The tool used here is the so called 'DOS command prompt' and 'fdisk'. You can find this by going to 'Start/Program Files/Accessories' and click on "MS-DOS" or you can use the 'Run' application and directly type 'fdisk'.
The first window will be the blank MS-DOS command window. Type 'fdisk' without the '' marks and press 'Enter'. Skip this step if you typed 'fdisk' directly into the 'Run' application.
Select 'Y' to enable the large disk support and press 'Enter'.
Enter '5' to change the current disk drive and press 'Enter'
Select the drive you want to install and format, in this example disk '2' but note that this may vary from your setup!

Remark: If you can not see the external hard drive at this point, please check your jumper settings, cable connection, power supply and if required, the driver installation.

For 3.5" Hard Drives, you can also connect the drive directly to your internal IDE bus
if you encounter problems with the external drive and install it later after formatting.
Choose '1' to create a primary DOS partition and follow the onscreen instructions. After you have created the partitions according to your requirement, close the MS-DOS command prompt by typing 'exit' and press 'Enter'.
Restart your Computer and then go to 'My Computer'. The new drive should appear and you will be prompted to format it after double clicking on the drive icon. Choose FAT32 and full format, type a name and format the drive.

Your external drive is now ready to use!

Note: FAT32 can be used on most Operating Systems including Win98SE, WinME, Win2000, WinXP, Mac OS 9, Mac OS X and Linux Systems.