Please help me set up using my Seagate FreeAgent Pro

I just went and bought a Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500gigabyte external hard drive, please help me set it up. I've read the instruction manual, it doesn't really go into detail. Since I'm using a Mac, I can't use the FreeAgent Pro software and drive formatting tools because it's for Windows only, how do I reformat so I can start backing up? I have no experience about formatting or reformatting, so please be patient. Is this a good external hard drive? Also you guys are awesome, friendly and quick about helping each other, I'm glad to be a part of it , you guys have helped me so much. Thank you!

 

I can't help you with the FreeAgent per se, but I can provide some general instructions on formating. These instructions assume you want this to work optimally under OS X only.

1. Make sure there isn't any software on the drive already that you want to keep.

2. To reformat the drive in HFS+, launch Disk Utility and select the drive after you plug it in. Click the "Partition" tab and select the partitions you'd like to make. Under Options, select "Apple Partition Map". You can allocate partitions any way you like and also make the entire drive a single partition if you like. Name it whatever you like. Under Format, you'd want to select Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I wouldn't bother with the OS 9 drivers.

** Obviously, if your needs differ (for example, if you plan to use the drive as a startup drive, or if you plan to format it in a different file system) then you'll have to select the appropriate partition format and file structure.

3. After partitioning OS X will be able to use the external drive just fine. As far as I know, the FreeAgent drives don't require any weird drivers (some external HD have extra features which require drivers, such as the MyBook Pro's animated light buttons).

4. For backup, many companies bundle some backup software with the HDD, either installed on the drive itself or in a separate disk. Check to see if you have one of those. Often, the software will have a Mac version available. Otherwise, you may have to rely on something like SuperDuper or one of the backup applications listed on this site: http://8help.osu.edu/1247.html. Keep in mind Leopard will feature an integrated free backup solution when it comes out - Time Machine.

 

See if these two guides help

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html
http://guides.macrumors.com/Formatting_an_External_Device