unfortunately I wouldn't be able to just reformat the drive,
Did you watch the video? It seems not.
In the video it suggests that you make a backup, but it is just for security. It is not necessary to format the storage device.
Would it be possible to format a much smaller drive and just copy everything over but leave the roms, saves, and bios files? Wasn't sure if there was anything hidden I'd have to worry about.
There are some hidden files and folders, but you only need to configure your file explorer to show hidden files and folders.
Technically it is possible to do what you want, but it is more work, and I never did it.