In addition to the fact that information can be stored on the computer’s hard drive or in some section of a virtual volume, removable media is often used. However, sometimes when preparing a device for transferring information to it, it may be necessary to format it. And here a problem may arise due to the fact that Windows cannot complete formatting. Solving it is not so difficult.
What is formatting?
From the point of view of computer science, formatting is a software process for marking up the area of the information medium in which data is stored. Simply put, this is a conditional table creation with a clear location of sectors and clusters.
A sector is a minimal cell with a size of 512 bytes, and such cells can be combined into clusters (several homogeneous sectors). As a rule, in order to unify data storage in most operating systems, it is clusters with a size of 512 bytes or more that are used. For example, in the NTFS file system, sectors can be clustered up to 4096 bytes (4 sectors).
Thus, the formatting process creates not only a numbered markup workspace, but also gives a clear indication of where (at what address) this or that sector or cluster is located. This is best demonstrated by the example of a chessboard or the game "Sea Battle". A chessboard illustrates an example of the arrangement of sectors (one piece on one square).
"Sea battle" in this regard gives an idea of how sectors are combined in clusters (2, 3 and 4 deck ships).
So with the data that occupy some place in the system. You can always accurately determine not even one, but several addresses of one object. This approach allows the operating system itself or the programs that are installed in it to quickly find files at predetermined coordinates (addresses).
Formatting Methods
The main methods in this process include fast formatting and full formatting.
Quick formatting only clears the table of contents, that is, it simply deletes files and folders.
Full formatting not only removes information completely, but also creates a new file system, which is often required. But there may be a problem that Windows cannot complete formatting.
Problems formatting removable media
As for removable media, most often the problem here is that the process of copying information to it was not completed correctly or even forced to stop. This was very often observed with obsolete diskettes before.
In some cases, the problem may be due to physical damage to the surface of the removable media, whether it is a regular USB flash drive or hard drive. And it should be noted that standard methods do not always help. But more on that later.
Why Windows cannot complete formatting a hard drive partition
Quite often, problems of this kind arise with the formatting of hard disk partitions, and with the formatting of the entire hard drive.
Again, the problem could be file system failures or mechanical surface damage. Nevertheless, although it is not possible to complete the formatting, you can use several basic methods to fix the problem without resorting to the help of third-party programs.
Windows troubleshooting
If the user receives a system message stating that Windows cannot complete formatting, do not panic. For starters, you can apply the standard method by right-clicking on the media in the same Explorer and selecting the "Format ..." command. This can also be done using the command line (in the main menu the “Run” command), setting the command format h: in the line, where h is removable media. In the case of formatting, say, the “D” section, the drive letter (format d :) simply changes.
Sometimes this also does not help, and again a message appears stating that Windows cannot complete formatting. In this case, you can use the computer to boot in safe mode, and then specify the command above.
In some cases, if formatting fails, you can use the disk administration options. This command is called up very simply: using the main menu or the command line where the discmgmt command is entered. In the window that appears, you just need to select the desired drive and after right-clicking in the context menu select the same “Format ...” command.
Formatting "Windows 7" produces the usual algorithm. But the problem may be due to the presence of errors on the disk. Actually, Windows 8 formatting has the same approach. Now you need to call the disk verification program. You can do this in the same Explorer by right-clicking on the "Properties" menu, where on the "Maintenance" tab there will be a button to start the scan. Here you can choose a regular scan, a scan with automatic file system error correction and a full scan with a hard disk surface scan.
You can enter chkdsk c: / f on the command line (a disk check will be performed with automatic error correction). Sometimes it may be necessary to check the entire file system. To do this, use the chkntfs / xc: command (for drive “C”). For other discs, the letter just changes.
Only after a full check (sometimes even with a check on the surface of the disk) can you start re-formatting. As a rule, after such checks (especially when using the last command for the entire NTFS file system), no user will have problems.
Third party programs
As for the use of third-party programs for formatting drives, for example, for USB drives that for some reason are not formatted or show zero volume, the best option would be to use utilities such as D-Soft Flash Doctor, EzRecover, USB Repair Tool, etc. .d. For hard disks (hard drives) or their partitions, you can use software products such as Acronis Disc Director Suite or something similar.
In any case, it is impossible to say that some kind of program for formatting Windows 7 or for any other version of the OS is the best. Each of them has its own unique features and functional set.