Reformat hard drive

Hi,
I bought a Toshiba E.store Canvio external hard drive (3TB) and I have to reformat it for my Macbook pro (with Snow Leopard).
When I open the Utility Disk, I have to choose the format, but I don't know which format of the pop up window is better for my needs.
For example, which is the difference between the 'journaled' and the case - sensitive formats?
(I want to use it to back up my computer, or just to save pictures, videos or files made with the adobe suite).
Thanks
Alberto

They're just different files formats - some Unix based, some Microsoft based.
No, you can't use Time Machine, for instance, on a drive that you would also use for your PC. If you want a format that both can read, format as ExFAT, but do it on the PC side. Using ExFAT both your Mac and your PC will be able to read and write files to the same drive without the use of third-party software.
But DON'T format as ExFAT if you're going to be using the drive as a Time Machine backup drive!
Clinton

Similar Messages

Can I recover data from a reformatted hard drive? I did not do a back up prior to talking to Apple Support and the guy having me delete the hard drive and start anew. My bad but is all lost??

Can I recover data from a reformatted hard drive? I did not complete a back up prior to talking to Apple Support and the guy having me delete the hard drive (10.5.8) and start anew (10.6.3). My bad but is all lost?? Years of very important information....

You will need to purchase reovery sofware such as such as FileSalvage
http://subrosasoft.com/software/filesalvage
You can download a demo copy that will tell you what it can recover
If you want to recover that you must pay for the software then
When you do the recovery, you will need another disk drive to receive the recovered files
Having install a new operating system on the disk after the retformat is going to gradually reduce the amount of data that this software will be able to recover for you
Allan

Need help with how to reset bios and admin password to reformat hard drive in 8440p elitebook.......

need help with how to reset bios and admin password to reformat hard drive in 8440p elitebook? removal of cmos, resetting laptop, using cccleaner, windows password recovery and hiren's was noneffective, any help is appreciated. thanks

Hi,
As your notebook is a business class machine, security is more stringent - the password is stored in non-volatile memory and there are no 'backdoor' passwords. Your best option would be to contact HP regarding this.
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

Reformat Hard Drive - reset network?

Hey ya'll!
I was wondering if reformatting my hard drive (the one connected to the router) will reset my network. If so, is there any way to avoid this?
Thanks!

buddyboy101 wrote:
Hey ya'll!
I was wondering if reformatting my hard drive (the one connected to the router) will reset my network. If so, is there any way to avoid this?
Thanks!
If what you are asking is....
if you reformat your computer, that happens to have an ethernet cable attached to your router, will it reset or modify your network or your router settings....
then the answer is
no this will not modify your network or your router.
if your router provides dhcp, then you should have no issues at all
if your computer is using static addressing, then you will have configure your NIC.

After reformatting hard drive, iPod syncs very slowly with iTunes

A couple of months ago I had to reformat my computer's hard drive. I keep all my music files on an external hard drive. After reformatting, the man who did this for me reloaded iTunes for me and imported all my music back into my iTunes library.
It seems that since that time, when I sync my iPod to the iTunes library, it takes many times longer than it used to. Maybe something else happened to my iPod or iTunes and the reformat is just a conincidence, but it really does seem to take three or four times longer to sync.
I have iTunes 7.4.1.2 and my iPod is an older one, a 40G with dock connector
Also, I recently bought some audiobooks to put on my iPod. I only had about 600megs available so the iPod would not sync. I then removed several Gigs from my iTunes library. When I click on the "music" icon under "library" it shows that I have only a little over 29G used which should leave well over 5 plus Gigs available for the new music. But when I try to sync the iPod, it gives me the message that I have only approx. 600 megs available. What's up. I never have had this problem before and I have had the iPod for several years.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks,
Dennis

I actually learned yesterday that Apple didn't put USB 2.0 in their Macs until G5... something I was VERY irritated to find out. Turns out they were betting that Fire Wire would take off instead of USB 2.0, so they only equipped their machines with USB 1.1. So as a result, my iPod is unacceptably slow. Other nagging problems like this are convincing me that I'll have to get a new Mac Pro in the coming year, but for the meantime I think I'll be buying a USB 2.0 PCI card.
Thanks for your response.

How do I reformat hard drive without affecting recovery partition?

I would like to know how I can reformat my Toshiba hard drive without affecting the hidden recovery partition? I would like to get rid of the preinstalled Windows 7 OS and replace it with Windows XP, which is not as bloated. Also, does anyone know of a good 'free' disk scrubber program? I actually have the original 'disk scrubber' software, but the software disk just won't work any more. Finally, I tried to get the computer ready for the drive scrubbing, but I still can't change the disk order on my Toshiba laptop. I did get into the 'bios' screen by hitting the F8 key on startup, which did bring up the 'boot menu' screen. When I selected the cd/dvd drive and then hit the F10 key to save the change, nothing happened! I put in a data disk, but the laptop still booted into the Windows 7 OS. If I can't get the laptop to boot into the cd/dvd drive, I don't think that I can erase the hard drive and put Windows XP on since I wouldn't be able to boot up the laptop with the Windwos XP disk. Is that true? Anyway, without changing the boot order, I can't do anything. Please help! Thanks!

If you use the recovery that is on the hidden partition (hold down the zero key while starting up computer) then your OS reinstall will not affect that hidden partition, just overwrite the c: drive.
L305-S5955, T9300 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 60GB SSD, Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit

How do I reformat hard drive when I can't erase the disk?

Machine: imac, OS 10.6.8
Initial Problem: Finder kept crashing for all users immediately after start up. As a result I was unable to try trashing finder preferences as recommended in this forum and elsewhere.
Attempted solutions:
1. Initially seemed unable to boot from Snow Leopard Installation Disk
2. Connected to another imac using firewire and booting problem computer into target mode
3. Ran Techtool pro from master machine. Hard drive and hardware fine but reported need to format disk on target machine.
4. Tried to install new os onto target drive using disk drive on master machine. Error message reported being unable to find target drive, even though it was showing on desktop of master machine
5. Tried to erase disk using disk utility on master machine, but error message stating unable to unmount target drive
6. Successfully rebooted using snow leopard installation disk, but unable to instal. Error message stated that the computer was not available. i.e. it had the yellow triangle with exclamation masrk
7. Tried to erase hard drive using disk utility from installation disk, but was unable to do so. The process commenced to unmount the disk, started to erase but stopped before task completed. Tried a second time with same result.
Obviously the machine needs complete reformatting. I made a backup before starting this series of unsuccessful attempts. I suspect that I need to use terminal from the installation disk, but I am not sure which terminal command to use.
Can anyone tell me? Or have I overlooked some simpler solution?

Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
        the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.

Time to reformat hard drive on iMac?

Hi,
I have the following iMac:
Model Name:          iMac
Model Identifier:          iMac7,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          4 MB
Memory:          4 GB
Bus Speed:          800 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          IM71.007A.B03
SMC Version (system):          1.21f4
Am running Snow Leopard.
Have had a lot of issues with rotating beach ball, slow machine performance.
When I run Verify Disk, I get the following type of errors on more or less a weekly basis:
Checking volume information.
Invalid file count
(It should be X instead of Y)
Invalid volume directory count
(It should be A instead of B)
The volume Macintosh HD was found corrupt and needs to be repaired
Error: This disk needs to be repaired...then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.
I am able to repair the disk and acheive no errors, but the cycle repeats itself in a few days.
Should I backup and reformat my hard drive?
If so, can you point me to the proper procedure please?
Thank you very much...

OK....very strange commentary. Not sure what set you off, but let me add in a few additional facts that may calm you down:
This is my first Mac...purchased in 2007. I have no Power PC programs to contend with.
I went in telling the genius guy that I probably needed a hardware fix like a new hard drive; of course I was well out of warranty.
The upgrade to OSX was NOT offered as a solution. The Apple guy looked at my error messages, and said that based on his experience (and this is all he does all day), the problem mentioned in my initial posting above would likely be solved with an application of Disk Warrior.
He said that it was possible that this would NOT solve the problem and it could be the sign of a disk that was starting to go bad, but he said that often Disk Warrior would give a message if this were the case.
He then implemented this step.
I thanked him and then pressed him if there was anything else I could do to enhance the performance of my computer. He then offered the prospect of upgrading to the latest operating system.
I told him that I had been reluctant to do this because I had read mixed reviews with computers my vintage.
He said that he had installed Mountain Lion on his Macbook Pro also built in 2007 but with a smaller processor thatn what I had and he liked the outcome. We determined that my machine was already at max memory.
He started to offer me advice on how I could do the upgrade at home, said a fresh install was best. As I started to ask him more questions, he offered to do the installation for me right then and there for FREE (no software or installation cost) but double checked that I had everything backed up properly on an external hard drive.
Yes, I did have everything backed up on Time Machine back home. He doubled checked that I wanted to proceed, so I said "Go".
He gave me instruction on how I could uninstall Mountain Lion and revert back to Snow Leopard, if I weren't happy with the results.
So far, I am DELIGHTED with the new operating system. I am not sure if it is the software or the fact that my disk problem appears corrected, but my machine is much, much faster. I had been hanging on by my fingertips awaiting a new iMac, but now I feel I can perhaps get another year's worth of service out of my machine (don't you dare mention this to my wife).
It is indeed possible that my problem is not corrected...he warned me that there was the possibility that my hard drive might be ready to give up the ghost, but almost a week later, and no futher problems.
You must have had a very bad experience sometime in your history, or perhaps I was not clear in describing what happened, but from my perspective, what's not to like? The guy was very helpful, did not charge me a cent and appears to have solved the problem.

Reformat hard drive on a macbook pro - for a beginner

I recently purchased my first mac for my college major. Until now, I had only used a mac once a week during the last semester, so I know almost nothing. I bought it used, and the person I got it from didn't bother to remove their files. Its a 320 gb hard drive, of which I only have 42 gb at my disposal. He also installed a partition with snow leopard on it; because OS X didn't like his old adobe software, its got 100 gb of free space, the whole thing is empty. I want to remove the snow leopard partition and replace it with a recovery partition and reformat the hard drive to get rid of his stuff (it won't let me put it in the trash), also there are some settings it won't let me change. So since I don't know much about it, please help! I also have a few specific questions.
Even though I'm not the original owner, can I call apple care for an install disc? It doesn't seem likely.
Barring that option, can I use a 32gb flash drive, or a set of back up discs, and save the OS (and the programs and files I do want) somehow? I need instructions if I can. I've looked on here at the previous questions and answers, and there was a lot of technical jargon that was over my head. I feel foolish saying that, but I really need assistance and I don't want anyone to think I haven't been looking. I have a decent understanding of computers, but I have only ever had access to pc.
Please help, as I am about to start using this for my class and I know it'll just be messier after that. Any and all advice welcome, please be courteous.

You must purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.
Lion and Mountain Lion do not come on a disc. They are only available for download from the Mac App Store. You must have 10.6.6 or later to access the App Store and you must have an Apple ID, which you have since you are on these forums. Since the Lion system on the computer belongs to someone else, you will have to purchase your own personal license then download from the App Store. Lion is no longer available unless your particular model is unable to support Mountain Lion.
OS X Mountain Lion - System Requirements
       Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
         1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later
         2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later
         3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later
         5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
My recommendation is that you get your copy of Snow Leopard from a local Apple store. Boot the computer from it then repartition the drive to a single partition. Then install Snow Leopard, upgrade it to 10.6.8, then go to the App Store to purchase and download Mountain Lion.

Logic pro 9- had to reformat hard drive, can't reinstall on 10.6?

So I've seen a variation of this asked, but no one has explained what to do. I recently had to reformat my corrupted hard drive and install 10.6 (I had 10.5), but when I went to reinstall Logic Pro 9 (with the actual DVD's) it said an Installation error had occurred and stops. I've seen someone say you can get a replacement installation package, but how if I can't contact apple about it? If not, anything else I can do?
Really need some help!
Thanks,
JD

Telephone AppleCare and Explain your are a Logic User... you should then be transfered to a Product Specialist who will be able to Assist you and supply New Discs if that is Determined to be necessary.
Be sure to have Logics Serial Number and Purchase Date handy.

I've gotten a kernel panic 4 times in a row while trying to reinstall lion osx from a flash drive to a reformatted hard drive. How is this possible when there's "nothing" on my computer?

My SSD failed and I was instructed to reformat my hard drive and restore my files. I erase my hard drive using Disk Utility and reinstalled Lion from a flash drive. While Lion is installing, I get a kernel panic. That's happened now four times in a row and I'm befuddled because I don't have anything on my computer to conflict right? Please help.

eubiedoo wrote:
Do you think it's ram related?
No way to tell unless you test it. Like I said kernel panics are usually hardware related. Since your Macbook Pro is from the "2009" era, run the Hardware Test disc which you should already have - Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test
Apple Store diagnostic testings are FREE. It's the repairs you are responsible for if out of warranty.

Need to reformat hard drive and restore Time Machine backup. What's the safest way to proceed?

I have a Mac desktop, purchased in 2007. We upgraded last year to Snow Leopard. It has been slow for a few days, and yesterday wouldn't go past the gray screen. Tried booting in recovery with no success, same for safe mode. Even tried fsck -fy. Eventually went to the Snow Leopard install disk and tried to repair disk, but got an "Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files" message. I've got Time Machine back ups on an external hard drive, but I want to make sure I do this right and don't make things worse. What steps do I need to take?

In most of the cases, that Disk Utility message means that the hard drive is damaged.
However, you can try to erase the disk and restore the Time Machine backup to see if it works. Follow these steps:
1. Insert the Snow Leopard DVD and press the C key while your Mac is starting.
2. Go to Utilities menu > Disk Utility, select Macintosh HD on the sidebar, go to Erase tab and erase the disk. If there's an error during this step, take the Mac to an Apple Store to get a new hard drive.
3. Close Disk Utility, go to Utilities menu, choose the option to restore a Time Machine backup and follow the steps.
If the computer is slow after doing this, take the Mac to an Apple Store as soon as you can

Lion reformat hard drive

I want to reformat the hard drive on my MacBook Pro. How do I load Lion?

Sorry, but your question isn't very clear.
You must install Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later in order to purchase and download Lion.
Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
If you are preparing an external or a non-startup drive, then open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

I need to reinstall Acrobat Pro X on my reformatted hard drive

I bought the software in 2012, but when I had to reformat my hard drive, I lost it. Can't find how to download on the Adobe site.
Can anyone tell me where to go?

Hello Claire,
You can download the Acrobat Pro X from following link:
Download Acrobat products | Standard, Pro | XI, X
Regards,
Anoop

Reinstalling CS3 on Mac after reformatting hard drive

I have CS3, and I had to reformat the hard drive on my Macbook Air. When I tried to open a CS3 application, I was told to reinstall. But when I click the installer it tells me there's a problem and I have to contact Adobe. Well... hah...just try contacting Adobe!
I can't de-activate the CS3 on the computer because I can't open it!
Hope somebody can help!
Thanks!

Hi DDanski,
Please try to download and re-install the CS3 product from the link below.
Other downloads
Regards,
Anand

Reformat hard drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for