Issue
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If your computer was supposed to have come with a 1 GB hard drive, it probably did, but it may have been formatted improperly. The improper formatting, in this case, causes 1 GB hard drives to appear to have less total disk space. The total space showing in the hard drive window is 750 MB. This formatting issue has been noted and corrected at Apple's manufacturing site. This issue should no longer be a factor in any new PowerBook computers.
Which Models Shipped With A 1 GB Hard Drive?
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Not all PowerBook 1400 computers shipped with 1 GB hard drives. Only the following models shipped with 1 GB hard drives.
M4856 Macintosh PowerBook 1400c/117
M5576 Macintosh PowerBook 1400c/133
How Can I Tell If My 1 GB Hard Drive Is Formatted Improperly?
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If you aren't sure whether or not your hard drive has been improperly formatted, do the following:
Step 1
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Open the hard drive window.
Step 2
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Pull down the View menu.
Step 3
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Select "by icon" from the menu.
Step 4
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Add up the numbers for "in Disk" and "available". If these numbers add up to approximately 750 MB, then the drive will need to be reformatted to obtain the full size of 1 GB.
Resolution
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If your PowerBook computer has an improperly formatted hard drive, you will need to follow these steps to reformat* the drive:
* Note: Reformatting your hard drive will cause all the data files on the drive to be permanently erased. Be sure to save your important files to other media before reformatting.
Step 1
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Back up the important data from your hard drive to another hard drive or to floppy disks. All of the software that came with your computer is contained on the CD that came with it, so you only need to back up the files you have created.
Step 2
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Startup from the PowerBook System CD.
Step 3
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Run Drive Setup to reformat/initialize the hard drive.
Step 4
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Restore all the software from the PowerBook 1400 CD.
Step 5
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Restart
When you open your hard drive window now the amount of space "in disk" and "available" should show that you have approximately 1 GB of hard drive space.
This article was published in the Information Alley on 18 December 1996.