How to Format a Drive

The current data storage technology offers us great options, allowing storage of a huge amount of data easily. However, you might at times have to format your drive for some particular reason. There are many instances when one is left with no choice but to have the drive formatted. Formatting a drive is pretty easy but there are certain important aspects you will need to know and understand before getting your drive formatted.

Do I Really Need to Format?

Formatting is not really the best solution for all data storage problems you might encounter. Most times drives need to be formatted if you want to erase all the data on your drive, or you are considering installing a new operating system (OS), or you need to re-partition your drive for data storage convenience. No matter what the reason, once you have decided to go ahead with the formatting, the following pointers might come in handy.

Backup your Data!

Backing up your data on the drive is very important. Although once you have formatted the drive, you might still be able to restore some parts of it using data recovery tools, this makes little sense. Data recovery tools are a great help but there is no real certainty how much data you will be able to salvage. You can easily back up the data you need over another drive, for instance pen drives. In case you have decided to format the drive for virus related problems, make sure that the data you are backing up clears your anti-virus software. Once you have backed up all the data you need, you are ready to format the drive.

Create a Bootable Disk

Your computer can't boot and accept commands or install software unless you have some operating system in place. Most operating systems like Windows allow you to create a bootable disk that you can use to boot your disk. The bootable disk could be a 3.5" floppy, a pen drive, or a bootable CD or DVD.

If you are only formatting a partition of your drive that doesn't store any system files you won't need a bootable disk. If you are about to install a new OS, check your purchase for the bootable disk. Usually all OS installation disks are either bootable or shipped with one.

Formatting the Drive

There two ways to format your drive - either by directly using the format command from your current OS (for Windows, you can right click on the drive, select 'properties' and use the format option). However, a better way to format the drive is by restarting your computer and booting from your bootable disk. This will ensure that your bootable disk is working and you can proceed with the formatting process. Usually, you will have to enter the format disk syntax at the command prompt. E.g. your command prompt will look like this- F:\> (Here "F" is the name of your bootable drive. This varies with different systems)

Enter this command to format- F:\> format C: (Here "C" is the drive you are formatting.)

Once you press enter you will be guided through the format process in a step by step manner which should not take more than a few minutes.

Once your drive is formatted you can install a fresh OS or any other data you might want to.