[. . . ] LaCie Rugged Hard Disk · Design by neil Poulton User Manual Table of Contents page 1 Table of Contents 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BoxContent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 MinimumSystemRequirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [. . . ] For example, if you used LaCie Setup Assistant to format your drive to work with your Mac (HFS+), but now you want to share your hard disk with Windows users, you can reformat it to FAT32(MS-DOS)forthispurpose. You may need to format your LaCie hard disk if LaCie Setup Assistantwasinterruptedorstopped. Iftheharddiskdoesnotappear inMyComputer(Windows)oronthedesktop(Mac), itmaynotbe formattedproperly. File System Formats Therearethreedifferentfilesystemformatcategories:NTFS, FAT32(MS-DOS), andMacOSExtended(HFS+). Usethe informationbelowtodeterminewhichformatisbestforyou. Use NTFS if. . . . . . youwillbeusingthedriveonlywithWindowsXP, Windows VistaorWindows7(performancewillgenerallybegreater whencomparedtoFAT32). Thisfilesystemiscompatiblein readonlymodewithMacOSX10. 3andhigher. What is Formatting? Whenadiskisformatted, thefollowingthingsoccur:theoperating systemerasesallofthebookkeepinginformationonthedisk, tests thedisktomakesurethatallofthesectorsarereliable, marksbad sectors(i. e. , thosethatarescratched)andcreatesinternaladdress tablesthatitlaterusestolocateinformation. Aharddiskmustbe formattedbeforeitcanbeusedtostoredata. Use HFS+ if. . . . . . youwillbeusingthedriveonMacsonly;performancewill generally be greater when compared to FAT 32. This file systemisNOTcompatiblewithWindowsOS. What is Partitioning? Youcanalsodividetheharddiskintosections, calledpartitions. A partitionisasectionoftheharddisk'sstoragecapacitythatiscreatedtocontainfilesanddata. Forinstance, youcouldcreatethree partitions on your drive: one partition for your office documents, oneasabackupandoneforyourmultimediafiles. Or, ifyouwill besharingthedrivewithanotherpersoninyourhouseholdoroffice, youcancreateapartitionforeachpersonwhousesthedrive. IMPORTANT INFO:Please copy the User Manual and utilities to your computer before reformatting. Reformatting will eraseeverythingfromtheharddisk. Ifyouhaveotherdatathatyou want to protect or continue to use, copy this information to your computerbeforereformatting. Use FAT 32 (MS-DOS) if. . . . . . youwillbeusingyourdrivewithbothWindowsandMac. Maximumsinglefilesizeis4GB. LaCie Rugged Hard Disk · Design by neil Poulton User Manual Optional Formatting and Partitioning page 14 3. 1. Finding the File System Format YoumayneedtoknowthecurrentfilesystemformatofyourLaCie harddiskif: You want to reformat your LaCie hard disk. The current file systemformatmaydeterminetheprocessyou'llusetoreformatit. In this case, the file system format may prevent your operating system from recognizing the LaCie hard disk (ex. IfyouconnectaharddiskformattedinHFS+toaWindows computer). Windows Users 1. Right-click My Computer and select Manage from the right-click options menu. SelectDisk ManagementunderStorage(youmayhave to expand the Storage list to see the Disk Management option). Informationaboutallstoragedevicesconnected toyourcomputerappearsintherighthandpane. NOTE:"Disk0"isyourcomputer'sinternalharddisk. Ifother storagedevicesareconnectedtoyourcomputer, refertothe diskinformationintheupperpanetodeterminewhichdiskis yourLaCieharddisk. The File System column in the upper pane lists the file systemofeachdisk. Disksarelistedas"NTFS", "FAT32" orblank(ifthefilesystemformatisnotrecognizes, such asifitisHFS+). Mac Users 1. InthedisklistontheleftsideoftheDiskUtilitywindow, findthediskcorrespondingtoyourLaCieharddisk. Refer to the Format line of the information area at the bottomoftheDiskUtilitywindow. LaCie Rugged Hard Disk · Design by neil Poulton User Manual Optional Formatting and Partitioning page 15 3. 2. Formatting for Windows Users Beforeyoustart, connectthedrivetothecomputerandfollowthe stepsinsection3. 1tofindthefilesystemformatofyourLaCiehard disk. IfyourdiskisformattedasanHFS+volume(orunrecognized inWindows), clickhereorproceedtosection3. 2. 2. Formatting from HFS+ (Apple File System) to NTFS. 3. 2. 1. Formatting from FAT32 (MS-DOS) to NTFS Fig. 11 Follow these steps if you used LaCie Setup Assistant to create an exchangevolumeonyourLaCieharddiskfordatasharingbetween WindowsandMaccomputersorifyoureformattedyourLaCiehard diskasaFAT32(MS-DOS)volumeonaMac. CAUTION: Following these steps will erase everything from the harddisk. Ifyouhaveinformationthatyouwanttoprotectorcontinuetouse, backupthisinformationbeforeperformingthesesteps. Select Disk Management under Storage (you may have to expand the Storage list to see the Disk Management option). [. . . ] Ifyourdeviceisnotlisted, recheckthecablesandtrytheothertroubleshootingtipslistedhere. DisconnectanyotherUSB, eSATAorFireWiredevicesandseeifthedrive's performanceincreases. IfyourdriveisconnectedtoaUSBportorhub, thisisnormal. AHi-Speed USB2. 0devicecanonlyoperateatHi-SpeedUSB2. 0performancelevels whenitisconnecteddirectlytoaHi-SpeedUSB2. 0portorhub. Otherwise, theHi-SpeedUSB2. 0devicewilloperateattheslowerUSBtransfer rates. ChecktoseethattheHi-SpeedUSB2. 0driversforbothyourhostbus adapteranddevicehavebeeninstalledcorrectly. Ifindoubt, uninstallthe driversandre-installthem. [. . . ]