Description: This guide shows you how to format a hard drive (external or thumb/flash drive) using the built in format functions in Windows 7.

***NOTE THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON THE DRIVE***

1. Click the Start button, right-click Computer and select Manage.
   
2. On the left side, choose Disk Management.
   
3. Right-click the drive that needs to be formatted and choose Format.
   
4. Type the name of the drive you would like next to Volume label:. Also choose which file format you would like to use. If you plan on transferring this drive between Apple computer and Microsoft computers, I would suggest formatting to FAT32. If you are only using a Windows machine, you may choose NTFS. Also make sure that Perform a quick format is checked so you don't have to wait as long for the format process. Leave the Allocation size at Default.
   
5. Press OK on the next screen.