View Full Version : re-format external hard-drive???
kyle_oz
Jun 4, 2004, 02:08 PM
hello, i recently purchased a powerbook G4, and i am new to the Mac OSX, and I have an external hard drive that I use for my classes, I am un-sure what the brand is, but it was formatted for me in windows format, but I would like to re-format it in Mac format, is there a way to do this, so I can use it for my mac instead of my PC.
titaniumducky
Jun 4, 2004, 02:32 PM
hello, i recently purchased a powerbook G4, and i am new to the Mac OSX, and I have an external hard drive that I use for my classes, I am un-sure what the brand is, but it was formatted for me in windows format, but I would like to re-format it in Mac format, is there a way to do this, so I can use it for my mac instead of my PC.
When you plug it into the Mac, it should be recognized immediately. In fact, you could probably use it formatted for Windows.
Once it's been recognized, open Disk Utility (in Applications<Utilities). Choose the erase tab. Choose the format (probably HFS+) and go ahead and reformat it.
If it isn't recognized right away, I don't know what you'd have to do. Someone else will have to help you with that.
kyle_oz
Jun 4, 2004, 05:21 PM
it recognizes the drive, but it says its only read, it cannot write, and ive tried the disk utility but it wont let me choose to erase it, i dont know why.
Horrortaxi
Jun 4, 2004, 06:41 PM
If it's formatted in NTFS it will be read only. Disk Utility should be able to handle this though.
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