How to format a hard drive: 5 ways

If you are faced with the need to format the hard drive, then do not rush to rush and use the first method that comes across, because it may not be suitable for you. In this article, we will describe in detail how and why to format a hard drive.

What is formatting?

Formatting is the process of overwriting a file system and completely erasing data from the media, which in our case is the hard drive. It is of two types:

• Fast - write the boot sector and the file system table (NTFS, FAT32, or ExFAT) to the hard disk space. Sectors with old data will be marked as unused, but at the physical level the files will not cease to exist, so they can be restored. The operating system perceives unused sectors as empty, so it will indicate that the media is clean.
• Full - in this case, the same actions are performed, however, zeros are written to sectors with old data, i.e., data is completely deleted. In the process of formatting, the drive also checks for bad sectors, which are reassigned and marked as bad, to prevent subsequent recording of information in them.

Fast formatting is the most popular method, because it is enough to solve most user tasks, in addition, it is several hundred times faster than full formatting. You will learn more about choosing between these methods in the next part of the article.

When is formatting necessary?

Not wanting to lose data, users often wonder: do I need to format the hard drive? Answering this question is pretty easy. The fact is that formatting is an integral part of many procedures, for example, reinstalling Windows, and it is simply impossible to do without it.

Quick formatting is necessary when:

• Reinstalling Windows.
• Partitioning a drive into logical drives.
• The formation of the file system on a new medium.
• Deactivating old data, for example, when infected with viruses.
• Creating a bootable disc, but this only applies to CD / DVDs and flash drives.

Full formatting is used to erase all data from the hard drive without the ability to recover it. It will also help to fix various errors in the drive.

Formatting through Disk Properties

Windows provides a number of different formatting tools, but they are only suitable for drives that do not have an active system installed. To erase the system drive, you must use formatting through the BIOS, which will be discussed later.

To get started, let's figure out how to format a hard drive using its properties in the OS:

1. Go to "Explorer" or "My Computer".
2. Click RMB on the disk you want to format.
3. In the menu, select "Format".
4. In the window that appears, install the file system. We recommend using NTFS.
   
5. Mark the “Quick” checkbox for quick formatting, or uncheck it for full.
6. Click "Start."
7. After completion, click “OK” under the notification of successful completion.

Formatting through Computer Management

This method is very similar to the previous one, but it is also worth knowing about it.

How to format a hard drive using Windows Computer Management:

1. Right click on the “My Computer” icon.
2. Select the Manage tab.
3. In the left submenu of the window that opens, select "Disk Management".
4. Now click on the right RMB drive and select the “Formatting” item in the context menu.
5. In the opened settings, install the NTFS file system and select the formatting method with a tick.
   
6. Click OK.
7. When formatting is complete, Windows will notify you of the success of the operation.

How to format a hard drive through the command line

Windows Command Prompt is the last formatting method built into Windows. It also does not differ from the previous two, however, it allows you to interact with the system directly, without using any interfaces that may not be available.

Command line formatting process:

1. Open the run menu by pressing Win + R.
2. Enter the line "cmd" and click OK;
3. Now, in order to format the hard disk with the command line correctly, you must enter a line of the form “format / fs: ni: / q”, where instead of n you need to specify the file system (we recommend using NTFS). Instead of i, you must specify the letter of the formatted disk.
   
4. Press Enter and wait for the end of the process.

How to format a hard drive via BIOS

The BIOS itself cannot control the hard drive, however, using it, you will be able to load data from another medium, for example, from a USB flash drive. It must have the distribution kit of the new OS installed, or special software, for example, the Acronis Disk Director program, which is designed specifically for formatting the drive through the BIOS.

To begin with, we’ll look at how to format a hard disk using a distribution kit with an operating system, because this is the most popular method:

1. Insert a bootable USB flash drive or operating system drive.
2. Restart your computer and enter the BIOS menu by pressing a special key. You can find out which key opens the BIOS in the hardware initialization window that appears when you turn on the computer. Usually these are F2, Del or F12 keys.
3. Go to the BOOT tab and install bootable media (CD-ROM or USB-HDD) opposite the First boot;
   
4. The SAVE AND REBOOT key will be indicated below, which you need to press and wait for the system to reboot.
5. Wait for the Windows Installer to start.
6. Click "Install", accept the license and select the full installation.
7. In the new menu, click on the disk you want to format, and press the corresponding key in the lower menu.
8. Wait until the formatting is complete and install the Windows system.

Now let's move on to third-party software and consider how to format a hard drive using Acronis Disk Director:

1. Download and run the program on your PC.
2. Insert a USB flash drive and format it in FAT32 format using Windows tools.
3. In the program, go to the "Backup" tab.
4. In the submenu, click on "Create bootable media."
5. Install the Windows PE type and click Next.
6. Check the boxes for all items except Acronis system report and click Next again.
7. Select your flash drive and click "Next", then confirm the creation of bootable media.
8. Go to the BIOS menu and boot from this flash drive.
9. In the loaded program, click RMB on the desired drive.
10. In the menu that opens, select the "Format" item.
11. Install the NTFS file system and a cluster size of 4 KB.
12. Start the formatting process and wait for it to complete.

Conclusion

We examined all possible ways of formatting, however you can always use other third-party programs. Also, do not forget to save important files to another disk, because formatting will delete them.