How to format external hard drive

External hard drive device for storing and transferring information from one computer to another. These drives are fairly reliable, but sometimes, like any high-tech device they can fail. If it has nothing to do with a variety of mechanical damage, the device can be brought back to "life".

There are two kinds of failures of external hard drives is: damage caused by mechanical action on the external hard drive where some elements of the devices fail. Of course, his own to fix a similar fault is almost impossible. Another kind of failures of similar equipment, which are most often associated with power outages. Such a problem can be solved independently using standard formatting.

The standard way of formatting

To format the hard disk, you can use standard software of the Windows operating system. This requires you to connect an external drive to the computer, and then open it. Further, in the blank space click the right mouse button and select "Formatting". Here is available to the user for two system: FAT 32 and NTFS. First it is advisable to use in case if your hard disk files will be stored, in the amount not exceeding 3.5 GB. The second system is used in all other cases. After selecting the system you want to click on "Full format" and start the procedure. On its completion, it will be possible again to check the hard drive for serviceability and if it still is not working properly, you want to use other software.

Formatting the hard drive using special software

For example, one of the best tools, proven over the years is Acronis Disk Director. It is absolutely free, which means it can be easily found on the Internet. After installing and running you will need to select manual mode to operate the program. Opens a special window in which to display all the drives installed on the computer. The user is required to choose an external hard drive and click "Format."Here you will need to select the file system from NTFS or FAT32 according to the criteria described above.

To format an external hard drive you can also use the program HDD Low Level Format. It is worth noting that this software is best suited for "advanced" users of the personal computer, so as to understand its interface is not so simple. This utility performs a low-level format on different devices, even those that connect via a USB cable. It works with SATA, IDE and SCSI HDD. The user after running this BY clicking on the button LowLevel located at the top, select format, and then click on Format This Device.