Do I supported my portable hard drive?
The most important thing to consider when formatting your hard drive laptop is whether you backed up your data! Any other choice than you do, short of discarding it in a waste disposal, can be changed later, but if you're unable to do a backup before you format, all information on the disk will be lost. Be sure to copy all your files onto another drive before you begin. It is not a consideration if you're formatting a new portable hard drive, because it is empty. Otherwise, remember always: BACK IT UP!
What are the types of computers will I use?
One key benefit of a portable hard drive is its ability to be moved from one computer to another. This advantage must be taken into account when deciding how best format your disk, because different types of computers supports different file systems.
There are three major systems of files to choose from: FAT32, NTFS and HFS +
What follows is a guide for choosing a file system that is compatible with all the different systems you are going to use:
Windows 9x/ME - FAT32 (yes), NTFS (No), HFS + (non)
2000 Windows XP / Vista - FAT32 (yes), NTFS (yes), HFS + (non)
Mac OS X - FAT32 (yes), NTFS (not), HFS + (yes)
Linux - FAT32 (yes), NTFS (yes), HFS + (yes)
As you can see, some file systems are more mobile than others. If you need to move files in many platforms, the FAT32 file system is your best choice. On the other hand, if you are only going to use a type, you will probably want to choose a file system that is specifically designed for this type of system, due to performance and security issues.
What types of files that I will be stored on my hard drive laptop?
May you decide to format a FAT32, because it is compatible with all major platforms. Before you decide, you need to reflect on the types of files you will be stored on your portable drive. FAT32 is very portable, but it has a major limitation: it can only files are larger than 4GB. Because of this limitation, you May need to go to NTFS or HFS + if you will be storing large files such as video or backup image files.
Do I need safety record?
Another thing to consider when preparing format your portable hard drive is whether or not you must secure your data. If your data are particularly sensitive or personal nature, you want May to choose a file system that offers file-level security. If you use the file-level security only with the permission of people can access your files. NTFS, HFS + and both provide security at the files, while FAT32 is not.
Should I partition my portable hard drive?
May you find yourself in a situation where you want to have two different file systems on the same disc. For example, you May need to store large files, but would still like to be able to use your portable hard drive on an old Windows machine. If this is the case for you, you want May to partition your portable drive into two or more parties and format a FAT32 partition and the other as NTFS.
Jim Hedgecoth is a veteran freelance writer excelling in subjects related to computer storage hardware technology which includes devices such as Blu-Ray Burners, Portable Harddrives, and External Hard Drives. Jim is a frequent contributor to I/O Magic Corporation, a leading Internet retailer providing customers with high quality data storage solutions.
http://www.iomagic.com
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