LaCie Rugged Hard Disk User Manual - 4. Using Your Lacie Drive
user manual | page 20
4. Using Your LaCie Drive
Formatting a disk consists of the following: the operating system erases all of the
bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure that all of the
sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (i.e., those that are scratched) and creates
internal address tables that it later uses to locate information.
As you format the drive, you will have the opportunity to divide the hard drive
into sections, called partitions. A partition is a section of the hard drive’s storage
capacity that is created to contain files and data.
Once formatted, the actual available storage capacity varies, depending on
operating environment, and is generally about 10% less than the non-formatted
capacity.
File System Formats
There are three different file system formats that are predominately found in Mac
and Windows environments:
•Mac OS Extended (HFS+) - for Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS 10.x
•NTFS - for Windows 2000 and XP
•FAT 32 - for Windows Me and legacy operating systems
4. Using Your LaCie Drive
Tech Note:
Windows Users!
This
LaCie Hard Drive is formatted for the
Mac operating system, and you will
need to re-format the drive in order for it
to appear and operate under the
Windows operating system. See section
4.1.2. Formatting And Partitioning Your
LaCie Drive - Windows Users for
detailed instructions.
Mac Users
• If you will be using the drive in a strictly Mac OS
environment, leave the drive formatted as one large Mac
OS Extended volume.
• If you want to be able to install multiple Mac operating
systems on the LaCie Rugged Drive with Triple Interface,
partition the drive into multiple Mac OS Extended volumes.
Windows Users
• If you will be using this drive betweenWin Me, 2000 or XP
environments, it is recommended that you create two
partitions: one that is a 32GB FAT 32 (MS-DOS File System)
volume, and the other as a large NTFS volume.
• If you will be using the drive in a strictly Win 2000/XP
environment, create one large NTFS volume.
Important Note:
If you will be using
this drive between Mac and Windows
operating environments, you can create
two partitions: one 32GB FAT 32 volume,
and one large Mac OS Extended volume.
There are certain limitations to this
configuration, though; to achieve the best
performance and reliability, it is
recommended that you utilize a third-
party utility, such as Mediafour’s
MacDrive, which allows Windows
computers to read and write files on a
volume formatted for the Mac.