How to Format Zip Drives

Zip drives use high-capacity floppy disks to store information.

Zip disks are high-capacity floppy disks designed for use with Zip drives, a competing technology introduced around the same time as the USB flash drive. If you have a Zip drive and use Zip disks to save data, you can format the disk to open up storage space. Note that formatting any disk removes all documents and files on the storage device. Formatting a Zip disk is identical to formatting any other connected disk or storage device on your computer.

Instructions

1. Connect the Zip drive to your computer using the USB connection cable, if you have an external Zip drive; otherwise, skip this step.

2. Insert the Zip disk that you wish to format into the Zip drive, with the label side facing upward.

3. Click on "Start" and select "Computer." A list of all connected hard drives and devices with removable storage appears.

4. Right-click the Zip drive icon and select "Format." The Format window appears.

5. Click the "File system" drop-down box and select the type of file system you want to assign to the Zip disk. You can select NTFS, FAT or FAT32. Note that "FAT" is the default file type; if unsure what file type to use, leave it as "FAT."

6. Place a check mark next to "Quick Format" if you wish to perform a faster disk format. Quick Format does not work if the disk is password protected.

7. Enter a label into the "Volume label" field. The volume label identifies the disk but does not affect the contents of the disk. For example, you can name the disk "John's Documents." This field is optional; leave it blank if you do not wish to assign a volume label to the disk.

8. Click on "Start" to format the disk. Note that this may take some time depending on the size of the disk and if you chose Quick Format.

References

• IOmega Zip 100 USB Drive; User's Manual; November 2006
• UStudy: Zip Drive