Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

How do I format & partition an eternal hard drive?

Aug 4, 2004 9:54PM PDT

I am running Win XP Pro. I recently put an 80GB Samsung HD in an external enclosure. It hooks up to my computer through a USB port. It shows up in the device manager correctly and lists as working properly. My problem is that it's not showing up as a drive option when I click on my computer.

I think I know the reason. A post on the site I bought the equipment from mentions having to format and partition the HD but doesn't say how. I have found info on formatting and partitioning the internal HD for a one drive system but nothing to indicate if the procedure is the same for a second, external drive.

Can anyone tell me the procedure for doing this or point me to where I can get the info?

Thanks

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
For XP, use the Drive Management tool.
Aug 4, 2004 10:36PM PDT

Press Start, Help and Support. Type in Drive Management. They tell how, so we don't have to. But you have to know the right words to find it.

Bob

- Collapse -
Re: For XP, use the Drive Management tool.
Aug 5, 2004 12:55AM PDT

Thanks so much for the help Bob. Your reply was short and to the point and your directions worked. I just finished partitioning and formating my drive. I am going to use it to store backups. Per another post of yours I will also create a second copy of backups to put on CD.

I am glad I stumbled accross this forum. I recently got burned using Dell tech support. I didn't know much about what was "behind the scenes" of my computer. I trustingly followed their directions to edit the registry which rendered my computer barely functional. They then led me through reinstalling windows xp but neglected to tell me to disconnect my ethernet cable. My computer was infected with multiple viruses in no time flat. Of course Dell does not help with virus removal. The experience has made me realize I need to know a lot more about computers. I have started a research project on it. I am well on my way to getting my computer back into proper working order on my own. However, despite the vast amount of computer info out there, sometimes I just don't know what the right words are (like you said). That's why this forum is so valuable. It's great to have experts who are willing to take the time to help newbies.

P.S. I did lose valuable data and photos because I didn't have a thourough understanding of how to properly back up data. I won't make the same mistake again. To anyone else reading this post, take the time to get to know your computer. Don't wait for a problem to happen like I did.

- Collapse -
Thanks for the feedback. Love that backup!
Aug 5, 2004 1:08AM PDT

It still amazes me what little time is spent on the subject of backup. With many moving to digital cameras, I fear that the backup lessons will be learned first hand as people lose their collections by the thousands.

You have that lesson behind you and will likely do fine from now on.

Best of continued luck.

Bob