# User's Guide |

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# Formatting an External USB Device

The HP Media Vault can interact with USB devices formatted as FAT32, NTFS, or ext3. The HP Media Vault can read and write files to FAT32 and ext3. The Media Vault can only read files from NTFS devices. It cannot write to them.

You may also want to consider that ext3 disks can store larger files, over 74.7 GB.

| To format a USB device

| Note
| Formatting disk drives erases all the disk’s contents, including boot records, partition tables, and all shared folders and their sub-folders and files. Format disks only when you know that it is safe to proceed.

1. At the computer, click Start, All Programs, HP Media Vault, and then Control Center.
2. On the Tools tab, click Customize HP Media Vault.
3. You are prompted for an administrator name and password if you set one up. For additional information, see Editing System Settings.
4. On the Disks tab, locate the USB disk you want to format.
5. Click Format.
6. Enter the disk’s name in the Disk Name box.
7. Select one of the following format types

- Linux (ext3) - The HP Media Vault comes with a primary hard disk called SYSTEM. The SYSTEM disk is formatted into a proprietary Linux file system (ext3). The format of the SYSTEM disk does not change.
- Formatting a second internal hard disk into the proprietary Linux file system gives you the best read/write performance. However, a Linux-formatted hard disk on the server cannot be disconnected and used in a different computer. You can only read and write data to the server’s hard drive when its connected to the server.
- Windows (FAT32) - The FAT32 file system allows you to read and write to the hard disk. Microsoft used this file system for Windows versions 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, and XP. Files on FAT32 disks cannot be larger than 4 GB. If you format a server hard disk in FAT32, you can disconnect the disk and use it on Windows, Macintosh and Linux computers. However, you cannot store files larger than 4GB on FAT32 file systems.

8. Click Accept.

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