How to Reformat an External Hard Drive
An external hard drive gives any computer user extra storage space for data, pictures and programs. They are also extremely useful for backing up data, or for creating a bootable system backup disk that can be used if the main hard drive becomes corrupted or crashes and cannot be used. Reformatting an external hard drive is an easy task to perform from within your existing operating system.
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Instructions
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Attach the external hard drive to your computer with the supplied cables. Most modern external hard drives are attached via one of the USB ports on your computer. Older drives may be attached via either the serial port or the parallel (or printer) port.
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Click on "My Computer" to see if your computer recognizes that the drive has been installed. If the drive is not showing, reboot your computer and check again.
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Right-click on the letter that corresponds to your external hard drive. This will most likely be the letter "E" or higher, as your primary drive will be "C" and your CD or DVD drive will be "D."
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Click on "Format" from the option screen that is displayed.
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Choose the options you want from the "Format" screen. In most cases, the first three options should be left as is. You can give the drive a volume name in the text box that is provided, if you desire.
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Click on the "Start" button to begin the process. When the formatting is complete, the external hard drive will be ready for use.
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Tips & Warnings
Before formatting the drive, be sure to back up any data from the external hard drive that you want to keep.
If you want to make your external hard drive bootable, make sure the "File System" option on the "Format" screen matches your operating system. For Windows XP, the file system should be NTFS, while for Windows 98, it would be Fat 32.
