Does External Hard Drive need Windows????

[Ralph III]

Hello,
I have an 80gb hard drive that I want to use as a backup. It came from our HP zd8000 laptop and still has all the data on it. I just ordered an enclosure for it but have the following question.

Do I have to have Windows installed on the drive or can I format the drive without such? How do I go about doing that as the cd for reformating also has Windows XP on it. It's part of the setup process.

Thanks

[Greybeard]

I'm not sure what the issue is? If you connect this drive to any system then the data on the drive will be visible if the system to which it is connected has a compatible operating system, otherwise your O/S should still see the drive but you will need to format it. An externally atached drive will (should) appear just the same as an internal one.

[Ralph III]

Thanks for the reply.

The question was in two part as I wasn't exactly sure how to format my old hard drive (as an external unit)in this case. I also wasn't sure how it would be viewed as such. Would the old Windows XP come up with all my previous data, when accessing it? Did I have to have a version of Windows on it in order to maintain/format? Etc.

*I HAVE RESOLVED THOSE QUESTIONS BUT WILL POST JUST IN CASE OTHERS NEED THE DETAIL. THE SHORT ANSWER HOWEVER IS "NO".**

1)First, after assembly hook up the external drive to your current computer. It will recognize it after a bit.
2)If you wish to format the external drive just do the following. From your primary computer right click on "My Computer", select "Manage" and then "Disk Management". The external hard drive should show so right click on it and choose "format". Be sure you are formating the proper drive as it erases everything.

You can then manage the external hard drive however you wish, via "backup" software or simply drag and drop from primary hard drive, etc.

God Bless

[Ralph III]

You format the external drive via your computer. Go into "My Computer" and right click the hard drive you want to format. See details in my last post....