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Easy Steps To Formatting Your Portable Hard Drive For
Use With Windows XP
by Jim Hedgecoth
More Computer
Articles
Published on this site: August 21st, 2008 - See
more articles from this month
What Does It Mean To Format My Portable Hard Drive?
When you initially purchase your portable hard drive or if you
want to restore it to its original state, you must format it.
Formatting prepares your portable hard drive for its first use,
erasing any existing data in the process.
Backing Up Your Portable Hard Drive
The first step in formatting your portable hard drive is to
back up any data that you have on your drive. If you are
formatting a new drive you can skip this step, but if you are
re-formatting an existing drive, make sure to copy all of your
files to another drive before continuing.
Step-By-Step Instructions
After you have backed up your existing files, follow the
instructions below to format your portable hard drive. There are
many ways to format your drive, but as long as you are only
going to be using Windows XP, below are the quickest and easiest
steps:
- Double-Click on the My Computer icon
- Using the right mouse button, click on your portable hard
drive
- You will now see the "Format Menu"
There are a variety of options to choose from on the Format
Menu, and to a novice they can look very confusing and cryptic,
but the truth is, the only option you might want to change is
the "Volume Label." This can be helpful for identification,
because when you plug your portable hard drive into another
computer, it doesn't always retain the same drive letter. Learn
more about which portable hard drive is right for you at www.iomagic.com.
Choose something you'll easily recognize, like "Portable Hard
Drive." Then, just click Start! At this point, Windows informs
you in BIG BOLD LETTERS that all the data on your disk will be
erased if you continue. But you're not worried about that,
because you already backed up all your data as described
earlier.
Simply ignore all the warnings and exclamation points and click
OK.
The blue status bar at the bottom of the Format Menu starts
ticking away, indicating that your drive is currently being
formatted.
A cool wave of relief washes over you as you wipe the sweat
from your brow, realizing that your job is done. You've done
some hard work, but you've done it right. Now the only thing
left to do is wait.
Waiting For Your Portable Hard Drive to Finish Formatting
Do not unplug your portable hard drive or try copying anything
to it while it is formatting. This can sometimes require a lot
of patience. You've come all this way and done your part, and
you're ready to go. Now you have to let your computer do its
part, and depending on the size of your portable hard drive and
the speed of your computer, it can take a while. Learn how a
portable hard drive can help you at www.iomagic.com/Categories/results.asp?cat=77.
Nothing is worse than just sitting there watching it. Go buy
yourself a slice of pizza. When you come back you want to see a
dialog box letting you know your format is complete. Just click
OK, and your portable hard drive is ready to go!
Jim Hedgecoth: Jim Hedgecoth is a veteran freelance
writer who writes about computer storage hardware devices such as USB
Hard Drives, Blu Ray Drives and other related products. He's a
frequent contributor to www.iomagic.com I/O
Magic
Corporation, a leading Internet retailer offering data storage
solutions.
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