Questions related to how to formatHard drive, excite almost all users, since this process is one of the fundamental in work with hard drives and with removable media. In some situations, the use of only this tool allows you to get rid of seemingly absolutely unrecoverable problems. There are several ways of formatting. Further, they will all be considered. But in order to fully understand the essence of the question, we must first dwell on some theoretical aspects.
What is formatting?
And it’s probably worth starting with an explanationprocess. Without going into technical subtleties, it can be said that formatting is a universal means of organizing the disk structure to further store necessary information on it, which obeys strict rules for organizing file systems. It goes without saying that files are written to disk not randomly in any random order, but in a strictly definite way, although they may be located 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 location of the data 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 used quite often.There are quite a few examples of the most common situations in which 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. Most often this is needed when installing operating systems, sometimes formatting may be the only way to get rid of all sorts of viruses. There are frequent situations associated with the appearance of errors on the disk or damage to the file system, etc.
At one time, the anecdote onabout a call to Microsoft support when a user complains that Word is not working for him. The specialist asks, they say, where the user has the Word. He replies that the disk "C". The Council kills on the spot: “Write! Format c: ". The user doubts whether it will help? In response, he receives a reply that this is the most effective means. Of course, this is a joke, but, as they say, there is some truth in this.
Misconceptions about the formatting process
And that is why many users, especiallyBeginners, who do not have a clear idea about the functioning of this tool, refer to formatting almost with reverent horror, considering it to be a last resort to eliminate some problems. Mostly, only the destruction of important information, which, in their opinion, will be impossible to recover, is frightening. This is not the case, and data recovery is possible, and quite simply. It all depends on what kind of formatting method was used in each specific case (you can extract information using modern software packages even from damaged and completely inoperative hard drives).
Types of formatting
Finally, another small lyricalretreat. Among the main types of formatting distinguish low-level and high-level. The first is produced at the factory and is associated with the formation in the disc structure of the tracks and sectors, 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.
Высокоуровневое форматирование разделяют на quick and complete. In the first case, only file tables are overwritten. In the second, the disk surface and sector are checked first. Those with physical damage are marked as faulty, to prevent data from being written to them. Only then the file table is formed.
How to format the hard disk when installing the operating system?
Now consider the main methods thatallow you to format and hard drives, and removable drives of any type. And first, let's look at the installation process of 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 necessary only in order for the system to be installed correctly, and upon completion of the installation processes it will work without failures and errors.
How to format a hard disk?There are two options for this. In the first case, you just need to select the desired section and click the appropriate 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 to install the operating system and the required number of logical drives, and then format each one. 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 in Windows 7format the hard disk 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.
Для этого в самом обычном «Проводнике» необходимо Right-click on a dedicated disk or partition, select the format item from the context menu, and then set the preferred method (full or quick format). As a rule, the set parameters can be not changed, except that you can set a new volume label (section name), which does not affect the processes performed further.
How to format an external hard drive orordinary flash drive? Yes, exactly the same. Only in the first case, the system automatically determines the preferred type of file system, and in the second (especially for new hardware), you may need to install it yourself. The fact is that if an external HDD has a capacity of 2 TB or more, installing the FAT32 file system is not recommended, since it can only work with disks of the specified size limit. If, however, the formatting is done in FAT32, the rest of the volume will simply be lost, and it will not be possible to use it. Also, this type of file system may be needed when creating installation flash drives, when the primary I / O system on a computer or laptop is not using the BIOS, but UEFI (this FAT32 system on bootable media does not recognize).
Disk Management
Now let's see how to format a hard disk in Windows using a special management utility. The easiest way to call it is via the Run console using the command diskmgmmt.msc.
Here the whole procedure is to ensure thatcontext menu through the PCM for the disk or partition, select the format item and set the required parameters. The settings window is completely similar to the standard tool, which was described above.
How to format a hard disk in Windows via the command line?
Command line is considered (andnot unreasonably), is the most powerful tool, and not only for carrying out formatting, but also for many other actions that may be unavailable in the standard settings of the operating system.
How to fully format a hard disk withusing this console? As noted in the above anecdote, the format command is used, for which the space letter indicates the drive letter with a colon. However, special attributes can be added to the main command. So, for example, setting the “/ q” attribute (without quotes) corresponds to fast formatting, “fs: ntfs” produces formatting with the appropriate file system, etc.
Attributes can be shared and fullTheir list can be viewed through the execution of the format /? (a complete list of additional attributes will be displayed with a description of each of them).
Is it possible to format disks using BIOS?
Теперь еще об одном заблуждении, бытующем среди users. Regarding how to format the hard disk through BIOS, you can only answer one: NO! There are no such tools in the primary input / output systems. However, you can do otherwise by writing the necessary utility to removable media from which you can boot (both the DOS boot disk, the usual installation distribution kit, and utilities like LiveCD will do) Simply, the BIOS device needs to be set first in the boot priority, and then use the formatting tool written to it or the same command line.
Is it possible to format the system partition in a working OS?
Конечно, же у многих пользователей возникают questions and about this. However, drive “C”, 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 it(well, won't she give permission for her own removal?). Again, the only option is to use the appropriate tools when starting from external media.
Specialized programs for formatting
How to format the hard drive on a laptop or stationary computer terminal, figured out. Let's see what they offer us specially created for this program.
One of the most powerful is considered a utility forLow-level formatting HDD Low Level Format Tool, which can be used for stationary hard drives and removable drives of any manufacturer. The undoubted advantage of the application can be called Ultra-DMA mode support and formatting speed at 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 by severalsimple methods, I think, a little clear. Finally, a few words about the issue of information recovery after formatting that concerns all users. It is believed that such actions can be performed only in the case of fast high-level formatting. After a full or low-level recovery will be impossible.
One may not agree with this, sincespecialized utilities like R.Saver are capable of that. But to recover deleted information, including after formatting, there are a lot of applications available today. Not all of them are equivalent in terms of functionality; nevertheless, certain actions for data recovery are quite good.
