External Hdd Format Software

A selection of the best programs for different types of formatting a hard disk drive (HDD, SSD, RAID) and removable media storage devices (USB flash drives, SD card).

List of hard drive format tools:

External hard drives, flash drives and other similar forms of removable storage have made life pretty easy when it comes to moving data around. However, we live in a world where each person is likely to own multiple devices that external storage could (theoretically) be connected to. Do you have a corrupted external HDD or USB flash drive.Download Smartdisk Fat32 Format utility and convert your hard disk to FAT32 file system.Format your Corrupted HDD and USB flash disk for free now. The Western Digital Quick Formatter tool is designed to format WD external hard disk drive. You can download the WD Quick Formatter tool from the Western Digital official site. After downloading the tool, install it on your system by following the on-screen instructions. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with Mac and Windows computers, you should use exFAT. With exFAT, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on a Mac.

Standard Windows formatting tools

Windows XP-10 operating system has a built-in program to format a hard drive. Which is done in the following way:

1. Open 'File Explorer' (or any other file manager),
2. Go to 'This PC',
3. Click on the needed drive in 'Devices and drives' section,
4. Select 'Format..' from the context menu,
5. Press 'Start..' to start formatting.

This is the easiest way of formatting a media storage device on a PC without any additional tools.

Despite the simplicity of this method, all the steps should be performed only if you understand why you're doing it. Before you agree on formatting, carefully check whether you've chosen the right disk.

An alternative way to format in Windows OS 7 / 8 / 10

1. Various systems have different paths to Disk Management therefore the easiest way is to type 'management' in Windows search bar.
2. In the search results find 'Computer management' and click on the icon.
3. Via the left menu go to 'Disk Management'.
4. Right-click on the desired section and select 'Format..'. Since the process runs during the OS operation, 'Format' command will be inactive on the system partition.
5. Next select the new partition label, future file system type and cluster required size (if you don't know what size you need, mark 'by default').
6. Leave the box next to 'Perform a quick format' checked, if you need to perform quick formatting. If you want to deeply clean a partition, uncheck this box.
7. After you press 'OK', the system will ask for confirmation and you have to press 'OK' again.

Formatting a hard disk drive via Windows command prompt

1. In order to start the process of formatting, open the command prompt (console) on your computer. In order to do this, press Win + R on the keyboard and in the opened window 'Run' type 'CMD'.

Note. Formatting requires administrator rights ('Run as administrator in context menu' option). If you try to format a disk without it, the access will be denied.

2. In order to perform formatting via the console, you should use the following commands:

Press Enter.

3. Carefully read what is written in the console and perform further actions according to your case.

Full hard drive formatting via HDD Low Level Format Tool

Low-level formatting optimizes the structure of an HDD. This is useful when preparing for the reinstallation of your operating system. At the same time via it you can also solve the problems with the bad sectors of a hard disk.

Best Format For External Hard Drive

HDD Low Level Format Tool is suitable for low level formatting. In addition to its main functions, this hard disk format software can be used for reading SMART-indicators and checking read errors, as well as the operation time of a disk and etc.

How to format a hard drive completely:

1. After HDD Low Level Format is installed, run it.
2. In 'Device selection' select the hard drive you need (if more than one HDD is connected to your PC). You can distinguish one hard drive from another by their size. Click on 'Continue >>>'.

1. Go to 'LOW-LEVEL FORMAT' tab.
2. For quick formatting (deletion of partitions or MBR record) select 'Perform quick wipe' option.
3. If want to perform full formatting of a hard drive, you have to disable the above mentioned option.
4. Before you start full formatting of a hard drive, double-check whether you've selected the right drive. Only then press 'Format this device'.

AOMEI Partition Assistant

AOMEI Partition Assistant offers a number of useful features, including low-level formatting of built-in and external hard drives. The latest version is 8.1.0, which you can download at the link:

The program interface is quite similar to standard Windows utilities, so it's pretty easy to understand:

1. AOMEI Partition Assistant main window automatically displays the disk with the installed OS. If you need to format another device, select it in the program right panel (Disk 1, Disk 2 and etc).

2. In the left menu lower block (Partition operations) select 'Format partition'.

3. Specify Partition label, File System and Cluster size (we've already explained these options above). Confirm it by pressing OK.

4. You will have to restart the system in order to launch formatting. Once the operation is confirmed, there will be no way back, so make sure to select the right drive and settings.

5. After you reboot the computer, AOMEI Partition Assistant will perform all of these steps and as a result you'll have a blank hard drive or a blank partition you've selected for formatting.

DiskWipe

DiskWipe is a free formatting software for erasing data from a HDD with no possibility of its future recovery. This program uses several proven algorithms (Dod 5220-22.M, US Army and Peter Guttman) and its advanced settings allow to choose the depth of formatting.

It's very simple to format a device via DiskWipe utility:

1. Download DiskWipe.

2. Run the disk format tool. In the left panel you can find all the devices available for formatting.

3. Select the device you need and click on 'Wipe Disk' in the top menu.

4. Pre-configured advanced settings will open. For full and irrevocable formatting, you can mark all the available fields and specify 'Highest' in the right block.

5. After you're finished with the settings, click on 'OK' in order to start the process of formatting.

Paragon Hard Disk Manager

Paragon Hard Disk Manager has several options for working with HDD partitions (splitting, recovering and other). This program is a so-called shareware, i.e. during the test period which lasts for 30 days you can format the needed device in different modes.

The formatting process is intuitive:

1. Start Hard Disk Manager.

2. Via the sidebar go to 'Disks and Partitions' section.

3. From the list of suggested devices select the right one and press 'Format Partition'.

4. Specify the type of your future file system and the name of a volume and then click 'OK'.

5. The task will be queued. In order to apply changes, you have to press the check mark in the top menu.

6. After confirming the operation (via 'OK' button), there will be no way back.

Paragon Hard Disk Manager not only formats a device, but also creates a new partition with a specified file system, so after you reboot the system you'll be able to use the disk without any additional actions.

Summary :

What is the best external hard drive for PS4? This post will introduce several external hard drives for PS4, and then display 3 ways to format the external hard drive to enlarge storage when the original storage of PlayStation 4 is not enough. Certainly, you can also upgrade your PS4 hard drive to a larger one with MiniTool Partition Wiazrd.

Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February, 2013, PS4 (PlayStation 4) is an eighth-generation home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

This successor places more emphasis on social interaction and integration with other devices and services, including the ability to play games off-console on PlayStation Vita, and the ability to stream gameplay online or to friends. Best free 3d printing software for beginners.

External Hdd Format Software Freeware

However, as a game lover, you may find that the storage space of PlayStation 4 is not enough to store more games. To overcome the limited PS4 hard drive size, you may try removing some games from it, but it is not a helpful solution. The more helpful way is to enlarge the storage space by upgrading the PS4 internal hard drive or connecting an external hard drive with this game console.

In this article, I would like to recommend some best external hard drives for PS4 and tell you how format such hard drive to FAT32 with ease. As for upgrading PS4 internal hard drive, you can refer to the following recommended article.

This post shows you how to upgrade your hard drive without reinstalling the program and would not bring any damages to the original data.

Actually, it is incredibly easy to plug the external hard drive into PS4. After adding an external hard drive as the extended storage for PS4, you can download something from PSN or install a new game from a disc, and it will go directly onto the external hard drive.

Suggested Best External Hard Drives for PS4

Which external hard drive is compatible with PS4? There are some suggested best external hard drives for you, namely Toshiba CANVIO Basics, WD Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive and Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable Hard Drive External.

Toshiba CANVIO Basics is great value for money, and very durable for everyday use. Choosing it as PS4 external hard drive will double the storage for less money.

WD Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive is USB 3.0 compatible. What's more, it only requires a quick reformat the first time its buyers use it. This hard drive also comes in small size and sturdy construction.

Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable Hard Drive External is relatively inexpensive, for the 5TB is $109.99. If you have some requirements for appearance of external hard drive, it is a good choice to select this HDD featuring appearance of beauty as the PS4 external storage.

Let's see the following form to know more information about each best external hard drive for PS4.

The best external hard drive for PS4 blends price with performance, and the size of its storage space. For heavy PS4 users, it is highly recommended to select 2TB - 4TB dive, which will give them space to download and store 40-60 games, depending on size. Certainly, you can also pick up a 'PS4 external hard drive 8TB' to download more games.

When you get a new external hard drive for PS4, what you need to do is formatting it before connecting it with PS4.

After finishing all the preparatory work, it's time for you to format the external hard drive for PlayStation 4. And the following content shows detailed tutorials on how to format external hard drive for PS4.

Please note that PS4 external hard drive should be formatted to FAT32, because this file system enjoys a better compatibility than NTFS. (click FAT32 vs NTFS to learn about more information)

Furthermore, it is highly recommended to use the first way to format the external hard drive for PlayStation 4, because the other two ways come in some limits on the size of partition of FAT32 which will be formatted.

Way 1: Format PS4 External Hard Drive via MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a multifunctional tool which can help you manage partitions easily and safely, including formatting disk quickly.

Please follow the steps below to format best external hard drive for PS4 via MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Step 1: Plug the new external hard dive into a computer at first.

Step 2: Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free by clicking the offered button and launch it to get its main interface.

Step 3: Right-click the partition on the external hard drive you want to format and click Format. Or select the partition on the external hard drive and then choose Format Partition from the left panel directly.

Step 4: Select FAT32 as the file system of the partition on the external hard drive and click OK to confirm these changes.

Step 5: Click Apply after going back the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard Free to execute all changes.

Way 2: Format PS4 External Hard Drive via Disk Management

Disk Management built in Windows is also a good utility to help you format disk. To format an external hard drive for PS4, please refer to the follwoing steps.

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive with Windows computer.

Step 2: Press Windows and R on the keyboard simultaneously to get the following picture. And then input diskmgmt.msc and then click OK.

Step 3: Get the interface of Disk Management and select the partition on the external hard drive you want to format.

Step 4: Right-click the partition on the disk and then click Format.

Step 5: Select File System FAT32 in the new pop-up window for the external hard drive and click OK.

Way 3: Format PS4 External Hard Drive via CMD

Ypou can alos use Command Prompt built in Windows to format a hard disk, but this way is not so convinient as the two former ways as you need to type some commands.

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive for PlayStation 4 with Windows computer in advance.

Step 2: Press Windows and R on keyboard simultaneously to access the Run window.

Step 3: Input cmd and click OK to get a black pop-up window.

Step 4: Input diskpart in the black pop-up window in the black window and click Enteron keyboard. And click Yes.

Step 5: Then you shhould input the following commands and click Enter on keyboard after each inputing.

• select disk# (# refers to the number of the disk you want to format)
• list partition
• select partition # ( # refers to the partition number)
• format fs=fat32

Step 6: After inputinga all mentioned commands, you should wait for some seconds until the external hard drive has been formatted to FAT32.

It is extremely possible that the second and third way fail to format external hard drive for PS4, because you can't format a partition with FAT32 file system in Windows unless you employ third-party software, like MiniTool Partition Wizard. Therefore, the first way is the best choice when you plan to format one external hard drive for PS4.

This article aims to fix the issue when the Command Prompt keeps popping up on Windows 10. If you encounter this issue, find the solutions in this article.

Have you get a formatted FAT32 PlayStation 4 external hard drive successfully by following the above ways? If the two answers are both Yes, you can connect the hard drive with their PS4 right now.

Please note that you should make sure that the console is powered off before you remove the PS4 external hard drive. Otherwise, data loss or corruption may occur. To safely remove the external storage, you should follow the path: Settings > Devices > USB Storage Devices > Stop Using This Extended Storage.

We Want Your Voice

Hope that PS4 owners can enjoy a better game experience after knowing how to format the best external hard drive for PS4. If there is any problem or question, you can contact us via [email protected] or leave a message below this article.

Best External Hard Drive for PS4 FAQ

To back up PS4 to external hard drive, you should make sure that the FAT or exFAT-formatted external storage has at least double the storage space the PS4 hard drive has. If you do not have enough space, you can choose not to back up the application data (download or reinstall them when you restore the data on the system with the backup you're creating).

Here is the simple tutorial on backing up PS4 to external hard drive.

1. Sync your Trophies first by clicking Trophies > OPTIONS > Sync Trophies With PSN (the reason is that these files are not included in the backup data).
2. Connect the external storage device.
3. Follow the path: Settings > System > Back Up and Restore > Back Up > confirm which data you would like to back up > customize the name of the backup > Back up > X > safely remove the external storage.

The answer is Yes. When you use the external SSD as an externed storage where you store games and applications and run them from there, you will enjoy a much higher level of speed that classical external hard drivers cannot offer.

To learn about more differences between SSD vs HDD vs SSHD, please click here.

Yes, you can transfer a game from one PS4 to another. But there is something important you should pay attention to.

• Transferring data from a PS4 system to another will erase any data from the PS4 system you are transferring the data.
• You should make sure the latest system software installed on both PS4 systems. To update PS4 system software, refer to the tutorial.
• Besides the games you can transfer, you can also transfer all existing users and settings and saved data (screenshots and video clips).
• Do not power off any PS4 during data transferring.

To get the detailed tutorial on transferring data from one PS4 to another, please read the post.