LaCie 301080 User Guide
LaCie Skwarim
Using Your LaCie Skwarim
User Manual
page 10
3. Using Your LaCie
SKWARIM
Once you’ve connected your drive and it is recognized by your op
erating system (i.e. Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP or Mac OS 9.x
or 10.x), you are ready to format and partition the drive. In order to
store information on a hard drive, it must have a file system and be
divided into sections that will con tain the data that you wish to store.
This process is called formatting.
erating system (i.e. Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP or Mac OS 9.x
or 10.x), you are ready to format and partition the drive. In order to
store information on a hard drive, it must have a file system and be
divided into sections that will con tain the data that you wish to store.
This process is called formatting.
In order to utilize a hard disk drive, it has to be formatted first. For
matting a disk consists of the following: the operating system erases
all of the bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make
sure that all of the sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (i.e., those
that are scratched) and cre ates internal address tables that it later
uses to locate information. Once formatted, the actual available
storage capacity varies, depending on operating environment, and
is generally about 10% less than the nonformatted capacity.
matting a disk consists of the following: the operating system erases
all of the bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make
sure that all of the sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (i.e., those
that are scratched) and cre ates internal address tables that it later
uses to locate information. Once formatted, the actual available
storage capacity varies, depending on operating environment, and
is generally about 10% less than the nonformatted capacity.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The LaCie SKWARIM is preformatted in FAT
32, so if you want to use another file system, you will need to refor
mat the drive. The following information will help you decide which
file system format to use.
mat the drive. The following information will help you decide which
file system format to use.
After you’ve formatted the drive, you have will the opportunity to
divide the hard drive into sections, called
divide the hard drive into sections, called
Partitions
. A partition is
a section of the hard drive’s storage capacity that is created to con
tain files and data. For instance, you could create three partitions
on your drive: one partition for your word documents, one for your
spreadsheets and one for your multimedia files.
tain files and data. For instance, you could create three partitions
on your drive: one partition for your word documents, one for your
spreadsheets and one for your multimedia files.
File System Formats
There are essentially three different file system formats: FAT
32, NTFS, and Mac OS Extended (HFS+).
32, NTFS, and Mac OS Extended (HFS+).
Use FAT 32 if:
you will be using your drive between both Windows and
Mac OS 9.x or 10.x; or sharing the drive between Windows
98 SE, Me, 2000 or XP
Mac OS 9.x or 10.x; or sharing the drive between Windows
98 SE, Me, 2000 or XP
Use NTFS if:
you will be using the drive only under Windows 2000 or
Windows XP; performance will be gener ally greater when
compared to FAT 32
Windows XP; performance will be gener ally greater when
compared to FAT 32
Use HFS+ if:
you will be using the drive on Macs only; performance will
be generally greater when compared to FAT 32
be generally greater when compared to FAT 32
For more information, please refer to section
.