Does this drive need to be formatted?
1029923
Yes. It's blank. Usually installation of an OS (operating system like Windows, Linux, OSx) will format the drive. Different OS's may use different format parameters so the drive will work in many different computers and OS's.
1029924
with any hard drive, it depends on what you're going to be using it on, or with what OS. Usually you will need to format it.
1029925
I installed Windows Vista on this drive, and did not have to separately format it. I just followed the instructions to install Windows, and the installation wizard did the rest. Whether or not the install application formatted the drive before actually doing the install of Windows, I don't know, and it didn't concern me one way or the other.
361573
Mine came formatted with the FAT32 file system so I changed it to NTFS and it did it just fine!
1955085
It is formatted for NTFS Windows OS. Also, I have dropped it once when I was getting out of the car. The drive is totally unusable due to bad sectors after that.
293111
Go to disk management service (diskmgmt.msc in command prompt window or Start text box) and it will let you format it.
1630968
the drive is not formatted with any version of windows. it is formatted with a run time version of linux.it handles the formatting. the windows 8 machines should see it in the network browser. did you set up user rights?
1375822
You can format it as you wish. Put NTFS, because FAT32 limits the file size to below 4 GB which is fairly useless and negates the real strong point of this stick - lightening and moving huge fils around...
1923240
Shouldn't auto format but would most likely give you the option to format/wipe both drives as WHS partitions are not supported.
51826
No it's a blank hard drive. You will need to format to what ever operating system u are using.
110599
No, it's an unformatted drive with no software loaded. You will need your own software to load.
2184715
I first tried an existing hard drive. It did not need formatting. When I installed a new hard drive and it didn't work, I assumed the Mediasonic wasn't working and returned it. Later when I installed the new hard drive in my PC, I found that it did need to be formatted. Therefore, I'm not sure if formatting was an issue in my case. Based on the other answer you received, maybe I did return the case when I really didn't have to.
364524
If your drive has an mSATA, then it's OK. You can also get a SATA to USB adapter to get the data out.
684477
Probably is not initialized of formatted yet. Check under Windows' "Disk Management".
1211444
No, use your manufacture drive tool , third party software or simply reformat existing drive
504748
Yes it will go through the USB or eSATA (preferred) You just format the drive.
603727
Can't help with any specific advice as I am using my drive with a Mac, but I can't see why there would be a problem. If you received a drive pre-formatted for a Macintosh, then doubtless, you need to use a Windows program to reformat it. Good Luck!
2010168
I believe formatting of the flash drive shall remove everything from it. So its good to take a backup of the Sandisk software on your HDD. Hope this helps.
1995473
Hi D. Petitpas,I was wondering if anyone would ever reply to my post. I didn't know that these drives were shipped pre-formated and I don't think that it is listed in it's description here on Amazon. Thank you so very much for setting me straight!