A drive destined for connection to the NEXUS must be formatted as a single FAT32 partition. Why FAT32 instead of NTFS? NTFS is a proprietary disk format that is licensed for use only with MICROSOFT® operating systems. Since the NEXUS does NOT use a MICROSOFT® operating system, NTFS is unavailable for use with the NEXUS.

USB drives purchased from LEIGHTRONIX arrive pre-formatted with FAT32 and tested for use with the NEXUS. Drives that are purchased from other suppliers must be formatted with the FAT32 file system prior to being connected to the NEXUS. Current MICROSOFT® operating systems do not provide the ability to format FAT32 on drives larger than 32GB. As such, a 3rd-party utility is required. LEIGHTRONIX recommends Disk Director Suite from ACRONIS (www.acronis.com). The following is an outline of the steps required to format a drive for use with the NEXUS using Disk Director Suite:

1. Install Disk Director Suite from ACRONIS on a PC that is configured with Windows XP.  Verify the PC has at least one available USB 2.0 interface port.
2. Connect the target drive to the PC being sure the drive is recognized by Windows.
3. Launch the Disk Director Suite application.

   
   Illustration 1, Acronis Analysing Screen

4. Locate the target drive in the list of drives.  BE SURE OF YOUR SELECTION!  If you select the wrong drive you could lose valuable data.

   
   Illustration 2, Acronis Main Screen

5. Select the "Create Partition" wizard.  Choose "Unallocated space."

   
   Illustration 3, Create Partition Meathod

6. Specify the maximum partition size available.

   
   Illustration 4, Partition Size

7. Choose "Primary" as the partition type.

   
   Illustration 5, Partition Type

8. Select "FAT32" as the file system.

   
   Illustration 6, File System

9. Assign a drive letter to the new partition (typically you will not want to use drive letters A through D).

   
   Illustration 7, Logical Drive Letter

10. Enter a partition label or name.  A drive without a name is not recognized by the NEXUS.

    
    Illustration 8, Partition Label

11. Verify the drive structure and check mark appear on the target drive.

    
    Illustration 9, Hard Disk Drive Structure

12. Select the "Commit" function.

    
    Illustration 10, Acronis Main Screen Commit Button

13. Allow all operations to complete.

    
    Illustration 11, Commit in Operation

14. Once the commit has completed, exit the ACRONIS application.

    
    Illustration 12, Acronis Main Screen

15. If you are prompted to shut down and restart your computer, be sure to close all applications before selecting "Yes".

    
    Illustration 13, Acronis Shut Down Confirmation

16. Once your computer has rebooted, locate the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and double-click it. 

    NOTE: Windows XP may not have a "My Computer" icon on the desktop.  In this case, you will need to click on the Windows "start" button and select "My Computer" from the start menu.

    
    Illustration 14, My Computer Icon

17. Double-click on the USB drive (in the example illustration below, drive letter "N:" is the newly created USB drive).

    
    Illustration 15, My Computer Window

18. Click "File" in the menu bar to display the File context menu.  Select "New" > "Folder" and rename the folder to "MPEG."

    
    Illustration 16, File Context Menu for New Drive

19. You can now exit and safely remove your hard drive from your computer.  Follow the hard drive manufactures guidelines for removing your external hard drive from your computer.