How to Format an External Hard Drive

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How to Format an External Hard Drive – This is a place for the community to provide tips and advice on How to Format an External Hard Drive. This topic was created by Neal Alsup and the tips are provided by the community. The tips you add here can be your own or referred from another site. The best tips are then ranked at the top when up-voted by members of the community.

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Tip 1
How to Format an External Hard Drive More
Published: 9 years, 1 month(s) ago by David Sucher | permalink
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Formatting a hard drive or flash drive will erase the contents and set up a file structure so that it can be accessed on your computer. You might need to format if you get a drive that isn't compatible with your computer. Follow these...
Tags: WikiHow, Format an External Hard Drive, wiki, how to articles, how to instructions, DIY, tips, howto, learn, how do I

For further reading: http://www.wikihow.com/Format-an-External-Hard-Drive ^[1]

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Tip 2
The best ways to format an external drive for Windows and Mac - CNET More
Published: 9 years, 1 month(s) ago by Walter Lorenzi | permalink
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Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with Windows and Mac. And, no: the answer isn't always FAT32.

For further reading: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-best-ways-to-format-an-external-drive-for-windows-and-mac/ ^[2]

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How to format my drive for Windows only (NTFS)? More
Published: 9 years, 1 month(s) ago by Joy Anderson | permalink
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Tags: SED,Storage cache,Storage software,Storage virtualization,caching software,SQL on SSD,SQL data storage,SQL server,SQL storage,Travelstar,Ultrastar,Solid State Storage,PCIe,SAS,SATA,VDI,Virtualized desktops,Virident,Velobit,Violin Memory,WD,WDC,Western Digital
For further reading: https://www.hgst.com/support/faqs/how-format-my-drive-windows-only-ntfs ^[3]

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Tip 4
How to partition and format your hard drive in Windows More
Published: 9 years, 1 month(s) ago by Christian Wind | permalink
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Whether you're installing a brand-new drive or wiping an old one clean, formatting a drive is a basic maintenance task you should know how to do. Luckily, Windows 7 and 8 make this pretty easy.

For further reading: http://www.pcworld.com/article/248980/how-to-partition-and-format-your-hard-drive-in-windows.html ^[4]

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Tip 5
How to Erase and Format a Hard Drive More
Published: 9 years, 1 month(s) ago by Michael Warren | permalink
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Whether you're selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a hard drive. Here are the basic steps involved. Try a New Operating System This Weekend Try a New Operating System This Weekend Try a New Operating System This Weekend We write about a variety of platforms here at Lifehacker, and even if you're perfectly happy… Read more Read more
Tags: emailable tech support, 101, format, hard drives, external drives, flash drives, Lifehacker

For further reading: http://lifehacker.com/how-to-erase-and-format-a-hard-drive-1525128357 ^[5]

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Tip 6
How to format an external hard drive that is not visible More
Published: 9 years, 1 month(s) ago by Nico Cesar | permalink
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Hi How can format WD 500GB External Hard disd drive that is not visible at my computer. The disk simply shows at the task bar, it cannot be read, the green light also shows on the disk. I need t

For further reading: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264009-32-format-external-hard-drive-visible ^[6]

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Category: Fun | 9 years, 1 month(s) ago

9.2k+ Reads

6 Tips

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Contributors

David Sucher, Michael Warren, Christian Wind, Joy Anderson, Nico Cesar, Walter Lorenzi

References & Citations

1. http://www.wikihow.com/Format-an-External-Hard-Drive

2. http://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-best-ways-to-format-an-external-drive-for-windows-and-mac/

3. https://www.hgst.com/support/faqs/how-format-my-drive-windows-only-ntfs

4. http://www.pcworld.com/article/248980/how-to-partition-and-format-your-hard-drive-in-windows.html

5. http://lifehacker.com/how-to-erase-and-format-a-hard-drive-1525128357

6. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264009-32-format-external-hard-drive-visible