Plug in the drive and reboot your PC or laptop.
Follow the instructions to create a bootable USB drive.
Follow these next steps to create one (skip to step 2 if you’ve got a DVD already): Download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (to format the hard disk now and install Windows 7 later) or the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool (to format the hard drive now and install Windows 10 later). If you don’t have the DVD handy, you need to create a bootable Windows USB drive. Insert the Windows 7 or Windows 10 DVD into the DVD drive and boot the PC. That’s why we’re using a bootable Windows 7/10 Installation DVD or USB drive which allows us to format the hard disk. You can’t format the hard disk on which Windows is stored while Windows is running, for the same reasons that you can’t work on a car’s engine while you’re driving it.
To format the primary drive - the hard disk where the operating system resides, also called C drive or C: - you need to boot into the setup program on Windows 7 or Windows 10 and use it to format your drive.
The following steps show you how to format your primary drive when all applications and your files are gone. Then you can use the Windows setup program or macOS Recovery Environment to format primary hard drives. You may need to reinstall the operating system, but you don‘t want to lose your data! If it’s at all possible, begin by backing up and rescuing everything of importance, or clone your hard drive by using one of our guides: How to clone a hard drive. We recommend exFAT, because it supports files that are over 4GB in size.How to Format a Hard Drive on Windows or Mac | Avast Logo Ameba Icon Security Icon Security White Icon Privacy Icon Performance Icon Privacy Icon Security Icon Performance Icons/45/01 Security/Other-Threats Icons / 32 / Bloatware removal Icons / 32 / Registry Cleaner Icons / 32 / CleanUp Icons / Feature / 32 / Mac Icons / 32 / Browser cleanup Icons/32/01 Security/Malware Icons/32/01 Security/Viruses Icons/32/01 Security/Other-Threats Icons/32/01 Security/Passwords Icons/32/01 Security/Ransomware Icons/32/01 Security/Business Icons/32/02 Privacy/Browser Icons/32/02 Privacy/IP adress Icons/32/02 Privacy/VPN Icons/32/02 Privacy/Proxy Icons/32/02 Privacy/Streaming Icons/32/03 Performance/Celaning Icons/32/03 Performance/Drivers Icons/32/03 Performance/Gaming Icons/32/03 Performance/Hardware Icons/32/03 Performance/Speed Icons / 32 / Bloatware removal Icons / 32 / Registry Cleaner Win Icons / 32 / CleanUp Icons / Feature / 32 / Mac Icons / 32 / Browser cleanup Icons/60/02 Privacy/02_Privacy Icons/60/01 Security/01_Security Icons/60/03 Performance/03_Performance Icons/80/01 Security/IoT Icons/80/01 Security/Malware Icons/80/01 Security/Passwords Icons/80/01 Security/Ransomware Icons/80/01 Security/Viruses Icons/80/01 Security/Other-Threats Icons/80/03 Security/Business Icons/80/02 Privacy/Browser Icons/80/02 Privacy/IP adress Icons/80/02 Privacy/VPN Icons/80/02 Privacy/Proxy Icons/80/02 Privacy/Streaming Icons/80/03 Performance/Celaning Icons/80/03 Performance/Drivers Icons/80/03 Performance/Gaming Icons/80/03 Performance/Hardware Icons/80/03 Performance/Speed Icons/80/03 Performance/03_Performance Icons/80/02 Privacy/02_Privacy
You’ll need to make sure your hard disk, SSD or USB drive is formatted using the FAT32 or exFAT file systems – the PS4 doesn’t support the NTFS file system.
This is because the PS4 doesn’t encrypt and format the entire drive when making backups – it leaves your hard disk or SSD free to be used for other tasks if you’ve got the space.
If you want to use an external drive to store console backups the process is only a little more complex. Pick the option to Format the drive as extended storage, and the console will take care of the whole process.Īs ever, you do need to remember to use a USB 3.0 product with a capacity between 250GB and 8TB, otherwise the process won’t work. This is because the PS4 uses its own encrypted file system when using a hard drive or SSD as extended storage.Īll you’ve got to do is plug your drive into the console, head to the Settings menu, open Devices, and then USB Storage Devices. If you want to use an external drive as extended storage on your PS4, then the format process couldn’t be much simpler.