Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Formatting Iomega External Hard Drive

Hi Everyone,


How do I format my Iomega External Hard Drive, previously used on my PC? I can read and view files on it from my MAC, I even downloaded my music files from it unto my MAC. However, anything I download on my MAC can't be transferred on to external hard drive. This is for OS X 10 Yosemite iMAC Retina 27".

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Aug 10, 2015 9:32 PM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Aug 10, 2015 9:34 PM

Choose Utilities from the Finder's Go menu, open the Disk Utility, and erase it; unless you still need to use it on a PC, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format.


(131594)

4 replies

Aug 10, 2015 9:39 PM in response to michaeltee1975

Drive Partition and Format


1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.


2. After Disk Utility loads select the external hard drive (this is the out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the Disk Utility main window.


3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.


4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the Disk Utility main window.


5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.


6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.


Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

Formatting Iomega External Hard Drive

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.