Format G Technology Drive for Window Back to Mac

The G-Drive Mobile USB is arguably the best USB storage device for Macs right now. Although it's not exclusive to Apple (it works with Windows computers too) it comes fully compatible with your Mac, unlike some other rival storage USB devices. With its hard-looking metallic shell, it looks beautiful but it's also incredibly robust. Don't be fooled by its looks though. The G-Drive weighs in at only 9 oz which makes it easy to carry around with you. What's more, the G-Drive has an integrated cooling system so you won't hear any loud fans whilst you're transferring data over to it.

5TB of storage also means you'll have plenty of room for your files and then some. With so much space on one drive, you can also partition your storage space to separate out different projects. Read on to find out how.

Colors	Price	Weight	Storage
Space grey, Gold, Silver	$94.95	9 Oz	Up to 5TB

System requirements

The G-Drive is built in the factory ready for Mac OS systems so it takes no time at all to set up.

	Operating system	Ports
Mac	Mac OS 10.6	USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port
Windows	Windows® 8, 7, Vista and XP®	USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port

How to install the G-Drive and use it on your Mac

Because the G-Drive mobile USB connects to your Mac via USB, all you have to do is connect the small end of the USB to the G-Drive and the large end to a free USB port on your Mac. A window will pop up and display the G-Drive. For Mac OS 10.7 and above, you must have the 'external drive' box selected within the Finder Preferences window in order for external hard drives to appear on your desktop

Another great thing about the G-Drive is that it's bus-powered which means you don't need to carry a charger around to power it up before you use it! Simply plug it into your Mac and you're away.

How to use with Time Machine back up

An interesting use for the G-Drive is using it in conjunction with Time Machine. All Macs come with the Time Machine function which allows you to back up and save your Mac in case you want to revert to a previous setting in the future. Your G-Drive can easily hold this backup file. Here's how to do it;

1. When you attach G-DRIVE mobile USB for the first time, the Time Machine dialog box should automatically appear. Click the Use as Backup Disk button. *If you have already configured Apple Time Machine, go to step 2.

2. If the Time Machine dialog box did not launch, go to the Apple® Menu> System Preferences. Click on the Time Machine icon. The Time Machine Preference panel will open. Click the Select Backup Disk button.

3. In the dialog box that appears, select the G-DRIVE mobile USB. Click the Use for Backup button.

4. Make sure the Time Machine switch is set to ON. You can set its options by clicking the Options button. Do this to choose volumes, folders, or files you do NOT want to backup. Finally, make sure that Time Machine is toggled on and your G-Drive will back up your files automatically.

How to erase the contents on the G-Drive

If you'd like to erase the contents of your G-Drive, follow the steps below;

1. First, open the Disk Utility program. This application is located on your hard drive under Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. The window below will appear. Your G-DRIVE mobile USB will be displayed in the left-hand column.

2. Select the G-DRIVE mobile USB by clicking its drive icon in the left-side column. Information about the drive will be displayed at the bottom of the window.

3. Select the Erase tab to view the formatting options. By default, the Format pop-up menu is set to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option.

4. Choose the Format option that you prefer.

 • Mac OS Extended (Journaled): Use this format if you intend to use the drive for Time Machine or to create a separate bootable installation of the OS.

 • Mac OS Extended: Use this format for best performance and media storage. To select, click the Format pop-up and its option to Mac OS Extended.

5. Click the erase button in the lower corner of the window and then a dialog box will appear asking if you want to erase the G-Drive mobile USB partition.

6. Click the erase button and the process will begin. Once it's complete, your G-Drive will be empty of its contents.

7. Once this process is complete you should see the Time Machine window pop up.

• Click the Use as Backup Disk if you want to use the Drive again for Time Machine
• Click Don't Use if you'd prefer not to

8. Once you have followed these steps the custom icon for the G-Drive will have been erased. If you want to restore it, follow the below steps.

How to restore the G-Drive icon

1. The first thing you're going to need to do is to navigate to g-technology.com/support and find your product. Once you've found it on the website you should find a link to download the icon.

2. Once you have downloaded the file you should see the icon as shown below. If not, unzip the file and double-click the DMG file to open the icon package.

3. Click to select the drive icon for G-Drive mobile USB in the package window and hold Command+C to copy the icon.

4. Select the G-Drive mobile USB icon on your desktop and press Command+I. This will open the Get Info window.

5. Select the default icon.

6. Press Command+V to paste the G-Drive icon into the Get Info window.

How to partition the hard drive

A very useful feature of the G-drive is the ability to partition it or chop it up into 'volumes' or segments. Each segment acts like a unique hard drive which is great because it means you can separate your files onto each segment for different purposes. You can create up to 16 different segments with the OS operating system and each can be a different size and format.

Here's how to create partitions;

1. Open the Disk Utility Program. If you're not sure where it is, go to Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility. Your G-Drive column should be located on the left side of the panel as shown below.

2. Select the firewall or USB icon. 3. Click on the partition button

4. Select how many volumes you'd like from the Volume Scheme menu.

5. Click on the first partition in the Volume Scheme menu. The partitions you selected will be highlighted with a blue border.

6. You can give the highlighted partition a name by typing the name in the Name Field.

• In the format field, you can select OS or Mac OS Extended (journaled).
• In the Size field, you can select what size of memory you want the partition to take up.

7. Once you're happy, hit apply. A window should open up asking if you're sure about your choices. Click Partition if you're happy.

8. When the process finishes loading you'll be able to see all of your partitions on the left side of the Disk Utility window.

9. Finally, quit the Disk Utility menu and you'll be able to see your partitions displayed on your desktop.

In a nutshell…

If you're looking for the best USB storage device to back up your Mac, look no further than G-Drive Mobile USB. With 5TB of storage space and a lightweight design, this drive is perfect for anyone with lots of files or who needs additional room on their computer. You can also use Google Drive as an alternative backup option that offers more free storage (15GB) and partition locations so you don't always have to take up all your hard drive's space. To learn how to set it up, comment below!

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Format G Technology Drive for Window Back to Mac

Source: https://macexpertguide.com/how-to-use-g-drive-mobile-usb-on-mac/

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