Format external hard drive - 6 stepping stones
Even with the addition of an external hard drive, you still may find yourself in a situation where you have just accumulated too much stuff and you think it's time to clear up some space. To clear up space you'll have to format external hard drive. There are several types of hard drives but the process for formatting them is essentially the same no matter what type of hard drive you have.
This process isn't hard to do but you do have to be careful or you may find that you've accidentally erased valuable information (such as your operating system) on your main hard drive instead of your back up hard drive. Make sure before you start the backup that you download any information that you want to save to a flash drive or floppy so you will still have it after the re formatting.
One word of warning, when you 'remove' something from a hard drive,either internal or external, the information is still there, it's just in bits and pieces. Someone with a little bit of know how and some readily available tools can retrieve that information. If you are getting rid of your computer and you have sensitive financial information on your computer, you can invest in a Department of Defense approved program that will totally erase sensitive information from your computer, permanently.
The basic steps to follow when formatting your external drive are:
1. Double click on the 'My Computer' tab or you can click the 'Start' tab and then click on the 'My Computer' tab. Once you do that you'll see a pop up menu that will list all the properties of your computer. Find the one for your external hard drive.
2. Once you find the external hard drive you need to right click it. A menu box will come up. Find the area that says 'Format' and click on it.
3. Next another window will open. Here you will be given the option to choose defaults or you can pick the 'Quick Format' option. This option will work much more quickly and is good if you're in a hurry. Choose the best option and click 'Start'.
4. You will get a warning telling you that your information will be erased if you continue, since that's what you ant to do, click "OK".
5. Your computer will show you a progress bar that will keep you posted on your progress. Of course,the larger the hard drive and the more data you have the longer it will take to complete the process.
6. You will get a message telling you when all the formatting is finished. At that point all you have to do is click "OK" and then 'Close".
Your drive is clean and you can start uploading all the new stuff that you just can't live without!
Having an external hard drive can help you keep your computer running smoothly, and fast, while allowing you the ability of storing huge amounts of data and information. Every now and then, though, you're still going to need to clear up some space and that's when you'll need to format external hard drive. It's easy and the exact descriptions above may vary a little from one operating system to the next, but it will be basically the same for all of them.
Article Source: Messaggiamo.Com
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