Lacie Rugged Hard Disk User Manual - Page 20

4. Using Your LaCie Drive 4. Using Your LaCie Drive Tech Note: Windows Users! This 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 LaCie Hard Drive is formatted for the Mac operating system, and you will need to re-format the drive in order for it sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (i.e., those that are scratched) and creates to appear and operate under the internal address tables that it later uses to locate information. Windows operating system. See section 4.1.2. Formatting And Partitioning Your As you format the drive, you will have the opportunity to divide the hard drive LaCie Drive - Windows Users for into sections, called partitions. A partition is a section of the hard drive's storage detailed instructions. 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 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 thirdparty utility, such as Mediafour's MacDrive, which allows Windows computers to read and write files on a volume formatted for the Mac. 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. user manual | page 20