How to build external hard drive?

[newbie012]

hi,

admittedly, i'm a only an intermediate with computers.... and i'm attempting to make my own external hard drive.

i just bought a 250 gb hard drive for backup. it's a hitachi sata hdd and i have a nexstar 3 sata enclosure. with such a big hard drive, do i need to set limits on the hdd when i format it? or can i just use windows xp to format the drive for me and leave it at that?

i have a feeling that if windows does it without any direction i might lose major storage space. please correct me if i'm wrong. thanks!

- out on a limb

[newbie012]

Okay, I have proceeded to format and back up using Windows system tools. Just one more questions

1.) Is it normal to only hae 238 gb after fomatting a 250 gb hdd?

[goldeagle2005]

Yes, it's normal. The descripancy arises because hard disk manufacturers advertise by saying 1 GB=1,000 MB but in reality, 1Gb=1,024MB