4. Using Your LaCie Drive
page 17
LaCie d2 Hard Drive Serial ATA
User’s Manual
4. Using Your LaCie Drive
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 sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (i.e., those that are scratched) and creates internal
address tables that it later uses to locate information.
As you format the drive, you will have the opportunity to divide the hard drive into sections, called partitions. A partition is a
section of the hard drive’s storage 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 5
to 10% less than the non-formatted capacity.
Tech Note:
Windows Users!
You will need to re-format the drive in order for it to appear and operate under the
Windows operating system. See section
4.2. Formatting Your LaCie Drive - Windows Users
for detailed
instructions.
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 Info:
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 third-party 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 Hard Drive, partition the drive into
multiple Mac OS Extended volumes.
Windows Users
• If you will be using this drive between Win 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.
