Format external hard drive mac and pc compatible how to#

HereвЂ™s how to format your primary hard drive on Windows 10 or 7: Now that you have either the startup DVD or the USB, youвЂ™re ready to format your drive. Windows 7: Download the Windows 7 OS and then the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool here.ДЇor either Windows 10 or 7, follow the instructions to create the bootable USB drive. Windows 10: Download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool here. Make sure you have an external USB (also called a thumb drive or flash drive) ready.

If not, youвЂ™ll need to create a bootable Windows USB drive. If you have a Windows 10 or Windows 7 startup DVD, you can skip the next paragraph. Note that this process will delete the OS and all files, but it wonвЂ™t permanently erase them. That means your primary drive wonвЂ™t be in use, so weвЂ™re able to work on it. To get around that, weвЂ™ll run Windows from an installation DVD or a USB drive.

You canвЂ™t format the primary drive while itвЂ™s running, for the same reason that you canвЂ™t repair a car engine while driving. Your C drive (C:) is your primary drive where the operating system (OS) is located. How to format a primary drive (C:) on Windows But itвЂ™s a little different if youвЂ™re formatting the primary drive, a secondary internal drive, or an external hard drive. Formatting a hard drive on Windows is largely the same whether youвЂ™re using Windows 10 or 7.