case -1
                    MsgBox("Error during format operation")
                Case -2
                    MsgBox("Operation canceled by user")
                Case -3
                    MsgBox("This drive cannot be formatted")
                Case Else
                    MsgBox("Done")
            End Select
        Catch ex As Exception
     
            MsgBox(ex.Message)
        End Try
    End If
End Sub

The above code is giving an error that "A call to PInvoke function 'SHFormatDrive' has unbalanced the stack. This is likely because the managed PInvoke signature does not match the unmanaged target signature. Check that the calling convention and parameters of the PInvoke signature match the target unmanaged signature." I don't know exactly what is going wrong and when I am trying to format my pen drive, the above code is first checking for A: drive and then it is giving error. Suggest me what should I do. Thanks. Gagan

Lost User

Shouldn't the Me.Handle.ToInt32 be Me.Handle (a long?) --edit-- PInvoke.net[^] claims that the signature should contain uint, not a long.

I are Troll :suss:

modified on Sunday, March 7, 2010 6:48 AM

DaveAuld

Can you not just use My.Computer.FileSystem.Drives(x).DriveFormat() and keep it managed? Ignore, i'm speaking pish!

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modified on Sunday, March 7, 2010 7:45 AM

Gagan 20 · modified on Sunday, March 7, 2010 7:45 AM

daveauld wrote:

My.Computer.FileSystem.Drives(x).DriveFormat()

Don't you know what it does? It only tells the drive format as FAT or NTFS and does not format the drive. I want to format my pen drive not to get its drive format name. Gagan

DaveAuld

Apologies misread the doc's, when i saw the FAT/NTFS, i thought that was the format options. :doh: Note To Self: Don't skim read! :sigh:

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Gagan 20 · modified on Sunday, March 7, 2010 6:48 AM

I tried Me.Handle.ToInt64 as it returns a long value but I still have the same error.

DaveAuld

See here for code; http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/Vsexpressvb/thread/ca51f9f8-5422-4e1d-8ee6-497e8b66b2b5[^] I don't know where you got your initial reference from, but it is different to the MSDN Docs for SHFormatDrive? If the code in the link works then sorted! [Update - Just tried the code, works fine.]

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Lost User

That would only pose a problem if the handle doesn't fit in a Int32. Still, seems like the error you're getting is supported by the PInvoke.net claim; a uint isn't a long.

I are Troll :suss:

Dave Kreskowiak

Gagan.20 wrote:

Private Declare Function SHFormatDrive Lib "shell32" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal iDrive As Long, ByVal iCapacity As Long, ByVal iFormatType As Long) As Long

You found and used a Declare for SHFormat that works with VB6, not VB.NET. Hint: Long in VB6 was a 32-bit signed Integer. Long in VB.NET is a 64-bit signed Integer.

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Gagan 20

When I am using the below code, it appears a Windows format window to format the drive.

_
Private Shared Function SHFormatDrive(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal drive As UInteger, ByVal fmtID As UInteger, ByVal options As UInteger) As UInteger
End Function

Public Enum SHFormatFlags As Integer
    SHFMT\_ID\_DEFAULT = &HFFFF
    SHFMT\_OPT\_FULL = &H1
    SHFMT\_OPT\_SYSONLY = &H2
    SHFMT\_ERROR = &HFFFFFFFF
    SHFMT\_CANCEL = &HFFFFFFFE
    SHFMT\_NOFORMAT = &HFFFFFFD
End Enum

Private Sub btnStart_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnStart.Click

Dim ret = SHFormatDrive(Me.Handle.ToInt64, _
drvToFormat, _
CUInt(SHFormatFlags.SHFMT_ID_DEFAULT), _
0)
msgbox(ret.tostring)
End Sub

It appears Windows format option to format the drive but I want that when I click on start button, it start formatting rather than displaying another window to format drive. Tell me what should I do. Thanks. Gagan

DaveAuld

You could use WMI to format the drive; see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa390432(VS.85).aspx[^] I don't have any sample code to share, you will have to do some digging yourself. [Edit: this page says that it is supported on Server only, not Clients. I would imagine there is an equivalent somewhere that is supported.]

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Gagan 20

The WMI method you suggest to format drive is good but I've still some doubt. In this WMI method I do not understand that what drive it will format or what should I do to format a perticular drive. Suggest me what should I do. Thanks. Gagan

DaveAuld

This Format method of WMI is a member of a Volume object, therefore, it would format that particular volume. Why don't you start with the link i gave you and work your way back up the WMI documentation, and you will see all sorts of classes and methods. There are classes that enumerate the logical disk, volumes, drive types etc. etc. There are examples scattered all over the place to do different things, so i guess a little bit of googling will eventually get you want you want.

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Gagan 20

I have a VBScript that uses WMI to format a drive. I got the code from some site but it is not formatting my pen drvie and giving error while executing the script. The code is below:

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set colVolumes = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Volume Where Name = 'G:\\'")

For Each objVolume in colVolumes
errResult = objVolume.Format("NTFS")
Next

Here G: is my pen drive's drive name. Suggest me how to format my pen drive. Thanks. Gagan