Instructions on how to Format a Hard Drive in Mac OS 9

1. NOTE: Formatting erases everything on whatever media you format. Make sure to copy anything you need before formatting.
2. Insert the system CD into your CD drive.
3. If you are not formatting your primary system drive i.e you are formatting a secondary drive, skip this step.

   Restart your computer to boot from the CD. When the screen goes blank and the system starts to boot, hold down the 'c' key until you see the little happy Mac picture come up. On some older (pre-G3) Macs, you need to hold down the open-apple (aka Command) key down instead of 'c'.

4. Open the CD and open the "Drive Setup" program, which is in the "Utilities" folder (also usually in a "Utilities" folder on your main hard drive).
5. Drive Setup window will show you a list of the drives installed on your computer. Click on the drive that you wish to format and press "Initialize...".
6. Click Custom Setup at the bottom of the "Initializing will destroy all data on the following volumes:" window that pops up.
7. Select "1 Partition" from the "Partitioning Scheme:" drop down menu unless you are formatting the drive for some sort of special setup (such as a future installation of OSX). Select "Mac OS Extended" from the "Type:" menu. In the "Size:" field, enter the number from "Total Capacity:" (the computer may change the number to make it slightly smaller to properly fit). Now press "OK."
8. Click "Initialize" when you are back at the "Initialize" window. The computer will format the drive and return to the "Drive Setup" window which should say "Formatting..." for a while and once finished display the message "Initialization was successful".
9. Your drive is now fully formatted. Reinstall your operating system if you wish to in case you formatted you primary system drive.