Format The Hard Drive - Maxtor SATAII/300 INTERNAL HARD DRIVE Installation Manual

Format the Hard Drive

This chapter describes how to partition and format your new drive using the MaxBlast installation software on a
Windows system. Maxtor recommends using MaxBlast on 98 and ME systems, rather than FDISK, to partition
and format the drive.
If you have not previously installed a SATA drive in your system, you must install a Windows driver for your SATA
PCI card or SATA-enabled motherboard or system so that Windows can recognize your new drive. For maximum
compatibility, Maxtor recommends downloading and installing the latest SATA driver from the website of the
SATA card/motherboard/system manufacturer. The latest SATA drivers for Maxtor-branded SATA cards can be
downloaded from the Worldwide Support section at www.maxtor.com.
Choose from one of the following installation scenarios:
A. Existing Windows 98 or Me system
B. Existing Windows 2000 or XP system – new drive as "storage only"
C. Existing Windows 2000 or XP system – new drive as "boot drive"
D. New Windows 98 or Me system or replacing a failed 98 or Me boot drive
E. New Windows 2000 or XP system or replacing a failed 2000 or XP boot drive
Special notes for installation scenarios C and D:
The DOS version of MaxBlast does not currently support USB mouse or keyboard input unless supported by your system BIOS. If
you have a USB keyboard and/or mouse, you may need to connect a PS/2 mouse or keyboard to your system temporarily to
navigate through the program. MaxBlast for DOS can be operated from the keyboard using the Tab, Enter/Return, and arrow keys.
To boot from the MaxBlast CD, you may need to change the boot sequence or boot order settings in your system BIOS to "Floppy
CDROM IDE-0" or "A, CDROM, C." Depending on your BIOS type (AMI, Award, Phoenix), the boot sequence settings may be located
on the main setup screen or under the BIOS FEATURES SETUP or ADVANCED CMOS SETUP menus.
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