How To : Create Partition and Format External Hard Drive

[mylesgordon]

Thanks, I wanted this so i could have one part of the hard drive on apple time machine and the other just normal :)

[tleeyeo]

Awsome,

[evna69]

Thanks man huge help i been wanting to do this forever so i could play windows online games with friends awsome :D

[valcarni1]

Where did you get this program from ??? I've searched everywhere and nothing will split my seagate 3TB external hard drive. Tried partition magic and MMC... the program ur using i could not find anywhere/

[AsamPlusONE]

@valcarni1 Disk Utility? It comes with every Mac. Search for it in Spotlight, otherwise it will be under Applications. Good luck!

[lovethesnark]

Oooh, I want to marry you. In a completely sane, "you just saved me a bitch of a headache trying to figure this out" way, not in a youtube-stalker kind of way. Thank you so much!!!

[AsamPlusONE]

@lovethesnark Pleasure :)

[the2ndbilly]

@AsamPlusONE is it at all possible to create put the windows partition on an external hard drive so my mac can run a window 7 through the external hard drive rather than consume space on my mac?

[nonlose]

Thank you i wanted to do this :D thanks :D nice vid helped me a lot

[tamaras82]

Hi again, I partitioned my new Toshiba Portable Canvio 1T hard drive into 4 partitions: 1 for my iMac Time Machine, 1 for my MacBook Time Machine, 1 for my PC back up, and 1 for my Media. The first 2 in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, and the second 2 in MS-DOS(FAT) format.

My problem is that my PC doesn't see my Media MS-DOS(FAT) partition (maybe because I already put some media from my Mac?). Is there a way to format again only this partition without loosing the data on the others?

[AsamPlusONE]

@tamaras82 Hi, that shouldn't make a difference. Windows should pick up FAT32, regardless. I honestly dont know what to advise.

[MC68EC040]

@tamaras82 Probably has to do with the partition table. Go to Disk Utility, click the disk and check what it says in the "Partition Map Scheme". As far as I know, Windows can only read hard drives that have either an MBR or GUID partition table, so not an "Apple partition table".

[tamaras82]

Thanks, I succeeded in partitioning my new 1T Toshiba Portable Hard Drive. I have set up the Mac partition to use as my Time try to use the Mac partition to use as my Time Machine back up, once thats done I will try to use the Windows one to back up my PC. Hopefully it will all work great.

Question: Besides using my Mac partition for Time Machine, I can use it to also back up music and movies? Or should that be a third partition??

[ari2474u]

Thank you so much for posting a clear and concise video. I'm thinking of buying a Western Digital 1Tb Portable Hard Drive. It says I need to reformat the hard drive first in order to use it on my macbook pro. How do i do that? Once I know I can do this I will purchase the drive, create a partition and I will be able to use it on my PS3 too! Also do we need to create sub folders in the windows partition in order to separate video, photo & image files? Many thanks & keep up the good work! :-)

[AsamPlusONE]

@ari2474u Most HD's are formatted to Fat32 when first bought. Once you plug it in, open up Disk Utility and follow the above procedure, but create a partition for MacOS Extended instead. Hope that made sense. Good luck.

[minimalmodulation]

Thanks for this tip. But decided to move all files to desktop on pc, format seagate hard drive and then partition on Mac for PC & Mac. I'm using Win XP and Snow Leopard.

[Dustin697XD]

Woah! It actually worked. i started to use a hauppauge hdpvr and i connected it with my pc laptop and wanted to edit using my mac so you saved my arse! THANKS!!

[OMFGphagg]

it wont let me change its not changeable

[joshw3]

hahaha i was doing this for my time machine and for use on my PS3 so thanks for mentioning PS3! GOLD! cheers bud

[joshw3]

hahaha i was doing this for my time machine and for use on my PS3 so thanks for mentioning PS3! GOLD! cheers bud

[asiandawn69]

Garfield wallpapers makes me hungry for lasagna :D

[mcclinto9]

If you format with dusk utilities and fail to partition, the partition option of disk utilities disappears. If you want to go back and partition, the Partition option is not available. How do you get it back? Erasing again does not work.

[Adapt0rDi3]

Can u make a partioin on a hard drive and keep your current contents?( ie. Not formatting the entire drive to create 2 partions) or do u need to format it?

[AsamPlusONE]

@Adapt0rDi3 Im not sure if that would work. I wouldn't risk it, especially if you've got stuff backed up on it.

[cryingoutloude]

@AsamPlusONE ya it doesn't work i tried. Good thing i didn't have anything important! hey dude great video btw. Can you like send me ur background picture pls =]

[AsamPlusONE]

@cryingoutloude If you do an image search with 'Garfield wallpaper' in Google, it'll come up. Rgds

[cryingoutloude]

@AsamPlusONE Hey thxs i found it!! i have a question, i "zero out" the data from my external HDD then i format it. when i connect it to my Mac computer it "sees" 499.37 Gb out of 500 GB which i know its normal because t=it needs some files But when i connect it to my Windows 7 bootcamp it only "sees" 465 total!!! its missing 34.37 GB so its just driving me Crazy! Thxs best regards

[cryingoutloude]

dude can u send me ur desktop pic ???

[Lowderpoop]

Great video. One quick question:

When partitioning, is it possible to make the partitions of different size? I'm about to install a 640 GB HDD in my MBP and would like to partition some of it to run Windows. Would it be possible to set aside like 50-100 GB for Windows and keep the rest for the OSX?

[AsamPlusONE]

@Lowderpoop Yeah no problem

[RaynaDasha]

Thanks so much, I have a 2TB external and don't want the entire thing taken up by time machine but still want to be able to back up my computer.

[mahan0173]

i would like to thank you it was just what i needed i subbed to u :)

[JacabiteCA]

Thanks mate you are the only one who actually explained what to do if you have a Mac running OS X. Great video, very terse.

[fallschirmjager87]

You're video was really helpful. The problem I have is that when I create the second partition, there is no MS-DOS or FAT option. The only options are:

1. Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

2. Mac OS Extended

3. UNIX File System

4. Free Space

Which option will allow me to use a windows computer to store/read files on the second partition? I've been stuck on this conundrum for a while, so I'd really appreciate your help. Thanks!!

[KrisHeath777]

Although I suspect the answer is no, I'll ask: Is it possible to create partitions with data still on the drive? I need to split about 100GB to backup my PS3 but still have around 300GB of Mac data on here that I can't move or lose.

[AsamPlusONE]

@KrisHeath777 You can create the partition, but you will lose all data on it if you do. Its best to do if when you first buy it.

[AFirelnside]

@KrisHeath777 same here

[ProductionsEyeTech]

Now how do I instal windows???

[popuppete]

Perfect!  Very quick and articulate.

[AsamPlusONE]

@popuppete Thanks

@MacBookProorPkooBcaM - Yes, thats exactly how I have my HD set up.

[MacBookProorPkooBcaM]

hi, thanks a lot for the tut! i have just gone and got a 1TB hard external hd, i want 2 partitions, 1 for time machine back up and another one that can work on my mac and windows and my ps3. do i do it exactly the same as you? thanks again

[akaprince864]

Heyy , I would like to know because i make a partition in my hard drive external and i convert to ntfs to fat32 and i want to know if i reformat my pc is my folder in my hard drive external will still be there.

Thank you again for the tutorial.

[alrhazes]

Hi, thanks sooooo much for this tutorial. I have 1TB external hard disc too. If I partition like you did, can I use the Snow Leopard partition (partition 1 ) for Time Machine Back up?

I use a MBP 13'' mid 2009.

Thanks again.

[AsamPlusONE]

@alrhazes Yes you can, if you see my other video 'Review : Seagate 1TB', you'll see that half of the partition I use for back-up, while the other half I use for my Windows/PS3 stuff.

Regards

[alrhazes]

@AsamPlusONE

Oh greeeeeeeeeeeat!!! I just did it! I have a ps3 too :)

Thanks so much for the tutorials mate. It was veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery helpful.

Please put more vids :)

[AFirelnside]

@AsamPlusONE thank you that was my question i got a 500 g hitachi and the game shop wants me to part it for ps3 thanks

[bwfwashere]

thank u so much

[Narethe]

Thanks so much for creating this video!

I do have a question though. The ability to partition an external hard drive into partitions with different formats (one for Mac and one for Windows) - is that a unique feature of your Seagate FreeAgent, or is this a common feature among other external hard drives? I know that many (or all) have the ability to partition, but I wasn't sure if those partitions could be different formats.

[AsamPlusONE]

@Narethe Hey, you should be able to create partitions on any HD other than Seagate - in different formats. It shouldn't make a difference what make it is.

Regards

Asam

[dazz2oo]

Hi, will it format the hard drive when doing the partitions?

Thnx

[CouncilHater2009]

hi can you send me your email address

hi how can i just format old harddrive to use sa an external drive . so i can just use it to back up dater pictures its a 2.5 wd 120.0gb hard drive hp laptop vista

[TheMordain]

@CouncilHater2009 if its alaptop hard drive u can just buy a case ur cheapest ones about 20 bucks and it just hooks to your usb port and runs like a normal harddrive just clear all the stuff off u dont want

[JamesBrownMedia]

Thank you very much! Great video..!!

[VirginsEyeViewDotCom]

Great vid..

[2warNINg]

I dont have ms dos fat as an option, any ideas why?

i need real help here anyone please!!!!!!

[Missbooberry1989]

if i petition my seagate 1 tb will it erase anything on it? and if i change my ps3 os to linux will i have to petition my tb again?

[ilovsonic]

I wish windows had a program this simple the fact that it only took less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds great vid

[dvanderkop]

If I want to use my one TB hard drive for time machine and for my media files should use 500 gb for each? Thx

[AsamPlusONE]

@dvanderkop it really depends on how much media you have or how much space you need. I find 500 gb more than enough space for back up.

[Dfrosty907]

if you have data on the external hard drive can you partition it and still access the data when your using mac osx?

[AsamPlusONE]

you need to partition it before transferring data over, otherwise it'll wipe all your stuff on your external hard drive. Once it is partitioned you can access data on mac osx.

[prince677]

@AsamPlusONE can you format an external hard drive from fat32 to NTFS on Mac?

I couldnt find on youtube, there are some videos about formatting/converting, but there are not about what I am asking.

thanks

[AsamPlusONE]

i haven't formatted to NTFS before so Im not 100% sure, but I believe you will need to download the MacFUSE and NTFS-3G driver so that you can write to the disk.

If you do a google search, you'll be able to find out more on it.

Good luck.

[waterboyzzzzz]

thanx mate

this really helping me a lot......

n is really working.......

thanx u so much.......

[marinj90]

i was able to do everything on your video, but when i try to transfer the data this shows up(the back up operation could not be completed 8001002A).

[marinj90]

i need help

[AsamPlusONE]

what are you trying to transfer and what is it formatted to?

[marinj90]

im trying to backup data from my ps3 to an external and im trying to format external to FAT32.

[AsamPlusONE]

I think you might have some corrupted data. Move everything you can manually (individually moving items over).

If you want, you can do a format, system restore and install updates to make sure it doesn't happen again. If you google it, you'll find loads of discussions on it.

Good luck

[lindseysuzanne2]

Thank you so much

[ramystaha]

Thanks bro, worked great :)

[phunatick]

good stuff... the partition worked for my wii as well... i set up my 1 tb with 175 gb for wii, 500 gb for mac and 300 for windows... thanks for your help!

[hornetbad]

thanx man

[AsamPlusONE]

yes unfortunately, i accidentally deleted half of my media by doing so.

Try and create the partition before moving stuff over

[rajanjr]

will this erase everything on the External hard drive?