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While most external hard drives are already designed to work for Windows computers, there are times when you need to reformat one. You might want a drive that works with Macs and PCs, or maybe you want to partition it, which will split it up into two different formats. Here’s how to format an external hard drive for Windows 10 or partition it.
How to Format a Hard Drive for Windows 10
Note: Formatting your drive will erase all the existing files on it. So if your external hard drive already has important files on it, make sure to back them up before proceeding.
If your Mac doesn't start up all the way, or you also want to restore the macOS you were using when you created the backup, follow the steps to restore both macOS and your files. When you're asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk. Then click Continue.
- Aug 18, 2020 A WD My Passport formatted with Mac file system will be a dud on the Windows and vice-versa. Thankfully, MS-DOS FAT32 and ex-FAT formats have survived to date, and these are the file system to make your WD My Passport work with a Mac and a Windows PC simultaneously.
- Since I wanted to use it on Mac, I clicked the blue logo with the text “StartHere-Mac”. It brought me to a webpage on Seagate’s site, where it clearly indicated the drive was initially set up to work with a Windows PC. If I wanted to use it with Mac OS or Time Machine backup (which is my intent), I’ll need to format the drive for my Mac.
- Mar 09, 2018 How do I initialize the My Passport Ultra with my MacBook Air. Technician's Assistant: What Operating System (OS) are you running on your MacBook Air? Latest Sierra. Technician's Assistant: How long has this been going on with your MacBook Air? What have you tried so far? I purchased a new drive and it does not show up. I use external drive for.
- Need help Initializing External Drive Mac OS X My Mac's Disk Utility wont recognize my WD 115 Gig external drive - I want to use the external as a backup to files on my Mac - below is the sequence of what I did while trying to get the Mac to read the drive 1. After connecting the drive to my.
- Connect your external hard drive to a Windows computer. If your external hard drive is working, your computer will automatically detect it, and the drive will appear under Devices and Drives next to your internal drives in the This PC window. You can also find it in the left sidebar of File Explorer.Note: If you already used your external hard drive on a PC, be sure to back up any files on it. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it.
- Right-click on the external hard drive and click Format.
- Choose a format under File System. By default, Windows computers will choose NTFS (New Technology File System) for you because that’s the native Microsoft filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT.Note: The exFAT file system only works on Mac 10.6.5 or later, and Windows XP SP3 or later.
- Check the Quick Format box, and click Start. Depending on the size of the drive, and if there are files to be deleted in it, this can take a few to several minutes to finish.
- Click OK when the Format Complete pop-up screen appears.
Now you have a hard drive formatted for Windows, but what if you wanted to use it with Mac computers also? One easy way to have a hard drive that works with Mac and Windows is by partitioning it. This means you’re splitting the drive into two formats, one for Mac and one for PC. Here’s how to do that:
How to Partition an External Drivein Windows 10
- Open the Windows search box, type “diskmgmt.msc,” and hit enter. The Windows Search Box is the magnifying button icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
- Right-click on your external hard drive and select Shrink Volume. If this option is not available to you, reformat the drive to NTFS and try again.
- Enter an amount of space that you want to shrink your volume by. The remaining space will be displayed in megabytes.
- Then click Shrink. This will split the hard drive, with one part becoming unallocated space.
- Right-click the unallocated space on your drive and select New Simple Volume.
- Click Next.
- Then indicate how big you want the partition to be. If you want to use the rest of the space, enter the maximum disk space indicated above it. Then click Next.
- Next, choose what drive letter you want to use. Letters that have already been assigned to other drives will not be on this list, so don’t worry if there are missing letters. Just choose among the drive letters still available.
- Go to File System and choose a format. Windows will choose NTFS for you because that’s Microsoft’s native filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT, which is an upgraded version of FAT32.Note: The exFAT file system only works on Mac 10.6.5 or later, and Windows XP SP3 or later.
- Check the Quick Format box, and click Next.
- Finally, click Finish. If a pop-up appears telling you to format the disk, click Format Disk. After that, the newly formatted disk will open automatically.
Partitioning your external hard drive will enable you to perform tasks in one section without affecting the rest of the drive. If you want to know how to format a hard drive for Mac, check out our previous article here.
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Summary
To fix 'Disk Unknown Not Initialized' error on an external hard disk, you should initialize the disk at first. Some succeed, but some fail due to a successive error message 'the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error'. This page is to solve this type of [external hard disk not initialized I/O error]. Data recovery is a safe move to the troubleshooting part, and EaseUS hard drive recovery software can handle it well.
Overview: external hard disk not initialized I/O error
What are the reasons that cause hard drive or external hard drive showing unknown not initialized on your PC? Here is a list of known factors:
- Virus attack
- Bad sectors
- Partition Loss
- File system corruption
- Corrupted Master Boot Record (MBR)
Symptoms of the disk not initialized:
- 1. Disk shows as Unknown, Not Initialized with unallocated space.
- 2. Disk shows as Unknown, Not Initialized with no space displayed.
What's I/O error?
An I/O device error, short for Input/Output device error, happens when Windows is not able to perform an input/output action (such as reading or copying data) when it is trying to access a drive or disk. It can occur to many different types of hardware devices or media.
To fix 'Disk Unknown Not Initialized' error on an external hard disk, you should initialize the disk to GPT or MBR at first. Some succeed, but some fail due to a successive error message 'the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error'.
Combining the two consecutive error messages, here you are. When initializing a disk fails and you're caught up in the other unfamiliar I/O error, where is the way out? This page is to solve this type of [external hard disk not initialized I/O error].
Part 1. Recover data from external hard drive unknown not initialized I/O error
You should know that initializing a disk won't damage data, causing data loss problem at all. It's safe to initialize a disk to a normal state when it shows as unknown not initialized.
To initialize a hard disk in Windows Disk Management:
Step 1. Connect the uninitialized external hard drive, HDD or other storage devices to your PC.
Step 2. Press Win + R keys to bring up Run, and type: diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
Step 3. Find the uninitialized, unknown external hard drive with I/O device error > Right-click on it and select Initialize Disk.
Step 4. Then set the disk to initialize and set the disk as MBR or GPT.
However, this time is different. You cannot perform the manner of initializing a disk because of I/O error. So, you must turn to other workarounds instead of the most approachable one. Fixes beyond initialization could bring data loss, and it's smart for you to recover data from the inaccessible external hard drive before heading to the troubleshooting in Part 2.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is renowned hard drive data recovery software, it's able to recover all types of files, like pictures, raw images and documents from a variety of storage devices, as long as the hard drive itself can be detected by Windows. If the hard drive is not showing up in Disk Management, try to make it visible.
To recover data from external hard drive with I/O error:
Step 1. Choose the external hard drive
Since you're going to recover data from the external hard drive, run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and under the External Devices tab, choose the exact drive where you lost data. Click Scan.
Step 2. Scan for lost data
The software will start immediately to scan all over the selected drive for all lost data. During the scan, you could see more and more data showing up in the results.
Step 3. Preview and recover data
After the scan is over, check the scan results for the desired data. You can preview the file by double-clicking on it. Click Recover and choose another location to save the recovered data.
Part 2. Fix external hard drive not initialized with I/O device error
You're going to get rid of such pesky issue and fix external hard drive not initialized I/O error by going to [1] change a connection cable, [2] fix corrupted MBR, [3] use DiskPart command, and [4] remove virus from your PC/laptop.
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The fix 2 and fix 4 are available on the linked pages, so we provide the detailed steps of how to use DiskPart command to clean the external hard drive. Since the CMD command would erase all data on the uninitialized hard drive, if you didn't recover data in advance, go to Part 1 to restore lost data after repairing the external hard drive not initialized error with DiskPart commands.
To clean the external hard drive with DiskPart:
Step 1. Press Win+R > Type: diskpart and hit Enter.
Step 2. Type: list disk and hit Enter.
Step 3. Type: select disk n and hit Enter; (replace n with the drive letter of an uninitialized external hard drive.) Remote desktop manager enterprise edition 5 4 download free.
Step 4. Type: clean and hit Enter.
Step 5. Type: convert gpt or convert mbr and hit Enter. Midi keyboard – play & record 1 0 3 months.
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Step 6. Type: create partition primary and hit Enter.
Step 7. Type: format quick fs=ntfs and hit Enter.
Step 8. Type: assign and hit Enter.
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Step 9. Type: exit and hit Enter.
Here, click to copy all the required command lines to fix an external hard drive not initialized I/O error, with the full error message 'the request could not be performed because of an i/o device error'.