Solved How do I Reformat Multi Partition External Hard Drive

basils57

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I want to reformat an existing external HD for backup. Currently it has 3 partitions:
1 x Primary NTFS; 1 x Free Space; 1 x Logical NTFS.
Can someone please advise how to reformat this into a single NTFS partition? I'm running Win7.
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.Intel Core i5-2500k Quad @ 3.3GHz8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666.7MHz (5-5-5-15)PL2773HDs on AMD Radeon HD 6600 Series
Computer type
PC/Desktop
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
CPU
Intel Core i5-2500k Quad @ 3.3GHz
Motherboard
ASUSTeK P8Z68-V LE (LGA1155)
Memory
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666.7MHz (5-5-5-15)
Graphics Card(s)
PL2773HDs on AMD Radeon HD 6600 Series
Monitor(s) Displays
Llyama PL2773HDS
Screen Resolution
1920x1080 pixels
Hard Drives
SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device 1TB
If there's no data on the drive that needs to be saved, just go into Disk Management and remove the partitions, until you have a blank, unallocated drive. Then create a new, solid partition for the entire drive.

I don't mess with extended and logical partitions, but you may have to delete the logical first, then the primary.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1Intel Core i7-260012 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333Nvidia GTX 470
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7-2600
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P-B3
Memory
12 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GTX 470
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp 2209WA
Hard Drives
OCZ Agility3 240 GB, WD5001AALS, WD7501AALS
PSU
OCZ ModStream 700W
Case
CoolerMaster HAF 912 Advanced
Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
Thanks Deacon Frost.
Sorry to be ignorant, but I now have a primary partition of 260Gb with 675Gb of free space next to it. How do I make this into a new solid partition?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.Intel Core i5-2500k Quad @ 3.3GHz8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666.7MHz (5-5-5-15)PL2773HDs on AMD Radeon HD 6600 Series
Computer type
PC/Desktop
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
CPU
Intel Core i5-2500k Quad @ 3.3GHz
Motherboard
ASUSTeK P8Z68-V LE (LGA1155)
Memory
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666.7MHz (5-5-5-15)
Graphics Card(s)
PL2773HDs on AMD Radeon HD 6600 Series
Monitor(s) Displays
Llyama PL2773HDS
Screen Resolution
1920x1080 pixels
Hard Drives
SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device 1TB
Again, it comes down to data. If there's nothing on the drive you need saved, you can delete that primary partition and create a new one that spans the entire drive. If you need data on the partition, you should also have an option to expand the partition out to the full drive.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1Intel Core i7-260012 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333Nvidia GTX 470
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7-2600
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P-B3
Memory
12 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GTX 470
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp 2209WA
Hard Drives
OCZ Agility3 240 GB, WD5001AALS, WD7501AALS
PSU
OCZ ModStream 700W
Case
CoolerMaster HAF 912 Advanced
Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
Thanks again DeaconFrost, It's now sorted.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.Intel Core i5-2500k Quad @ 3.3GHz8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666.7MHz (5-5-5-15)PL2773HDs on AMD Radeon HD 6600 Series
Computer type
PC/Desktop
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
CPU
Intel Core i5-2500k Quad @ 3.3GHz
Motherboard
ASUSTeK P8Z68-V LE (LGA1155)
Memory
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666.7MHz (5-5-5-15)
Graphics Card(s)
PL2773HDs on AMD Radeon HD 6600 Series
Monitor(s) Displays
Llyama PL2773HDS
Screen Resolution
1920x1080 pixels
Hard Drives
SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device 1TB
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