how to format drives on mac?

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Hi,
I am relatively new to the mac world...and am still getting used to the OS.
I am trying to figure out how to simply format a connected drive, such as a usb flash drive or my ipod when it is connect to my mbp. I am used to just having that option available by right clicking it in windows but have no clue how to do it in mac os x. Anyone know how this is done?

Thanks
 
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heeyyy i forgot that i really wanted to know this.

with an ipod you can 'reset' it in itunes, same thing.
but i would like to know how to with a usb flash drive, after many uses when you 'delete' everything it still has invisible files, or something. says it has no space.
 
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20" iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16Ghz, 500GB HDD, 1GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600
Open Disk Utility, and select the drive you want to erase. In the 'Volume Format' field, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) will make it readable & writable only on Mac. MS-DOS will make it readable & writable on both Mac and Windows.

Then just select a name and click 'Erase'.
 
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If you reformat your iPod with Disc Utility, it will no longer function as an iPod until you do a "Restore" in iTunes. iTunes "Restore" is basically just a reformat, but it preserves the iPod as an iPod.
 
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but i would like to know how to with a usb flash drive, after many uses when you 'delete' everything it still has invisible files, or something. says it has no space.

Are you emptying your trash? On OS X, when you "delete" something, all the OS does it move it to an invisible folder called .Trashes (the "." before the name signifies a hidden folder/file on OS X) on the same volume (so it still takes up the same amount of space). To actually delete it you need to empty your trash.
 
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yea got it to work! thanks for the advice...and I never realized that you need to empty the trash for it to actually delete files.. cuz i tried deleting some files that i had thrown on my ipod and found that the amount of free space had not changed....Good to know..thanks levi!
 

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