Questions related to how to format a hard drive are of concern to almost all users, since this process is one of the fundamental issues in working with hard drives and removable storage media. In some situations, using only this toolkit allows you to get rid of seemingly absolutely fatal problems. There are several ways to format. Further, all of them will be considered. But for a complete understanding of the essence of the issue, we should first dwell on some theoretical aspects.
What is formatting?
And perhaps it’s worth starting with an explanation of the process itself. Without going into technical subtleties, we can say that formatting is a universal means of organizing the structure of the disk to further store the necessary information on it, which obeys strict rules for organizing file systems. It goes without saying that the files are written to the disk not randomly in some random order, but in a strictly defined way, although they may be in different areas of the disk. All information is presented in the form of files. Folders are also files, but only of a certain type, and the structure of the data location on the hard drive is significantly different from what the user sees in the same "Explorer" or in any other file manager.
Why do I need to format disks?
In general, these processes are applied quite often. Examples of the most common situations where it may be necessary to format a hard disk or an external drive in the form of USB-HDD, ordinary flash drives or memory cards can be cited quite a lot. Most often this is necessary when installing operating systems, sometimes formatting may be the only way to get rid of all kinds of viruses. Situations related to the appearance of errors on the disk or damage to the file system, etc.
At one time, a joke about a call to Microsoft support was very popular when a user complains that Word does not work for him. The specialist asks where the user has Word. That answers that on a disk "C". Council kills on the spot: “Write! Format c: ". The user doubts whether this will help? In response, he receives a remark that this is the most effective means. Of course, this is a joke, but, as they say, there is some truth to this.
Misconceptions about formatting processes
And that is why many users, especially beginners, who do not have a clear idea about the functioning of this tool, treat formatting with almost reverential horror, considering it an extreme measure to eliminate some problems. Scary, mainly, is the destruction of important information, which, in their opinion, will be impossible to recover. This is not so, and data recovery is possible, and quite simply. It all depends on exactly which formatting method was used in each particular case (you can fetch information using modern software systems even from damaged and completely inoperative hard drives).
Format Types
Finally, another small digression. Among the main types of formatting, low-level and high-level are distinguished. The first is produced at the manufacturer and is associated with the formation of tracks and sectors in the disk structure, which will subsequently be recorded. The second type is responsible for the formation of logical structures of partitions, file system (file tables), boot sectors, etc.
High-level formatting is divided into fast and complete. In the first case, only file tables are overwritten. In the second - first, the surface of the disk, sector is checked. Those with physical damage are marked as malfunctioning to prevent data from being written to them. Only then is the file table formed.
How to format a hard drive when installing an operating system?
Now consider the basic methods that allow you to format both hard drives and removable drives of any type. And first, let's look at the process of installing the operating system. Probably, each user noticed that at the stage of selecting the partition in which it will be installed, the installer asks to format the hard disk or the selected partition. It is clear that this is only necessary in order for the system to install correctly, and upon completion of the installation processes it works without failures and errors.
How to format a hard drive? There are two options for this. In the first case, you just need to select the desired section and click the corresponding button in the installer window. In the second case, you can delete all partitions by combining them into one unallocated area, create a system partition for installing the operating system and the desired number of logical drives, and then format each of them. If you intend to leave only one partition without partitioning the disk, it will be fully formatted.
Standard formatter
Now a few words about how to format a hard disk in Windows 7 using standard system tools. In general, we take the seventh modification solely as an example, since in all versions of Windows these processes are completely identical.
To do this, in the most ordinary “Explorer”, you need to select the formatting item from the context menu on the dedicated disk or partition, and then set the preferred method (full or fast formatting). As a rule, the set parameters can not be changed, unless you set a new volume label (partition name), which does not affect the processes that are performed later.
How to format an external hard drive or a regular USB flash drive? Yes, exactly the same. But only in the first case, the system automatically determines the preferred type of file system, and in the second (especially for new equipment) it may need to be installed independently. The fact is that if the external HDD has a capacity of 2 TB or more, it is not recommended to install the FAT32 file system, since it can only work with disks of the specified size limit. If, however, formatting is done in FAT32, the rest of the volume will simply be lost, and it will be impossible to use it. Also, this type of file system may be needed when creating installation flash drives, when UEFI is not used as the primary input / output system on a computer or laptop (this FAT32 system does not recognize bootable media).
Drive management
Now let's see how to format a hard disk in Windows using a special management utility. It is easiest to call it through the Run console with the diskmgmmt.msc command.
Here, the whole procedure boils down to selecting a formatting item in the context menu via RMB for a disk or partition and setting the required parameters. The settings window is completely similar to the standard tool that was described above.
How to format a hard disk in Windows through the command line?
The command line, as it is believed (and not without reason), is the most powerful tool, and not only for formatting, but also for many other actions that may not be available in the standard settings of the operating system.
How to completely format a hard drive using this console? As was noted in the above joke, the format command is used, for which a disk letter with a colon is indicated with a space. However, you can add special attributes to the main command. So, for example, setting the attribute “/ q” (without quotes) corresponds to fast formatting, “fs: ntfs” performs formatting with the corresponding file system, etc.
Attributes can be used together, and a complete list of them can be viewed through the format /? (the screen will display a complete list of additional attributes with a description of each of them).
Can I format disks using BIOS?
Now about another misconception that exists among users. Regarding how to format a hard drive via BIOS, there is only one answer: NO! Primary I / O systems do not. However, you can do otherwise by writing the desired utility onto removable media from which you can boot (the DOS boot disk, the usual installation distribution, and utilities like LiveCD are also suitable). Simply, the BIOS device must be set first in the boot priority, and then use the formatting tool written to it or the same command line.
Can I format a system partition in a running OS?
Of course, many users have questions about this. However, the C drive on which the operating system is installed cannot be formatted using Windows tools or any other programs that run in its environment.
Actually, the OS itself will not allow this to be done (well, will it not give permission for its own removal?). Again, the only option is to use the appropriate tools when starting from external media.
Narrowly formatted programs
How to format the hard drive on a laptop or stationary computer terminal, figured out. Let's see what they offer to us specially created for this program.
One of the most powerful is considered a utility for low-level formatting HDD Low Level Format Tool, which can be used for stationary hard drives, and for removable drives of any manufacturer. An undoubted advantage of the application can be called support for Ultra-DMA mode and a formatting speed of 180 GB / h. There are a lot of such programs. You can use any utility to partition the disk.
Is it possible to recover data after formatting?
How to format a hard disk using several simple methods, I think, is a little clear. Finally, a few words about the issue of concern for all users to recover information after formatting. It is believed that such actions can be performed only in case of fast high-level formatting. After a full or low level recovery will be impossible.
One may not agree with this, since specialized utilities like R.Saver are capable of this as well. But to recover deleted information, including after formatting, today you can find a lot of applications. Not all of them are equivalent in functionality, nevertheless, certain data recovery actions are performed quite well.