If you can’t copy the file to your hard drive it may not be formatted by the operating system you are using. This is common with new formatted drivers formatted on Windows computers with NTFS format, which is not comparable to Mac OS. To copy files to drive you must re-format them using a different type of formatting. This process only takes a few minutes but will delete all the files on the drive so be sure to copy any files you need before converting.
Choose Your Format:
- ExFAT: Compatible with Windows and Mac Operating Systems. Good option if you use both platforms.
- Mac OS Extended (Journaled): Standard MAC only format
- NTFS: Standard Windows only format
You cannot format the hard disk that is stored in Windows while Windows is running, for the same reasons that you cannot work on a car engine while driving it. That’s why we use a Windows bootable Windows 7/10 Installation DVD or USB drive that allows us to format the hard disk.
How To Format An External Hard Drive?
It is very easy to format any drive that does not use the application (such as C: drive you do on Windows). Additional disks are used for data storage and data transfer, such as an external USB hard disk, memory card, or thumb drive. Internal data calling in Windows usually has names like D, E, F, etc. To convert these second drives, the only thing you need to know is the file system you have to select (more on that in a second).
Formatting An Internal Or External Drive Under Windows 7 Or Windows 10:
Launch Windows as usual. Hold down the WINDOWS key and type R. This opens the launch box. From here, type in diskmgmt.msc. Click OK.
- Disk Management Disk
- Right click on the drive to format.
- Selecting a format to drive
- On the next screen, select the file system.
- If you are not familiar with the options.
- Select OK. To create a complete format, uncheck the checkbox for a quick layout.
- What’s the difference? Complete format erases the disk, making it difficult for others to retrieve deleted data. That’s a good choice when you prepare the system to render it, but it can take many hours.
- Selecting a file system to be formatted
Another way to format drives to Windows Explorer, right-click on the drive to format and select Format.
Our Advice Goes A Long Way:
The whole file process is prone to failure or occasional errors. To prevent this from happening, use Avast Cleanup for PC and its Disk Doctor feature to scan regularly to detect file system errors. This helps you prevent drive format caused by disk errors.