MBR is the older legacy method of initializing drives, and is only necessary if you need to access the drive on a Windows XP system (XP is incompatible with GPT and Apple Partition Map). Here we have options for GUID ( GPT) and MBR, but we’re also presented with Apple Partition Map. The quickest way to open the Disk Management Console in any Windows version is to press the Windows and R keys together on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box: It lets you create partitions on your new blank hard drive so Windows can make use of it for data storage and recognize it as a drive letter in Windows Explorer. This console shows all of the drives connected to the computer and information about how they are currently configured. Windowsįor Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1, and Windows 10, the experience is basically the same, and we’ll focus on using the Windows Disk Management Console. If you wish to skip to our quick instructions without the extended walk-through information click here. If you have multiple external hard drives connected we recommend disconnecting them all prior to initializing your new drive as well, just as a precaution. However, if there are other drives in use on your system, it’s absolutely critical to pay close attention that you don’t erase the wrong drive. In the case of a new drive, that’s not a matter for concern-it does not have any data on it yet to worry about. Initializing and formatting a hard drive will erase *all* information on that drive. If you are trying to access existing data or attempting data recovery on your hard drive and are encountering issues, please see this post here.īefore we get started, a brief word of caution is essential. We’ll be using a 4TB hard drive as our example. They also apply to new hard disks that are installed inside your computer and potentially other docking stations/enclosures/adapters. The following steps apply to our USBC-SATA-V, USB3-SATA-UASP1, USB3-SATA-U3, and our entire Plugable Storage System lineup. We’ll cover the most common scenarios we run into, starting with Windows and finishing with Mac OS X instructions. Use Disk Utility's controls to divide the drive as needed, even as a single large partition.Initializing prepares the drive to be used by the computer, partitioning sets aside specific areas of the disk for data, and formatting sets up the framework the computer uses to store that data.You must select the drive hardware, above any existing volumes, or the Partition tab will not appear. Select the external drive hardware in the sidebar.Start Disk Utility (it's in /Applications/Utilities).If you have a drive that's using the wrong partition scheme, iPartition, from Coriolis Systems, can change the partition scheme without deleting the data, and can also repartition drives with data in place. Note: partitioning normally erases a drive. So, here's what you should do with a new drive. GUID ( aka GPT)*the new partitioning scheme used by Intel Macs.Apple Partition Map*the original partitioning scheme used by the Mac, required for Power PC based Macs.Master Boot Record*this is the partitioning scheme used by Windows, and how most drives are shipped.There are three different "partition schemes" that can be used on the Mac: Most drives come set up for Windows, and while they'll generally work with the Mac, they won't work properly as startup drives.Ī "partition scheme" is the low-level on-drive stricture that is used by the OS to find the "volumes" (the "drives" that appear in Finder*a physical disk can have one or more) on a physical disk. It's very important to properly initialize a drive if you want to be able to use it as a startup drive - whether it's a new backup drive or a new internal drive. Select the options you want, including minimum and quota sizes if desired, and click Addįor older OS versions (pre-10.11), the following should help beyond what Apple has provided. ![]() Select "Add APFS Volume" from the Edit menu.Select an APFS volume in the sidebar that's in the container you want to add to.Click the "+" button below the partition diagramĪdd a new APFS volume to an existing APFS container.Select the external drive in the sidebar.Choose the "GUID" partition scheme, and the plain APFS format.Īdd an APFS partition to an existing drive.Select the drive hardware, above the existing volume, in the sidebar.In Disk Utility's "View" menu, "Show all devices".The new Disk Utility has some nice features, but they've buried a bunch of stuff in the UI. You'll find the article here:Ī lot of people have been confused about how to format their backup drive as APFS ( YES, you can format regular drives as APFS), and are confused about how to get an HFS+ volume on the same drive as an APFS volume. Note: Apple has produced an article that goes into detail about how to do this with recent OS versions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |