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Knowledge Base
Frequently Asked Questions
How to partition and format a WD drive on Windows (8, 7, Vista, XP) and Mac OSX
Answer ID 3865
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Last Updated 09/24/2014
This answer explains how to format a WD drive for use on Windows 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Mac OSX 10.5.x (Leopard),Mac OSX 10.6.x (Snow Leopard), Mac OSX 10.7.x (Lion), and Mac OSX 10.8.x (Mountain Lion).*END
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| Critical:
The instructions in the article below are designed to help you reformat and repartition your drive. This process is Data Destructive and cannot be undone. Once the process begins, ALL THE DATA ON THE DRIVE WILL BE LOST!
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Important:
If at any time you receive an error stating that your drive can not be dismounted or unmounted, this is not caused by an issue with your hard drive. Please see Answer ID 8575: When formatting or partitioning a drive, an error occurs stating the drive can not be dismounted or unmounted for additional information.
Please select an Operating System (OS) from the table above to display instructions for your specific OS.
Windows 8
Windows 8 includes a built in utility known as Disk Management that can be used to format a hard drive. To format the drive with Disk Management, follow these steps:
- Right-click on the lower-left corner of the screen and click Disk Management.

- In the Disk Management window, the lower pane will display a list of available drives. Identify the drive to be partitioned and formatted, and ensure no critical data is on this drive that is not backed up elsewhere. If there is already a partition on the drive, the bar above that drive will appear blue, which indicates the drive is already formatted and may contain data. If there is no critical data on the drive, right-click the bar and click Delete Volume.

- If there is no partition and data on the drive, it will appear as Unallocated, with a black bar on top. Right-click the Unallocated bar and click New Simple Volume.

- Click Next to proceed.

- Choose the volume size and click Next. By default, the maximum disk space is already selected.
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| Note:
To create multiple partitions, select or type a specific number of megabytes (MB) for the first partition and continue to the next step. Once done with this process, create another New Simple Volume in the remaining unallocated space for the next partition. For example, on a 2TB drive, set the volume size to 1000000 (1 TB) and continue to the next step. When done, begin the New Simple Volume process again and select the remaining capacity for another 1TB partition.
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- Assign a drive letter and click Next. By default, this is the next available letter.

- Set the file system to NTFS and set Allocation unit size to Default. The Volume Label field can be customized. Check the box labeled Perform a quick format and click Next.

- Click Finish to begin formatting the drive.

- When complete, the drive will appear with a blue bar as in the image below.

For additional assistance, please Contact Us.
Windows 7
Windows 7 includes a built in utility known as Disk Management that can be used to format a hard drive. To format the drive with Disk Management, follow these steps:
- Click on Start and right-click Computer.

- Click on Manage.

- You will get a window called Computer Management with two panes. On the left pane under Storage, click on Disk Management. This will load the right pane. You may need to maximize the windows to see all your drives.

- In the lower right pane, you should see a list of all available drives/devices. Find the drive listing that corresponds to the one that you want to partition and format. It typically has a black bar indicating unallocated space.

If there is a blue bar, then the drive has already been partitioned and formatted. Make sure, that if you have data on the drive, you back it up before proceeding. Once you are ready to proceed, right-click on the blue bar and choose Delete Volume. You will get a pop-up window asking you if you really want to delete the partition. Click Yes. The bar should now be black.

- Right-click on the black bar to see a menu of available options. Left-click on New Simple Volume.

- The Welcome to the New Simple Volume Wizard will appear. Left-click on Next to proceed to the next screen.

- This is where you can set a partition on the drive. By default Windows chooses the whole drive so you can left-click on Next.
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| Note:
For creating multiple partitions on a drive, you will have to type in a smaller amount in megabytes, and it will partition and format only that amount. For example, if you have a 2 TB hard drive and you want to split the drive into two partitions, you could type in 1000000 (for 1 TB) in the Simple volume size in MB area.
Once you finish formatting this first partition, you will need to go back and follow these steps again to partition and format the left-over unallocated area of the drive. Then you will have your two partitions. Remember, going back to change, add, or partitions will destroy any data on the drive. So be sure to plan out ahead how many and what size partitions you want before creating any.
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- Choose the drive letter that you want the drive to have. By default Windows will choose the next available drive letter. Then click on Next.

- This is the format screen. Make sure that the File System is set to NTFS. The Allocation Unit Size should be left at its default value. In the Volume Label field you can give the drive a name if you want. Check the box that says Perform a Quick Format so that Windows will format the drive quickly. Then click on Next.

- The next screen gives you a confirmation of all the steps that you just went through. Click on Next.

- The listing for the drive (Disk 3 in the picture below) will say Formatting as it formats the drive.

- When the drive is done (Disk 3 in the picture below) the bar will be blue and the drive will say Healthy.

If you still need assistance formatting your Western Digital drive, or would like more information please Contact Us. Do not use the answer rating below to report technical issues.
Windows Vista
To partition and format the drive with Disk Management, follow these steps:
- Access Disk Management by right-clicking on Computer and left-click on Manage. If you don’t have Computer on your Desktop, it should be located in your Start Menu.
- You will get a window with two panes. On the left pane under Storage, click on Disk Management. This will load the right pane. You may need to maximize the windows to see all your drives.
- In the lower right pane, you should see a list of all available drives/devices. Find the drive listing that corresponds to the one that you want to partition and format. It typically has a black bar indicating unallocated space.
If there is a blue bar, then the drive has already been partitioned and formatted. Make sure, that if you have data on the drive, you back it up before proceeding. Once you are ready to proceed, right-click on the blue bar and choose Delete Volume... You will get a pop-up window asking you if you really want to delete the partition. Click Yes. The bar should now be black.

- Right-click on the black bar to see a menu of available options. Left-click on New Simple Volume...

- The Welcome to the New Simple Volume Wizard will show up. Left-click on Next to proceed to the next screen.

- This is where you can set a partition on the drive. By default Windows chooses the whole drive so you can left-click on Next.
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| Note: For creating multiple partitions on a drive, you will have to type in a smaller amount in megabytes, and it will partition and format only that amount. For example, if you have a 500 GB hard drive and you want to split the drive into two partitions, you could type in 250000 (for 250 GB's) in the Simple volume size in MB area.
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However, once you finish formatting this first partition, you will need to go back and follow these steps again to partition and format the left-over unallocated area of the drive. Then you will have your two partitions. Remember, going back to change, or add, partitions will destroy any data on the drive. So be sure to plan out ahead how many and what size partitions you want before creating any.

- Choose the drive letter that you want the drive to have. By default Windows will choose the next available drive letter. Then click on Next.

- This is the format screen. Make sure that the File System is set to NTFS. The Allocation Unit Size can be left at Default. In the Volume Label field you can give the drive a name if you want. Check the box that says Perform a Quick Format so that Windows will format the drive quickly. Then click on Next.

- The next screen gives you a confirmation of all the steps that you just went through. Click on Next.

- The listing for the drive (Disk 1 in the picture below) will say Formatting as it formats the drive.

- When the drive is done (Disk 1 in the picture below) the bar will be blue and the drive will say Healthy.

Note: To install a Western Digital Media Center, Dual-option Backup, Dual-option Backup USB 2.0, or Essential USB 2.0 drive, please follow the instructions that are included on the Quick Install Guide that came with the drive to install necessary drivers for the hard drive. The guide can also be found on the CD that came with the drive and in the document library. Once the drivers are installed, you can follow the directions below to partition and format the hard drive, if necessary.
If you still need assistance formatting your Western Digital drive, or would like more information please Contact Us. Do not use the answer rating below to report technical issues.
Windows XP
To partition and format the drive with Disk Management, follow these steps:
- To begin, access Disk Management by right-clicking on My Computer and left-click on Manage. The Computer Management screen will open.
If you don’t have My Computer on your desktop, it should be located in your Start Menu. You can also find Computer Management in the Control Panel under Administrative Tools.
- When Computer Management opens, it will have two panes. On the left pane, there will be a list of items. Under Storage, click on Disk Management. This will load a right pane with 2 windows on the right side. You may need to maximize the Computer Management window to see all your drives.
- In the lower right pane, you should see a graphical list of all available drives or devices. Find the drive listing that corresponds to the drive that you want to partition and format. It typically has a black bar indicating unallocated space.
If there is a blue bar, then the drive has already been partitioned and formatted. Make sure, that if you have data on the drive, you back it up before proceeding. Once you are ready to proceed, right-click on the blue bar and choose Delete Partition... You will get a pop-up window asking you if you really want to delete the partition. Click Yes. The bar should now be black.

- Right-click on the black bar to see a menu of available options. Select New Partition...

- The Welcome to New Partition Wizard will come up. Click on Next to proceed to the next screen.

- Choose Primary Partition and press Next.

- This is where you can set a partition on the drive. By default Windows chooses the whole drive so click on Next.
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| Note: If you would like to create multiple partitions on the drive, you can type in the amount in megabytes you want for the Primary Partition, and it will partition and format only that amount. For example, if you have a 500 GB hard drive and you want to split the drive into two partitions, you could type in 250000 (for 250 GB's) in the Partition size in MB area.
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Once you finish formatting this first partition, you will need to go back and follow all these steps again to partition and format the left-over unallocated area of the drive. The next time around, however, you will need to choose Extended Partion when you come to the Select Partition Type window. (Look at previous step.) Remember, to change or add partitions, will destroy any data on the drive. So, be sure to plan out ahead how many and what size partitions you want before creating them.

- Choose the drive letter that you want the drive to have. By default Windows will choose the next available drive letter. Then click on Next.

- This is the format screen. Make sure that the File System is set to NTFS. In the Volume Label field you can give the drive a name if you want. Check the box that says Perform a Quick Format so that the drive will be formatted quickly. Make sure to leave the Allocation unit size to Default, and then click Next.

- This screen gives you a confirmation of all the steps that you just went through. Click on Next.

- The listing for the drive (Disk 2 in the picture below) will say Formatting as it formats the drive.

- When the drive is done (Disk 2 in the picture below) the bar will be blue and the drive will say Healthy.

Note: To install a Western Digital Media Center, Dual-option Backup, Dual-option Backup USB 2.0, or Essential USB 2.0 drive, please follow the instructions that are included on the Quick Install Guide that came with the drive to install necessary drivers for the hard drive. The guide can also be found on the CD that came with the drive and in the document library. Once the drivers are installed, you can follow the directions below to partition and format the hard drive, if necessary.
If you still need assistance formatting your Western Digital drive, or would like more information please Contact Us. Do not use the answer rating below to report technical issues.
Mac OSX 10.5.x (Leopard), 10.6.x (Snow Leopard), 10.7.x (Lion), and 10.8.x (Mountain Lion)
To format a drive, please follow the steps below:
- Double left-click on your Internal Mac drive. Choose Applications then Utilities, and double-click on Disk Utilities.
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| Note:
If your screen does not look like the one below you may be in a different view. Click on the Columns button (it's highlighted in blue in the screenshot) in the upper left corner of the window to change to the same view used here.
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- In the far left pane, choose the drive that you want to partition and format. Typically there are two listings for each drive unless you have more than one partition on a particular drive. Choose the drive listing that is farthest to the left for the drive that you want to format. It is usually directly above the name of the drive. Once you have selected your drive, click on the Partition tab.
(Click to enlarge.)

- Under Volume Scheme click the drop-down box and click on 1 partition.
(Click to enlarge.)

- Click the Options button and choose Apple Partition Map then click on Ok.
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| Important:
If you have an Intel-based Mac, you will want to use the GUID Partition Table as recommended by Apple.
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- Change the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You can also give the drive a name by typing it into the Name box. When you are done, click on Apply.
(Click to enlarge.)

- A box will come up letting you know that formatting and partitioning the drive will erase all of the information that is on the drive. If you don’t need any of the information on the drive, then click on Partition. If you do need the data on the drive, you will need to copy the data to another location before proceeding.

- The drive is now formatting and you will see a status bar at the bottom that says formatting the disk and gives the name of the drive, the format it is applying and the name that you specified. When it is done, this bar will go away and the drive should now be listed on your desktop.
(Click to enlarge.)

If you still need assistance formatting your Western Digital drive, or would like more information please Contact Us. Do not use the answer rating below to report technical issues.
Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger)
Please follow the steps below to format the drive:
- Double left-click on your Internal Mac drive and choose Applications then Utilities and double-click on Disk Utilities.

- In the far left pane, choose the drive that you want to partition and format. Typically there are two listings for each drive unless you have more than one partition on a particular drive. Choose the drive listing that is farthest to the left for the drive that you want to format. It is usually directly above the name of the drive.

- Click the Options button and choose Apple Partition Map. Then click on Ok.

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| Note:
If you cannot choose Options because it is grayed out, click on the Current dropdown menu and click on 1 partition. This should make the Options button useable again. Also, if you receive an error that the drive cannot be unmounted, shut down the Mac, unplug the drive from the Mac, turn you Mac back on and when it is fully loaded to the desktop, connect the drive and try again from Step 1.
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- Change the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You can also give the drive a name by typing it into the Name box. When you are done, click on Partition.

- A box will come up letting you know that formatting and partitioning the drive will erase all of the information that is on the drive. If you don’t need any of the information on the drive, then click on Partition.

- The drive is now formatting and you will see a status bar at the bottom that says Creating Partition Map. When it is done, this bar will go away and the drive should now show up on your desktop.

If you still need assistance formatting your Western Digital drive, or would like more information please Contact Us. Do not use the answer rating below to report technical issues.
Unix/Linux (All Distributions)
Western Digital technical support only provides jumper configuration (for EIDE hard drive) and physical installation support for hard drives used in systems running the Linux/Unix operating systems. For setup questions beyond physical installation of your Western Digital hard drive, please contact your Linux/Unix vendor.
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