Windows 7 wants to reformat my external drive?

I have a Western Digital external USB hard drive that i have been using with a Dell XPS Laptop. i plugged it in yesterday and Win 7 keeps asking if i want to reformat my external drive. trying to figure out why?? any help would be appreciated.

Hi,
This issue can be caused by a corrupt file system. However, there are still data for you stored in this disk. Please attempt to fix the errors on this disk.
select the corrupt disk, right click and select Properties. Head for the "Tools" tab and select "Check this drive for errors".
Or you can use the Check Disk tool to check the integrity of disks.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee872425.aspx
Note to reduce the lost resulting from such issue, i recommend you to backup thoes data frequently.
Thanks!
Andy Altmann
TechNet Community Support

Similar Messages

Greeting, I want to reformat my external hard drive using Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted ) but before formatting it, I want to make sure that if I loose the hard drive or the hard drive get stolen, no one will be able to retrieve or recover the in

Greeting,
I want to reformat my external hard drive using Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted ) but before formatting it, I want to make sure that if I loose the hard drive or the hard drive get stolen, no one will be able to retrieve or recover the information on it so could you tell me what kind of encryption will be used or is there any way to recover the information?
Thanks!

I think FileVault is used to encryp internal hard drive but I wanna encrypt an external hard drive with Mac OS Extended Journaled Encrypted which is completely different!

HT201250 how do I disable time machine? I want to use my external drive as additional storage. But it mirrors everything I edit. If I remove a document, it removes it from the external drive as well.

how do I disable time machine? I want to use my external drive as additional storage. But it mirrors everything I edit. If I remove a document, it removes it from the external drive as well.
I purchased a 1 TB WD passport drive, formatted for Mac. I set it up originally (mistakenly) to backup time machine. I went back and set it to "do not backup" It still backs up evey document I edit. If I add a document when the drive is disconnected, it automatically adds it to the external drive the next time connect to the passport drive. If I remove a document the same thing happens.
I need additional storage to free up space on my laptop hard drive. This is not working the way I want it to. Help!

Do not backup your startup volume to another partition on the same drive. If the drive fails you have nothing. Always backup to another drive or volume on another drive.
The I/O error usually means there's a problem with the drive. Clone ASAP, then repartition and reformat the main drive. Then restore the clone. Here's the basic process:
You will have to backup your OS X partition to an external drive, boot from the external drive, use Disk Utility to repartition and reformat your hard drive back to a single volume, then restore your backup to the internal hard drive.
Get an empty external hard drive and clone your internal drive to the external one.
Boot from the external hard drive.
Erase the internal hard drive.
Restore the external clone to the internal hard drive.
Clone the internal drive to the external drive
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
After startup do the following:
Erase internal hard drive
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your internal 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.
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 then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Do not quit Disk Utility.
Restore the clone to the internal hard drive
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the internal hard drive. Source means the external startup drive.
Note that the Source and Destination drives are swapped for this last procedure.

I want to format my external drive so that my new imac and my pc can read and write ,what should i do?

i want to format my external drive so that my new imac and my pc can read

Start by partitioning the drive as required for the Mac:
Drive Partition and Format
1. 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. 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. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply 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 Security 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.
Now click on the Erase tab in the main menu, then select ExFAT from the Format Type dropdown menu. Click on the Erase button. This format is read/write on both the Mac and the PC. If you have a problem with it on the PC, then format the drive the same way using the Windows formatter.

I'm selling a MacBook Pro and want to reformat the hard drive

Hi
I'm selling my MacBook Pro late 2011 model and want to reformat the hard drive so that the new owner ca'nt recover any of my information.
Whats the best way to do this and to ensure that they won't ever be able to recover my personal data ?
Thanks in advance !
Andrew

First of all, see > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5189?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
In step 4, follow all the steps for OS X Mavericks but, after going to the Erase tab, select "Security Options" and choose one of the secure erase options. Note that a more secure option will take more time. Finally, reinstall OS X and turn off your MacBook Pro.

Is it possible to use Boot Camp to partition an external hard drive so there is a OSX partition and a Windows partiton? I want to use the external drive for backup only, NOT to load Windows and NOT to use as a boot drive.

I have partitioned the internal hard drive and am running Lion and Win7 Pro on my iMac i5 2.7GHz with 16GB RAM. Can I use Boot Camp to create a Windows partition on an OSX external hard drive to use for backing up both systems to the same HDD? I do NOT want to install OSX Lion or Windows 7 Professional on the external drive. I do NOT want to boot either system from the external drive. The 3TB external drive is for backup only.

Use NTFS for Windows and buy Paragon NTFS for OS X
You can also try Paragon HFS for Windows
As long as you are using for data and backups, you can leave the drive as GPT too.
I would recommend strongly to always have a 2nd bootable Mac OS drive, only need 30GB partition. System maintenance. Though LIon Recovery Mode finally makes it less but not totally unneeded.
And yes you can use Windows to create a partition.
Boot Camp is too broad. Do you want or mean BC Assistant? not needed but probably possible.
MBR has trouble with 3TB drives.

How do I reformat a external drive to read MAC and windows

I purchased a WD external drive and found that someone had returned it to the store with info on it. I have switched from a windows PC to a MacBook Pro. I would like to transfer some info from a old external to the new one but I need to reformat the new one to clear the info already on it. Also I was told that I could reformat a external so that my Mac could read both Mac and Windows info.

errollflynn2000 wrote:
I was told that I could reformat a external so that my Mac could read both Mac and Windows info.
Aside of using crappy FAT32 with its 4GB limitation or the not really better ExFAT, there are two alternative ways:
Enable your Mac to "understand" Windows NTFS.
There also at least two ways. MacFuse/ntfs-3g for the more experienced user ( http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/ ) or Pargon's NTFS for Mac ( http://www.paragon-software.com ) for the not so experienced.
Enable your Windows machine to "understand" Mac's HFS+ filesystem. on a similar way.
Lupunus

Time machine wanting t reformat my external hard drive????

I have had an exteral hard drive since before i'v had my imac. But when i select my external drive in the time machine set-up, it says "you most reformat this drive - doing this you may loose all your files". I don't won't to loose my files, but would like to use time machine. What can i do?

Time Machine needs a partition of its own - get iPartition and partition your external so the TM can use one, and your data will still be on the other.

Reformatting an External Drive to make it Bootable in OSX

I want to buy a 1TB Desk External Hard Drive to store all of my images and video etc. I could buy a LaCie formatted for the mac but they are 1/3 more in price so I 'd prefer to buy any drive and reformat it.
So I phoned the store an they said all drives they sell are PC and they need to be "Reformated" for the mac to make them bootable.
He said I can buy "Any" External HD and reformat it so it can be "Bootable" from the Mac.
So my Questions are:
1) Is this true? Can buy any 1 TB External Drive and reformat it so it can be "Bootable" by the mac OS?
2) How would I reformat the drive for OSX? Is this something Super Duper can do?
I appreciate any help you may be able to give me.
pg

1. Yes.
2. See the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must 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.
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.
You cannot do this with SuperDuper! which is just a backup utility. Of course after prepping the drive you need to put a bootable copy of OS X on it either by installing it from an OS X installer DVD or cloning an existing system. See the following:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box to Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive.
Source means the internal startup drive.

How to reformat an external drive?

I have a 1 TB Lacie external drive. it was originally formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted). It also might have been formatted as a bootable drive, but I am not certain. Today I mounted the drive, entered the decrypt key and want to re-format the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I am using Disk Utility to do this. When I click on Erase within Disk Utility, I get this error:
I am using Mac OS X Mavericks. Anyone know how to fix this so that I can re-format the drive?

Still struggling to solve this. I tried booting from another external drive as suggested, but once booted I still could not reformat the Lacie drive. Same error.
I also tried the following Terminal command: diskutil erasevolume HFS+ UntitledHFS /Volumes/Lacie But I get this error in Terminal:
Who would have thought that simply re-formatting an external drive could be so hard? Any other ideas?

Going from xp to windows 7 64 bit using an external drive for music storage

Greetings Techies!
I hope you all are well.
I need to move my iTunes from an XP machine to Windows 7 64 bit. On the XP machine I am using an external drive for music storage and the iTunes database is stored on the internal drive. I am looking for advice on how to transfer all of this over to my new Windows 7 64 bit machine. I know iTunes can be picky about everything and I don’t want to take and chances and loose my playlists or music.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Blessings,
paul

You are right about it being picky. I just upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 and was forced to format my drive. I had all the music backed up, but when I imported it, I have 2 or 3 copies of some songs, art work missing, and have lost my playlists. I hope someone responds to your question, because I could use similar help! Best of luck to ya . . .

Finder window unresponsive after a search on external drive.

Hi guys,
I have an odd problem. I have an external HD full of music and whenever I want to play one, I just search for it in finder and drag&drop it to iTunes. However, I'm having issues with it on my new MacBook Air. Whenever I search the drive for files, they appear normally, but I can't drag them! Highlighing works OK, so does double-clicking or cmd+O, but I can't move them to a playlist. It's the same with any files, not just .mp3s - they cannot be dragged out of the finder window. Scrolling is also wonky, but moving between files using arrows works fine.
Please note that this works perfectly fine when searching the computer's HD.
Is this a glitch of some sort, or is the computer preventing me from doing it for some reason? Any explanation/fix? I'm running 10.9.3 with all the updates; the HD is a 1TB Transcend, ExFAT formatted.
Thanks!

How much space do you have on the Air? Most Air users do not have the space to keep a big iTunes Library on the internal drive.
They would still be on one place on the external drive. When you get a new mp3 import into iTunes and it will be saved on the external drive.
I'm not a cross platform users so not sure what the issue is with copying the data.

I want to attach an external drive to my time capsule, what format should i select for it?

I have a WD external drive that I want to add to my Time Capsule. It had previously been used to store TV shows on. I need to reformat it for the Time Capsule. What format do I choose?

Format in Mac OS Extended (Journaled), which is also known as HFS+.

Why won't my new Airport Extreme recognize my USB Hard drive? My MacBook recognizes it. I already have had a great deal of trouble connecting my printer to print wirelessly, but finally resolved that. Now I want to add the external drive with a USB por

Why won't my new Airport Extreme recognize my USB external hard drive. I put a USB port on the base station, and the system recognizes my printer. When I click on disks - it lists my printer, and when I click on Printers it lists my printer. What do I need to do to get it to recognize the external drive? BTW, the MacBook recognizes it, no problem. I have erased it and reformatted it. I am running the new Lion OS. Any help is appreciated.

Yes, I saw a post on one of these threads about a powered USB hub so I ran over to Office Depot and picked one up. I was finally able to see the HD in the Airport Utility. Yay!

How do I reformat my external drive for Time Machine?

I think I might have messed up My Passport (external hard drive) when I disconnected my iMac to take it to the Apple Store to have the screen repaired (was replaced). I turned Time Machine off before I disconnected the external hard drive but didn't eject it. I reconnected everything Monday morning and it was backing up fine until this afternoon but suddenly stopped and gave me warning messages about it not being able to back up. The message directed me to Repair Disk which I tried but that didn't work. and I was "told" to reformat the drive. But when I reconnect it to my mac, the mac doesn't recognize that its there. I don't know if its worth trying to fix, or if I should just get a new one. (I have an on line back up service so all my data is safe and backed up elsewhere). I've only had the drive for maybe 6 mts, or a little longer and I know it was far from full. I have Time Machine turned off now and the drive disconnected . Is it worth repairing. If there is something wrong with it a new one might make more sense. I hope I have explained this okay. Thanks for any suggestions. It is a Western Digital external drive.
laverne's mom

WD drives are not all that reliable according to some reports going around.
And BUS powered drives are not good choices for backups if it's drawing too much current, Apple can cut if off in a update, use self powered drives instead.
You can use the drive, but as a transport drive, not as a vital backup.
TM drive isn't quite as good as a backup as it could be, and online storage is slow to upload and can be compromised or lost (it's happened before) so you should diversify more with clones and storage drives in addition to TM drives.
Read my backup, bootable clones, troubleshooting, performance, wifi security and restore info/advice here
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

Windows 7 wants to reformat my external drive?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for