How to Format a Portable Hard Drive

Formatting On A Mac

1). Plug the cable attached to the portable hard drive into the appropriate port on the Mac--for example, a USB port if it is a USB portable drive.
2). Double-click on the Disk Utility program that comes with OS X to launch it--the program is in the "Utilities" folder that is within the "Applications" folder of the main hard drive.
3). Click once on the icon of the portable hard drive that is in the left column of the Disk Utility program's main screen. Click the "Erase" tab at the top of the Disk Utility program's main screen.
4). Name the portable hard drive in the "Name" column beneath the "Erase" tab. Select "MSDOS (FAT) from the "Format" drop down menu below the "Name" column.
5). Click the "Erase" button at the lower right corner of the Disk Utility program's main screen. Click "Erase" on the pop-up confirmation window.
6). Wait as a progress bar appears at the bottom of the Disk Utility program's main screen and fills in from left to right. Quit the Disk Utility program once the progress bar is completely filled in.
7). Drag the icon of the portable drive that is now on the desktop to the Trash. Disconnect the portable drive's cable from the port of the Mac.

1). Plug the cable attached to the portable hard drive into the appropriate port on the PC--for example, a USB port if it is a USB portable drive
2). Go to "start," "My Computer," "Devices." Right-click on the icon of the portable drive that is in the middle of the window that has appeared beneath "Removable devices & storage." Select "Properties" from the pop-up menu.
3). Click on the "Format" tab at the top of the window that appears. Select "FAT32" from the 'Format" drop down menu. Check the "Quick format" checkbox at the bottom of the window.
4). Click the "Start" button. Wait as a progress bar at the bottom of the window fills in from left to right. Click the red "X" in the upper right corner of the window once the progress bar is completely filled in.
5). Right-click on the icon of the portable drive that is now on the desktop. Select "Eject" from the pop-up menu. Disconnect the portable drive's cable from the port of the PC.