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Step 1
Go to "Utilities" in the “Places” pane of an open folder window. Find “Disk Utility” and double-click to launch.
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Step 2
Select the drive you wish to format in the left-hand pane and then click on the erase button on the right-hand pane. If you wish to partition the drive into multiple partitions, click “Partition” first and select the number of partitions for your drive. You will have the option to select size based on the number of partitions or size of partitions. Unless you want to select different formatting options, just select the default of “Mac OX Extended (Journaled)." Name your drive and partitions and select "Erase." If there is any data you wish to have saved on the drive, make sure you backed up your data first. Erasing the drive will delete and erase all data.
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Step 3
Reformat your boot drive by re-installing the Tiger OS X install disc. Make sure that all of the data that you want to save has been backed up. Erasing the disk will erase all data. Insert the install disk and reboot your Mac while holding the “C” key on your keyboard while the computer restarts. When the computer reboots from the inserted install disk, select the Apple menu in the upper left-hand corner of your screen and find “Disk Utility” in the Utilities Menu. Select Disk Utility, enter the name you wish to give your drive and click “Erase.” Once you’ve completed your reformat, you can now return to the installer and re-install OS X Leopard.
Comments
RickSignor said
on 10/3/2008 I tried this step-by-step. Erase ran for 12 or so hours without terminating (I terminated the process). Now I have an external USB drive that is not recognized.
Help!