Best way to Format Hard Drive in Windows Vista, 7, 8 & 10
Hard Drive or Hard Disk, we often called it as HDD (Hard Disk Drive). It is a storage device which is used in the computer or laptops to store all your data like documents, books, pictures, videos, audio and textual data etc. So we can say that hard disk is magnetic disk on which we store entire computer data. Now If a hard disk is so important as it stores entire data then why will we format it. Lets talk about the situations in which we need to format the entire hard disk or a specific partition.
Formatting a Hard Drive Means
Hard disk is the primary storage device in computer so we need to specify a format to store the data. So formatting a hard disk is not mean only to erase the data from the hard disk. It is also responsible for configuring the disk with file system like FAT or NTFS which supports to storing the data in efficient manner. Hard disks in new computers already formatted but If you buy a new hard disk to increase the storage capacity then you may be need to format it fist and then use it.
Reasons for Formatting a Hard Drive
In many situation we need to format the hard disks as we are aware with this if we format it then all data will erased. So lets talk about in which situation we need to format a hard disk. Here I am going to list some common reasons, in actual their are many other reasons as well which force you to format the hard disk.
- For Clean Installation of Windows.
- Affected by Virus or Malware.
- Giving the Hard disk to Someone Else.
- Poor Performance of Hard disk.
- Hard Drive Become Inaccessible.
Note: - As we know that the formatting a hard disk is directly erasing the data. But remember this when you perform the Quick Format option, then it will not delete the data form hard disk but the drive will appears empty.
Format Hard Drive Quickly
If you want to perform quick format in windows vista, 7, 8 and 10, follow the steps given below.
Step 1: - Go to Start and click on either
My Computer or This PC, depending on windows os you installed on your system.
Step 2: - Select a partition which you want to format and Right Click on it and then a list will be open, hit on Format.
Note: - But note that you can not format the partition in which the windows operating system is installed.
Step 3:- As you click on Format a pop up window will appear with all detail of selected partition and also give you a warning message that all the items will be erased. Click on Start button to finish the operation.
Format Hard Drive using “Disk Management“ Windows Inbuilt Utility
Find Disk Management Utility in Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10. It is a windows inbuilt utility introduced to over come the cons of fdisk command to which is used to crate or delete a hard drive partition. You can manage all hard drive action by using this utility so lets talk about how can you format hard disk using this utility. Follow the steps given below to access this utility.
Step 1: - Click on Start and hit on My Computer.
Step 2: - Click on Manage Option as appear in the list.
Step 3: - Click on the Disk Management by exploring storage.
Step 4: - Select a disk and click on the Create and Format Hard Disk Partition.
Step 5: - As you click a new window will appear check the radio button MBR and click on OK.
Note: - It is recommended that if you disk size is more than 2TB then you should use GPT (GUID Partition Table), otherwise use MBR option.
Conclusion
At the end of this article you are able to format hard drive or its any specified partition except the partition in which the window is installed. I have tried to list all possible and easy way to format a hard drive and I hope this effort will help you to manage all the things.
