Over time, it is normal that the hard drive of our computer may end up experiencing some failures due to wear and tear, the existence of viruses or malware, or programs and applications that generate conflicts in the system. In fact, with continuous use, it is normal for the computer to end up slowing down, something that will happen sooner or later, depending on how careful we are when using it.
As far as the hard disk is concerned, we must bear in mind that it is a mechanical device specially designed to store, preserve and manipulate data. We use it constantly, so in the long run it is normal for some failures to occur.
As many experts recommend, if we want to extend the useful life of our hard drive (regardless of whether it is an internal or external hard drive), it is essential to take a series of basic measures in order to protect its components as much as possible. , as well as taking special care when operating with our computer.
On the one hand, carrying out certain backup copies, especially from time to time, and defragmenting the hard disk are two useful options that help us avoid data loss. Or, well, to recover the lost information in case there has been some type of incident.
In any case, formatting a hard drive becomes one of the simplest, fastest and easiest solutions to put that certain device in order, erasing old data and files, cleaning overloaded registries (which can make the computer work and work very slowly), and it will also remove viruses that could be causing damage to the system. Therefore, in what way can we format our hard drive?
Formatting our hard drive in Windows
First of all, we must choose the appropriate format for our hard drive. Since it is a Windows computer that only uses Windows, it is best to opt for NTFS (New Technology File System), the native file system of this operating system, and the one commonly used by most hard drives when they have been previously formatted for this file system.
When formatting the hard drive, we must connect the unit to the computer, and open Windows Explorer . We must place ourselves just above the unit, right-click on that unit and choose the Format option, which will appear available in the drop-down menu.
We select the file system we want (in this case NTFS), we assign a name to our unit in Volume Label , and we make sure that the ‘Quick Format’ box is checked. Click on the Start button, and the computer will automatically begin to format the drive.
Formatting our hard drive in macOS
If you have a Mac, remember that the file system is different from Windows. For example, if you plan to use your hard drive to perform Time Machine backups on a Mac, and we only use macOS, it is advisable to opt for HFS + .
We also find FAT32 , an older file system that almost all systems can use (including Windows), but which is not very good for storing movies or large files, since it has a size limit of 4 GB per file. .
To start the process, we must connect our unit and open Finder . Click on the Go menu, select Utilities (in the drop-down menu) and open the Disk Utility application.
We now choose our external drive, which we will find located in the left sidebar, and click on Delete . We assign a name to the unit, choose the file system, and finally click on Delete . The system will format the drive automatically.
Finally, when the process is complete, it will be possible to open the external drive by clicking on the drive icon that we will find on the desktop of our Mac.
