#Usb tools format pc windows xp how to
#Usb tools format pc windows xp software

It would be interesting to see whether a 3TB or even larger (up to about 16TB) Advanced Format drive (or RAID configuration) that presented itself to XP as using 4KB sectors could be used with similar success as an internal (non-USB) MBR-style data drive.

#Usb tools format pc windows xp software

So having the USB interface present an MBR-style drive with 4KB sectors should work fine (at least as a data drive, and with software that doesn't depend upon a 512-byte sector size) with XP, or Win2K, or even later versions of WinNT (the link I provided above refers to patches that allow such drives to work on Win9x.), while the firmware in the USB/SATA internal interface translates between that and whatever actual format the drive has (in this case, it looks as if it may be a GPT-style drive with 512-byte physical sectors using a single internal partition to emulate an entire 3 GB drive minus the sectors used by the GPT overhead). NT-based systems have been able to deal with drives with unusual (including 4KB) sector sizes at least since the mid-'90s - as data drives, anyway (BIOSes might have problems booting from them). Windows XP > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Managementįrom a quick look around, AFAICT the explanation above is correct in the specific case of this drive being used as an external USB drive (e.g., see ). If you don't have My Computer under Windows XP - here's the long way to get to Disk Management: I am assuming we should leave the Allocation unit size on Default but I did a quick format under Windows XP then rebooted into Windows 7 where I did a long format under Windows 7 using the 4096 byte Allocation unit size. Next > Next > Next > Next > Next > Finish Scroll down to the Disk # of the drive and Right Click on where it says Unallocated > New Partition. Right click on My Computer in Windows XP > Manage > Disk Management > Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard will pop up > Put the adapter back on and connect it through the adapter.Ģ.

So you can only use the drive under Windows XP if you:ġ. If it is done under Windows 7, then things will work under Windows 7 but will not work under Windows XP, look, there is no drive letter under Windows XP:

#Usb tools format pc windows xp how to

If you mess things up by trying to connect the drive directly instead of through the included adapter, and end up with multiple partitions etc., here's how to fix things: How to correctly format this drive for use under Windows XP