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{noformat}I have a external drive which I leave unpluged from wall outlet unless I
am using it. I want to format it and then put my important programs onto
it and then do a complete reinstall on my Internal Drive. I am reluctant
to do the format on the external drive because I recently checked it and
found some information that has been added since I last used it. I'm
wondering how this information got onto this drive and will I mess
anything up if I format it? I leave it plugged into the computer USB
plugin.Now, I read somewhere that I could not reinstall my information
from the External Drive to my Internal Drive. So, I would like to know
the safest, quickest way to do the complete reinstall using my External
Drive. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Redryder
{noformat}
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Fortmatting External Drive and Complete Reinstall of Internal Drive
MultiQuote
#2
compucv621 
- Full Member
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- Group: Members
- Posts: 77
- Joined: 09-August 06
Posted 13 October 2008 - 05:57 PM
Hey Redryder1,
What is the model of the external drive? You may have chosen to show hidden files and folders on your computer, and later went back and saw the files added by the manufacturer. It should be safe to format it, however I don't see why you would need to format it, can you just delete the things you don't need off of it?
Hope this helps.
What is the model of the external drive? You may have chosen to show hidden files and folders on your computer, and later went back and saw the files added by the manufacturer. It should be safe to format it, however I don't see why you would need to format it, can you just delete the things you don't need off of it?
Hope this helps.
#3
rgreen4
- Moderator
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- Group: Moderators
- Posts: 7,729
- Joined: 22-October 06
- Location:S. Georgia
Posted 13 October 2008 - 06:29 PM
Keep in mind that most external drives are formatted from the factory in FAT32 file structure. If you format it either in XP or Vista it will be formatted in NTFS. That may not be critical to you and won't have any impact, except the drive will not be accessible to some other OS's.
Many external drives come with system files to activate and enable their special feature, including but not limited to the little icon that shows up when you plug the drive in. I have an old and new WD passport, and both have the icon file and some other programs. Any external drive that advertises the "push button backup" has to have the program to enable that on the external drive itself.
If you want to format the drive, you should go to the website of the drive manufacturer and see if they offer a special program to format and then re-install the special programs. I do know that Western Digital has such a program for their drives.
I woud (and do) create a folder on the drive called "Data" and then simply copy all the data folders from your PC onto the external drives data folder. I store my data on a Networked Drive and can access my files from any computer on the network. When I back up the network drive, I simply drag and drop the folders onto the backup drive.
Here is a snip of mine data folder layout:
!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!
Then after reformatting and restoring the system drive, you can copy your data back onto your internal drive.
Many external drives come with system files to activate and enable their special feature, including but not limited to the little icon that shows up when you plug the drive in. I have an old and new WD passport, and both have the icon file and some other programs. Any external drive that advertises the "push button backup" has to have the program to enable that on the external drive itself.
If you want to format the drive, you should go to the website of the drive manufacturer and see if they offer a special program to format and then re-install the special programs. I do know that Western Digital has such a program for their drives.
I woud (and do) create a folder on the drive called "Data" and then simply copy all the data folders from your PC onto the external drives data folder. I store my data on a Networked Drive and can access my files from any computer on the network. When I back up the network drive, I simply drag and drop the folders onto the backup drive.
Here is a snip of mine data folder layout:
!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!
Then after reformatting and restoring the system drive, you can copy your data back onto your internal drive.
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