How do I reformat my external hard drive?

Question

I bought a new laptop because my old laptop was old and was getting slow. Plus it had many spyware and virus problems.

I bought the external hard drive to keep almost everything on, so I'm sure it too has some spyware/virus issues. How can I reformat it so I am safe to use it with my new laptop?

Thanks

Answer 1

plug it into the computer, go to My Computer, when it shows up, right click it, choose Format... then under 'file system' choose NTFS (if its not already selected) then under 'Volume label choose a name for your drive, and then hit ok.

Answer 2

plug it in. Open My Computer, right click the drive and select Format. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE RIGHT CLICKING THE EXTERNAL DRIVE AND NOT NOT NOT DRIVE C.

Answer 3

Both the answer already are correct but please remeber that any files on this drive will be deleted. If you have anything important on it copy it to a flash drive after checking for viruses. Good luck.