- #Format external hard drive windows 7 how to
- #Format external hard drive windows 7 manual
- #Format external hard drive windows 7 Pc
- #Format external hard drive windows 7 free
Step 2: Set “ NTFS” as your external hard drive file system, and in the format option, check the “ Quick Format” option box. Step 1: First of all, right-click on your external hard drive and select the “ Format” option from its file menu: The following procedure will practically demonstrate this method to you:
#Format external hard drive windows 7 free
Check out the free space:Īll done! Method 2: Format External Hard Drive on Windows Using the File MenuĪnother quick and straightforward method of formatting your external hard drive is to utilize its file menu. Here, you can see the general details about your external hard drive, including used and free space. To confirm this, right-click on your external hard drive and click on the “ Properties” option from the menu: Step 5: Your external hard drive should be formatted by completing the previous step. Step 4: After following the previous instruction, click on the “ OK” option to proceed with the formatting process: Step 3: Select the file system as “ NTFS” and click the “ Perform a quick format” option: You can execute a quick format on the NTFS or exFAT file systems in Windows. The advantage of using a quick format is what its name implies its formatting process is “ Quick” compared to other alternatives. Choose your external hard drive and select the “ Format” option by opening its file menu:Ī “ Quick Format” clears the partition table on your external hard drive, which permits new data to be written without hindrance. If you are unsure, you can check the available space under Disk Management’s Capacity section. Step 2: Make sure you select the correct drive when formatting or reformatting an external hard drive in Windows. Step 1: Search out “ Create and format hard disk partitions” in the Windows search box:
To do so, follow the instructions provided below: Now, we will check out the method of formatting an external drive using the Disk Management Tool.
#Format external hard drive windows 7 manual
Before formatting a hard drive, check the user manual to see whether it has any firmware, additional drivers, or format wizards. The Disk Management utility is used to correctly format or partition any hard drive attached to your Windows system. Method 1: Format External Hard Drive on Windows Using the Disk Management Tool
#Format external hard drive windows 7 how to
This article will show you how to format your external hard drive on Windows using two different methods. This file system allows you to have large backup files, such as movies. Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) is the best choice for transferring files larger than 4 GB between Windows systems, but it is not associated with file history. It offers much larger file and partition size limits, making it a better choice than other file systems. NTFS is a file system that comes as a standard file system in Windows. Hard Drive File System in WindowsĬhoose New Technology File System (NTFS) if you want to utilize your drive for creating file history backups.
Moreover, viruses are also eliminated from your hard drive as the virus in the drive data is wiped out when the drive is formatted. It also removes junk files, which means after formatting the hard drive, a user can utilize the free space used by the junk files. Therefore, formatting the hard drive will improve and speed up your hard drive’s performance. When the hard drive storage becomes full, it takes longer to read and write data. After that, this process will then assign the location where files will be saved, and the new information will be organized using a compatible file system, such as NTFS and exFAT. The formatting process of a hard drive includes cleaning up the file system table that has the locations of the files placed on a disk.
Your hard drive needs formatting if you want to erase your hard drive data for several reasons, such as selling it to someone.
#Format external hard drive windows 7 Pc
Laptop or PC users format their external hard drive to erase its data. In Windows, there is a high chance you need to format your external hard drive when you buy it secondhand or plan to switch operating systems.