Format External HDD to Linux EXT3

[MadMax934]

Hey guys, I'm the newbie of newbies!

As you may have guessed I'm trying to format a hard drive to Linux EXT3 (I've no idea what that means or where to start!)

Ok, so I'm trying to format a 500 GB Targa NDAS external HDD on my Vista 64 bit laptop. I don't mind buying software, as long is it'll do what I need it to. I need to do this as I have a free view box that has PVR functionality. The free view box is Linux based, so I've been told that in order to connect the external HDD to the free view box and record onto it it needs to be formated into "Linux EXT3". So any help to the extent would be great.

I've done my share of research/googling and didn't found the simple (read:newbie) answer I was looking for. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Jonathan183]

PartedMagic is a good tool for working with partitions.

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

The free view box is Linux based,

Could you find out which Linux Distribution has been installed in it? Most of Linux distros support NTFS read/write access out of box these days and there is no need to format disk in ext3 filesystem.

Anyways, you can use LiveCD of any Linux distro to format External Disk. I would suggest PartedMagic LiveCD. Like most of Linux distros, its free to download. Just make sure to burn downloaded .iso file as an Image only. Select Burn Image to disk option in your CD/DVD burning package. Boot up from PartedMagic CD and format External disk in ext3 filesystem.

[MadMax934]

Thanks very much for the prompt reply guys.

As I said I'm a serious newbie. I burned it onto a disc, but not sure where to go from there...

I can see the files on the CD, one folder says "BOOT" the second folder is "PMAGIC". But I'm just not sure what I need to do next. Sorry guys I know this is a very much a newbie Q.

[Jonathan183]

Provided you have burnt the iso image to CD you should be able to boot from it. Then you can start the partitioning tool ...

[MadMax934]

Well I downloaded the parted magic 4.1, unziped it, then burned the image onto a CD with Nero. I can see that there is stuff on the CD, but it doesn't boot up automatically nor do I seem to have any options to run it?

[MikeTbob]

You need to reboot the machine with the Parted Magic CD. You also need to make sure that your machine is set to boot from the CD/DVD drive first in the BIOS.

[MadMax934]

I was thinking that alright... I'm gonna hit the sack, I'll try & sort it out when I'm home next. I'll let ya know how I get on. Thanks for all the prompt replies. later.