Partitioning a drive in Windows XP
Summary:
Partitioning a drive in Windows XP
Some LaCie drives now ship with the LaCie Setup Assistant installed. The LaCie Setup Assistant will automatically prepare your LaCie hard drive for use on your system. For instructions on the LaCie Setup Assistant please see this article: http://www.lacie.com/us/support/support_manifest.htm?&article=1349.
If the LaCie Setup assistant is not provided on the drive, depending on the model, your hard drive is formatted Mac Extended (HFS+), Windows FAT32 or Windows NTFS.
If the drive is formatted NTFS it is ready for use with Windows Vista, XP or 2000.
If the drive is formatted FAT32 it can be used with Windows Vista, XP or 2000 but we recommend reformatting it NTFS. Keep the drive in the FAT32 format ONLY if you are moving it between a Mac and a PC or you will be connecting to a computer with Windows Me or 98SE. Note: There is a maximum 4gb file size limit with Fat32. Note: Not all LaCie drives are compatible with Windows 98SE or Me. If you are unsure if your drive is supported, please check the minimum system requirements in the LaCie product manual.
If the drive is formatted Mac Extended, you will need to format the drive before use. To determine the format of the drive, open My Computer, right-click on the drive icon and select Properties. Select the General Tab and look for “File System”.
Microsoft Vista users: “My Computer” has changed to “Computer”. Access “Computer” where these instructions call for “My Computer”. There are only minor changes with Vista and they are noted in the instructions.
NOTE: Formatting or partitioning the drive will erase all data on the drive.
At this point your drive should be connected, your computer booted and logged on as Administrator (if possible).
Right click on My Computer and select Manage. If My Computer is not available on the desktop it will be listed under the Start Menu. Locate the Storage Folder, open it if necessary and click on Disk Management.
If the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard (Write Signature Wizard in Windows 2000) opens, close it and use the following instructions to initialize.
The drive should show in the lower section of the Computer Management window.
The Disk information in the left box should either say “Unknown” or “Online”.
- If the Disk information in the left box shows as “Unknown”, right-click in the box and select “Initialize Disk”. The Disk should now show as Online,
The Initialize Disk window will appear. The disk should have a check. Click OK.
- Vista will give you additional choices. Leave MBR (Master Boot Record) selected. You only need to select GPT if you are formatting a 2TB or larger drive.
With the Disk showing as Online, right-click on the unallocated space of the disk in the right box and select New Partition (“Create Partition” in Windows 2000 and “New Simple Volume” in Vista).
The New Partition Wizard will open. (New Simple Volume Wizard in Vista). Select Next.
Select Primary partition for the partition type. Select Next.
Specify the partition size. The Partition size in MB should be the same as the Maximum Disk space in MB. Select Next.
Assign a drive letter or Path. Normally you will use the default Drive letter the Wizard has assigned for the partition. Select Next.
Format Partition-
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File system: Choose NTFS.
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Note: Windows Vista, XP and 2000 are not able to create FAT32 partitions larger than 32GB. You must create multiple 32GB partitions if you use FAT32 format.
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Leave allocation unit size as Default for NTFS.
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Volume label will be the name of the partition in My Computer.
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Select Perform a quick format. If this is not selected, the format process can take a long time.
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Note: If quick format does not work successfully you will need to do a full format.
Select Next and then Finish. The partition will show as initializing. (If quick format was not selected, this can take quite a while to complete). When completed, the partition will have a drive letter, show as “Healthy” and NTFS and will be listed in the top section of the Computer Management window.
The partition should now be available in My Computer and ready to use.
