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Question

Reformatting Seagate GoFlex 500gb

Oct 20, 2015 2:22PM PDT

Need to reformat my Seagate GoFlex 500gb. Had to let Dish format it to copy from one Hopper to new Hopper. I would like to turn it back into a GoFlex. Running Win 7 on Dell. In Control Panel>System and Security>Admin Tools>Computer Mgmt>Disk Mgmt...Disk 1 shows no assigned Drive:.. 2 partitions (one 1.0gb next 464.76gb) both healthy(Primary Partition).


Do I need to remove volume from both partitions ? Then I can assign a drive (shouldn't assigning be automatic ?) Then I can format ? Then I can copy everything I saved before formatting ?


Just want to make sure of the steps before I completely turn it into a night light/paper weight.


Follow up, should it be in NTFS or FAT32, which is best ? and Do I need to partition.


Thanks to all,
Scot

Discussion is locked

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Answer
For me I just remove ALL partitions then
Oct 20, 2015 2:34PM PDT

Create one of my choice. Which format is best depends on your use. For example if you have to use it with some devices, fat32 may get the nod. Most of the time NTFS is used.

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Answer
Suggestion
Oct 21, 2015 6:30AM PDT

Hi there.

It depends on your personal preference whether or not to have two partitions on the drive. On my D: drive I have 3 partitions and use all of them for different purpose, so if you want - let's say - to have one partition for games, and another one for mass storage you can make two partitions on the HDD.

When you format a hard disk you erase all the information stored on it, so make a backup of the data stored there. Once the formatting is completed just move it back to the drive.

As for the file system, each one offers different things. The biggest con of FAT 32 is that the largest possible file it can support is 4GB minus 2 bytes.

When it comes to fault tolerance NTFS maintains a log of disk changes and in case of power failure or abrupt errors it repairs the files and folders automatically without the user being notified anything. FAT32 maintains two different copies of the file allocation table and uses a back up mechanism if some damage occurs.

About the security factor, in FAT32 you will have to depend on share permissions for security. This means that they are good in the Network but locally they are vulnerable. On the other hand NTFS allows you to set permissions on local files and folders as well.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Cheers! Happy