Do hard drives always need to be formatted? 3

[HamalSharatan]

Hello

I had to format my primary drive (C and reinstall windows on it. Afterwards, I noticed that my slave drive (D wasn't NTFS file system but RAW.
My question is, once formatted will a HDD work on any computer just by connecting it or does it need to be formatted every time it goes into a new PC? Because they sell already formatted external HDD's that you only "plug and play" and that's it. Does it matter if the HDD is external or internal? Thanks!

 

[Johnthephoneguy]

If a Drive is already formatted you can take that to another PC and it should work fine.

JohnThePhoneGuy

"If I can't fix it, it's not broke!

 

[paparazi]

Formatted to the requirements of a particular operating system AND partitioned, then yes it will be seen by machines using a similar OS.

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[cdogg]

If it's the primary partition on the drive, then you shouldn't have any issues seeing it on other PC's.

However, there are "some" cases where a secondary partition (logical) that was formatted in Windows will contain a specific "disk drive signature". This signature can sometimes request a particular drive letter that conflicts in another PC. But the chances of that are low.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[HamalSharatan]

Thank you! Now I will go buy a drive

 

[HamalSharatan]

I forgot to ask, do EIDE drives work on new computers? I know they use SATA now, but I don't want to get rid of my drive if possible. Do all new computers bring EIDE and SATA connectors, or will I have to buy some sort of converter? Thanks.

 

[cdogg]

Many systems still come with one or two IDE channels on the motherboard, and you should be able to check that before the purchase.

You can always buy a converter later too if needed. I recommend going to

http://www.newegg.com

or

http://www.directron.com

for that.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[HamalSharatan]

awesome, thanks!