How to Reformat & Partition External Hard Drives on Windows
Like internal hard drives, external hard drives are typically split into partitions. Users create partitions by manipulating, via operating system utilities, the drive's partition table. Once the boundaries of each partition have been established, you can format each partition independently of the others. You cannot store data on a partition (following the traditional organization into files and folders) unless the partition has been formatted.
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Instructions
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Log in to the computer as any user with Administrator rights.
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Connect the external hard drive to the computer.
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Click on "Start," then "Control panel," then "System and security," then "Administrative tools." Double-click the "Computer management" icon. Click on "Disk management" within the left panel. Windows will display a list of the storage devices currently reachable by the operating system; click on the external hard drive you want to partition, to select it. The Disk Management utility will display a map of the current partitions on the chosen external disk.
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Create a new partition by right-clicking on an unallocated region on the disk's map, and then selecting "New simple volume." A volume creation wizard will run. Type the size of the desired partition, then click "Next" twice. Select "Format the partition" on the next step of the wizard if you want the partition to be formatted. Click "Next," then "Finish." Windows will create the first partition, and will also format it if you selected that option.
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Remove an existing partition by right-clicking on it on the disk's map, then selecting "Delete volume." Click on "Yes" to confirm your choice. After that operation completes, the partition will not exist any more, data stored on it will no longer be accessible, and the corresponding space on the disk will be free to create one or more new partitions.
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References
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