# Format HD using Terminal



## TeeboAccrete (Dec 17, 2002)

Hi all,

I am not familiar with terminal commands.
How can I list the HDs on my computer via the terminal.
And, How can I tell the terminal to format a particular HD (using FDISK I think).
I have 3 HDs on my computer. 2 IDE and 1 SCSI.

Thank you.


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## symphonix (Dec 17, 2002)

To do it through terminal, you will need to login as root (see the HOWTO on how to enable root access) and then run the command 'fdisk'. However, I would seriously advise against using terminal for the task, especially if you're not confident with terminal commands. Not to mention that Mac OS X tends to drive like a cow if it is set up to use the wrong file system.

The conventional, point-and-click method for formatting hard drives is to boot from the OS install CD by holding down the C key while you switch on. Then, you can access the Disk Utility from the installer menu.

You can also access the Disk Utility from /Applications/Utilities and use this to view and format disks, though I doubt it'll let you format the startup disk by this method.


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