Formatting, in the usual sense, is the process of writing certain information responsible for the correct storage of files, as well as, in some cases, system boot files, to the beginning of the disk. Formatting is done to erase data or to restore the hard drive. Formatting does not physically delete the data, so even after a complete formatting, it is possible to recover the information from the disk.
Necessary
a program for working with partitions of a hard disk of a computer
Instructions
Step 1
Formatting can be done both with the help of the operating system and with the help of special programs. In some cases, formatting is possible only with the help of special applications, for example, to format the system disk in the Windows operating system. Based on this, before formatting, it is necessary to determine which partition of the hard disk the operation will be performed on.
Step 2
If only one hard drive appears in My Computer, it defaults to the system hard drive. In this case, you can format it only with the help of a special program. If several hard drives are displayed in the "My Computer" folder, you need to determine which one is the system one and which one needs to be formatted. The system drive is usually named "C" and is called "Local drive C". When you enter the system drive, you will find folders with the names: "Program Files" and "Windows". This section contains your operating system and it will not be able to format itself.
Step 3
If you need to format a non-system hard disk partition. In the window "My Computer", on the desired section, right-click, in the pop-up menu, at the bottom, select the item "Format …". In the window that appears, you can choose the type of formatting: fast or full. Full formatting takes much longer, but when you select this item, the system will automatically check the hard disk partition for integrity and try to repair the damaged clusters. If you select "quick format", only the sector in which information about files and folders is stored will be deleted on the disk. In addition to the type of formatting, you can choose the size of the cluster. The efficiency of disk space utilization depends on this parameter. The very small cluster size improves the efficiency of free space use, but slightly slows down the speed of file access and makes it impossible to defragment the disk using the built-in Windows defragmenter. A cluster size that is too large will slightly increase the speed of file access, but will not allow the maximum use of free space. The optimal cluster size is 4KB or 16KB. Also, here you can change the drive letter. After selecting the required parameters, click "Start". After completing the process, a window will appear informing that formatting is complete.
Step 4
If you need to format the system drive. You need to download and install a program for working with hard disks on your computer, for example, Acronis Disk Director Home. In the program window that opens, you will see a list of all your hard drives and partitions. At the top, they are displayed as a list, where they are indicated: type, capacity, activity and file system. And below - in a graphical form, with a visual display of the occupied and free space. Click on the required section once with the left mouse button. A menu of operations available for this volume will appear on the left. Among them, select "Formatting". In the window that appears, as described in the previous step, select the cluster size and volume letter. In addition, you must select a file system. NTFS is recommended. After selecting the required parameters, click "OK". Next, you need to apply the operations done. In the upper left corner of the main window, click "Apply scheduled operations". In the window that opens, click continue. After the program has been running for some time, a window will appear notifying that all operations have been completed. Click "Ok". Using this method, you can format any partition on your computer's hard drive.
