Think I'm going to try something...
Instead of using the "quick format" offered by the various partitioning tools, I'm going to do a complete byte-by-byte wipe (takes hours ZZZZzzz) off the HDD, remove any trace, and try the whole thing again.
Will let you all know if it works, incase someone else runs into this problem in the future...
Would still love your ideas though incase this doesnt work!
