subject: Apple Computer Mac Repair HK : How to Partition and Format a Drive in OS X? [print this page] Apple Computer Mac Repair HK : How to Partition and Format a Drive in OS X?
According to Apple Computer Repair Hong Kong orMac Repair Hong Kong thePartitioning and formatting drives in OS X is much different than it is in Windows, even though the concepts are similar. Apple's Disk Utility application ships with OS X, and it is simple yet powerful. It gives you a great deal of control over your disks.
Partitioning a Disk
1. Connect your drive to the Mac. If you have an internal hard drive, follow Apple's instructions for installing it in your machine. If you have an external USB or FireWire hard drive, plug the drive into a port and power it up. If you are using a Flash drive, simply plug it into the USB port. If the drive is already formatted, OS X will mount it, and it will appear on the Desktop. If OS X cannot read the drive's format (or if it is not formatted), OS X will prompt you to partition and format it. 2. Launch theDisk Utility application if it has not already launched. 3. Choose the disk you wish to partition from the list in the left pane, and then click on thePartition button. The current partition information, if there is any, will appear in the right pane of the window. 4. Choose theVolume Scheme from the drop-down menu in the right pane of the screen. If you choose to create multiple partitions, you can resize the partitions by dragging the divider between them on the screen, or clicking on an individual partition and entering the size in theSize field. 5. Enter theName of each partition, and choose theFormat from the drop-down menu. If you want to use the partitions on Windows machines, make sure to chooseFAT as the format type. 6. If you would like to boot from either of the partitions, click on theOptions button. If you would like to boot an Intel Mac, choose theGUID Partition Table. If you would like to boot a PowerPC, choose theApple Partition Map. If you would like to boot a Windows computer, chooseMaster Boot Record. Once you are done, clickOK. 7. When you are satisfied with the settings, clickApply. OS X will unmount the disk, repartition it, and mount the partitions on the Desktop.
Formatting a Disk
1. Choose the partition you would like to format from the list of partitions and drives in the left pane. 2. Click theErase button. 3. If security is an issue, click on theSecurity Options button. You will be given additional erase options, including performing a zero-fill, and performing multiple-pass erases. Choose the option that suits you and clickOK. 4. When you are satisfied with the settings, click theErase button near the bottom of the window. OS X will unmount the partition and perform the erase actions you selected. When it is done, it will re-mount the partition. 5. Repeat steps 1-4 for additional partitions and disks you would like to erase. When you are done, if you would like to shut down, disconnect, or eject the disks, don't forget to unmount them so your data does not get damaged. To do this, you can drag the disk images on your Desktop to the trash. To know more aboutComputer repair Hong Kongplease visit:http://www.macwintech.com
