How to Format a Hard Drive (Windows 1. Vista, XP)You need to format a hard drive if you plan on using it in Windows. To format a hard drive means to delete any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive. As complicated as that might sound, it's not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of Windows.

How to Format a Hard Drive (Windows 1. Vista, XP)You need to format a hard drive if you plan on using it in Windows. To format a hard drive means to delete any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive. As complicated as that might sound, it's not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of Windows.

You should test these softwares before you do copy and paste reviews. Unebootin does not seem to work for XP bootable. Tried Fat and NTFS system. As an administrator responsible for a network of about dozens of computers or more, network boot Windows 7, Windows XP, Vista, Windows Server 20 will. Using the XP Installation CD to Format Drives. As technology has improved, hard drives have become larger as the prices have dropped. I remember the days when.

This ability is a very basic function that all operating systems have, and Windows makes it pretty easy. Important: If the hard drive you want to format has never been used, or was just wiped clean, it must first be partitioned. See How to Partition a Hard Drive in Windows for instructions. Once partitioned, return to this page for help formatting the drive. Time Required: The time it takes to format a hard drive in Windows depends almost entirely on the drive's size, but your computer's overall speed plays a part too. Follow the easy steps below to format a hard drive in Windows 1.

Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP: How to Format a Hard Drive in Windows. Optional Walkthrough: If you'd prefer a screenshot- based tutorial, skip the instructions below and try my Step by Step Guide to Formatting a Hard Drive in Windows instead! Open Disk Management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of Windows. Note: In Windows 1. Windows 8, the Power User Menu gives you the quickest access to Disk Management. You can also open Disk Management from the Command Prompt in any version of Windows but opening it via Computer Management is probably easier unless you're really quick with commands.

In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, enable Physical Address Extension (PAE), a memory management feature for allowing supported CPUs to enable NX bit (No-eXecute) and. USB Disk Storage Format Tool 5.3- 100% Freeware, free for everyone! Download Now (550 KB) - 100% Freeware. Free download, free for use. USB flash drives hold. Windows XP Instructions. To update the sound card driver on Windows XP manually, follow the steps below, or click here to let us fix it automatically. Convert FAT32 to NTFS in Windows 7, Windows XP and Vista Easily and Safely >.

See What Version of Windows Do I Have? If so, it means you still need to partition the drive. See How to Partition a Hard Drive in Windows and then return here to continue. Note: Formatting the C drive, or whatever letter happens to identify the drive that Windows is installed on, can not be done from Disk Management.. See How to Format C for instructions on how to format your primary drive. Once located, right- click or tap- and- hold on the drive and choose Format..

Once started, you can't stop a format without causing problems. So.. If you're formatting a drive that has data on it, double- check that it's the correct drive by looking at the drive letter and then checking in File Explorer or Windows Explorer (depending on your version of Windows) that it is, in fact, the correct drive. If you're formatting a new drive, the drive letter assigned should be unfamiliar to you and the File System will probably be listed as RAW.

In the Volume label: textbox, either give a name to the drive or leave the name as is. If this is a new drive, Windows will assign the volume label. New Volume. I recommend giving a name to the drive so it's easier to identify in the future. For example, if you're planning on using this drive to store movies, name the volume Movies. For File system: choose NTFS unless you have a specific need to choose another file system. NTFS is always the best file system option to use in Windows unless you have a specific need to choose FAT3.

Other FAT file systems are only available as options on drives 2 GB and smaller. Set the Allocation unit size: set to Default unless there's a specific need to customize it. There are very few reasons to change this.

In Windows 1. 0, 8, and 7, the Perform a quick format option is checked by default but I recommend unchecking the box so a . A quick format skips the bad sector search and basic data sanitization. Windows XP: In a standard format, each sector is checked for errors.

The quick format skips this check. Automatic data wiping during the format process isn't available in Windows XP. The Enable file and folder compression option is unchecked by default and I recommend keeping it that way. Note: File and folder compression can be enabled to save on disk space and you're welcome to enable it if you think you may benefit from it. However, most drives are so large today that the tradeoff between the saved space and lower drive performance probably aren't worth it.

Tap or click OK at the bottom of the window. Tap or click OK to the .

Back up any data you want to to keep before formatting. Do you want to continue? You can keep track of the drive format by watching the Formatting: xx% progress in the Status field. Note: Formatting a hard drive in Windows could take a very long time if the drive is large and/or slow. A small 2 GB hard drive might only take several seconds to format while a 2 TB drive could take considerably longer depending on the speed of the hard drive and the computer as a whole. The format is complete when the Status changes to Healthy, which will happen a few seconds after the format counter reaches 1. Windows does not otherwise notify you that the drive format is complete.

That's it! You've just formatted or reformatted, your hard drive and you can now use the drive to store files, install programs, backup data.. Depending on your version of Windows, and the type of format, it's possible the data is still there, hidden from Windows and other operating systems but still accessible in certain situations. See How to Wipe a Hard Drive for instructions on truly removing all the information on a hard drive and my Wipe vs Shred vs Delete vs Erase: What's the Difference? See How to Completely Erase a Hard Drive for more on these other methods. More on Formatting Hard Drives in Windows. If you want to format your hard drive so you can install Windows again from scratch, please know that your hard drive will be automatically formatted as part of that process.

See How to Clean Install Windows for more on that. Not happy with the drive letter that Windows assigned during the partitioning process? You're welcome to change it at any time! See How to Change Drive Letters in Windows to see how.

You can also format a hard drive via Command Prompt using the format command. See my Format Command: Examples, Switches, & More for details on how to do that.