Home Forums Peripherals & Multimedia Peripherals Master Boot Record

Just installed a new LaCie backup, 1 TB. Time machine works fine, no problem. But, I noticed that it tells me I have only 800 gb space on a 1000 gb disk because there is a partition " Master Boot Record" that puts another image on the desk top called 'Compatible". According to disk utility this partition can not be changed. Can someone tell me why this partition is there, what it does, and why I can not change it? It is not a problem to have 800 gb backup of a single iMac with ( I think) a 350 HD, but I am very curious as to why this space is "locked up" Thanks for any ideas/explanations. Dave

I would completely re-format the hard drive. Click on the hard drive mechanism in Disk Utility, click Partition, select Volume Scheme: Single Partition, and hit Apply. This will erase the data on the drive right now, but it will remove the "Compatible" partition.

While you're in there re-partitioning, change the partitioning scheme from MBR (Master Boot Record) to GPT (GUID Partition Table). This choice is buried under the "Options..." button in the Partition panel.