Hello everyone Today we will talk about how to format HDD with help command line. And you know what I’ll tell you here? This information, well, I mean formatting hard drive via the command line, then you definitely need to know this information! This information, so to speak, is included in the list of the most important information that a more or less advanced user should know.
My opinion is that everyone should be able to work with the command line. Well, not that everyone, but if suddenly your computer breaks down, then you need knowledge of how to use the command line, then this knowledge can be very, very useful to you, I’m telling you this honestly!
I think that you don’t need to say that formatting a disk will completely delete all the files on it, everything in general, and programs and all sorts of photos, music, everything will be deleted on the disk that you format! I hope that you understand this anyway, but I still had to write about it..
Okay guys, back to our topic, namely how to format a hard drive using the command line. This can be done both from Windows itself and when loading it, but the main thing is that all the actions are the same, you just need to clearly understand what’s what and that’s exactly what I’ll show you now. So look, if you do all this in Windows (but keep in mind that at the same time you system disk you can’t format it, because it’s on Windows), then you need to hold down Win buttons+ R, the Run window will appear, you write there cmd command and click OK:
Then a black window will appear, like this:
Well, I think that you already understand that this black window is the command line. Here you can enter all sorts of commands and do something. In general, you can do a lot of things. To see a list of all commands, you need to type the following command in the line:
And press enter, after which you will see this list of commands:
You can take any team, well, the very first one on the list is ASSOC, so we’ll take it. Well, you can take any command, then add a space to it and something like /? and then press enter and there will be a mini-instruction for this particular command. Well, look, I wrote the following command:
I pressed enter and this is what I thought:
Well guys, in principle it’s more or less clear, right? That is, in this way you can somehow learn to use the command line yourself. But of course this is a little boring, but what can you do? Today I will show you how to format a disk using the command line, for this you need to use the following command:
Yes, you can look at the help on it, I have already shown how, but I think it would be better if I personally tell you about it, since I myself have used it more than once. And I didn’t just use it, there is one feature in this command, you may not be interested in it, but I’ll tell you about it anyway...
So what do you need to do to format a disk using the FORMAT command? You need to write the following command:
FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS /X
This is a standard command, it will format the disk as usual, so to speak. Where the letter C is, then you indicate the drive letter there. Such as /FS:NTFS is necessary for the disk to be formatted in the NTFS file system, it is also possible in FAT32, but I recommend NTFS. Such as /X is necessary so that the disk is forcibly disconnected before formatting, this is just necessary to ensure that everything goes correctly. Attention, guys! This command does the usual formatting, that is, it’s not so fast, but if you need everything to go quickly, then you need to add the /Q key, that is, so that it’s like this:
FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS /X /Q
It will be much faster and you won't have to wait. Because without the /Q switch, formatting can take a long time if the hard drive is not small... well, there is one terabyte or more...
That seems to be it, right? But I wrote about a trick, what kind of trick? Now I’ll tell you everything guys.. The trick is that there is also such a key /A:64KB, this key is so that when formatting the cluster is changed. A standard cluster is 4KB, that is, 4 kilobytes. What general cluster size can be can be found in the help for the FORMAT command. What is a cluster? I won’t burden you, I’ll just say that a cluster is the minimum unit that can be occupied on a disk.
So, regarding the cluster, look. A 4 kilobyte cluster is usually installed on a hard drive. That is, if you have a file of 100 kilobytes, then it will be written in small parts of 4 kilobytes. Windows does not always write the entire file to one area at once. Usually part of the file is in one place, and another part is in another, this is called fragmentation and this is a normal phenomenon. Do you understand? As a result, we get this: if the cluster costs 4 kilobytes, then the file can have many parts and they can easily be scattered throughout the hard drive, and in order to read the file, it takes more time than if the file was written in one piece. If the cluster is 64 kilobytes, then a 100 kilobyte file will have only two parts on the disk, these are 64 kb and 64 kb, because these parts will fit the entire file. What remains, well, I mean two clusters are 128 kb, and the file is 100 kb, then nothing at all can be written to the remaining 28 kb, this is the only disadvantage of a 64 kb cluster. It seems that there are no more disadvantages, well, at least I don’t see them. A 100 KB file will only have 2 parts on a 64 KB cluster versus 25 parts on a 4 KB cluster, get it? Once again, about the disadvantage that I wrote, in other words, a 100 kb file on a disk with a 64 kb cluster will take up 128 kb of space. Because two clusters are 128 kb. Well, I hope it’s more or less clear, but if not, then I’m sorry, it means I’m not explaining it well..
In general, I personally always install a 64 kb cluster, I like it better, my mother also has a computer and I also installed a 64 kb one for her and the computer seems to work faster. But if you think about it, in theory it should work faster. A 64 kb cluster is the best cure for fragmentation, but does not eliminate it completely..
So what should the command be so that the cluster is 64 kb? I personally use this one:
FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS /X /A:64KB
A cluster of 64 kilobytes is the maximum size for a file NTFS systems. Well, you can also specify the /Q key to make formatting faster.
There is another joke. The fact is that there may be such a jamb that Windows does not want to be installed on a disk with a 64 KB cluster, there is such a thing. This is what I do here. At first I just stupidly install Windows, format the disk and everything is as usual. Then I reboot and go to system recovery and there I launch the command line, the system disk, well, that small, service disk of the type, it’s usually 500 MB, I DO NOT TOUCH it AT ALL. And the one where Windows is located, then I put the FORMAT command on the command line and put a 64 kb cluster there and format it. Then I install Windows again, I don’t format ANYTHING in the installer, I just select the disk (which I formatted in a 64 KB cluster) and install it. As a result, Windows is easily installed on a disk with a 64 KB cluster
In fact, all this mess with clusters, I need it, but it’s not a necessity, almost all users have a 4 kb cluster and are happy with everything.. So you don’t have to worry about it, if you’re not interested in these clusters, then it’s not worth it change the cluster, that's it, my jokes so to speak.
Please note that in the command line, well, where the installer is, there is also a button Restore Windows or something like that, then there, in that command line, there the system drive can easily NOT HAVE THE LETTER C, but another, keep this in mind, because it is important! How to resolve the situation here? First you need to find out which letters belong to which sections. To do this you enter the following command:
And then write the following command:
And you will see what sections there are and what letters belong to them, look like mine:
Then, when you have looked, you need to enter this command:
This is to exit the DISKPART subsection, so to speak:
Another piece of information that will help you is the size of the disk; it is also easy to understand what kind of disk it is. There is also a command that will show you what is on the disk, this will also help you understand where which disk is, well, for example, to see what is on drive C, you need to write the following command:
And this is what the result will be:
What’s also good is that the disk size is also displayed here.
Here's another command:
This is to go to the directory, well, here above is just drive C as an example. Well, guys, everything seems to be more or less clear? I really hope so!
That seems to be all... And if something is wrong, then I'm sorry. By the way, it’s December, the 22nd, and therefore I congratulate you on the upcoming New Year 2017. I wish you happiness and that everything goes well with you.. By the way, the year of the rooster..
23.12.2016Greetings to all readers of my blog, Denis Trishkin here.
Using a computer for a long time, sooner or later the need arises Windows reinstallation. This can be done in several ways. The correct one is the one before which you need to format the hard drive. In this article I will tell you exactly how this happens, and also introduce you to the main concepts.
So what is formatting? Even at school, this process was presented as a division into sectors and tracks, with the loss of all information previously recorded on the storage medium. In the realities of today's technological world, formatting is the process of marking up an electronic storage medium, regardless of its shape and structure, be it an optical or hard disk, memory card, flash drive.
To put it simply, the process is the erasure of all existing files in the specified area. At the same time, when new ones appear, they are already placed on top in a seamless manner. Because of this, access to them will be easier in the future, and, consequently, the speed of processing requests will decrease. The OS and individual programs will run faster.
File system types( ^)
Before moving directly to familiarization with the process itself, it is important to introduce you to such a concept as file system and its types. So, it is a table that indicates the order of storing, recording and naming information on media. In other words, it is responsible for all processes related to transferring and reading data.
There are several most famous and used types:
Formatting process( ^)
We immediately need to clarify that we are talking about formatting before installing Windows. Therefore, we will talk about working with hard drives, and not with other data storage devices.
This process consists of three stages:
tracks (tracks);
information management program.
1 Low-level formatting is considered the most important. During this process, the information storage area is marked. This is carried out directly during the manufacture of the hard drive. With low-frequency formatting, all the structures necessary for operation are created in the corresponding area. These include:
In the future, during the entire use of the media, this markup does not change. Many utilities that claim to be able to do low-level formatting actually don't do this. At best, they only prescribe new program management.
2 Partitioning. During this process, the entire volume of the hard drive is divided into logical parts (most often they are called letters of the Latin alphabet: C, D, E and others). This is done by the built-in services itself. operating system or third party programs. The process is optional - you can skip it - the media will only have one partition. But due to the fact that modern hard drives have large amounts of memory, they are usually divided into logical partitions.
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3 High-level formatting. During the process, logical structures are formed that are responsible for storing files. This type is divided into two types:
Formatting methods before installing a new system( ^)
There are only a few ways to format before installing new Windows:
using built-in capabilities;
command line (use the same tool);
third-party programs (most often these are Acronis Disk Director);
use another computer.
Step-by-step instructions for formatting with built-in capabilities( ^)
It should be noted right away that I will talk about Windows 7, 8, 10, because previous versions Microsoft has stopped supporting it. So, when, during the installation of a new operating system, you reach the disk selection point, you need to:
The built-in tool allows you to format the disk only in a quick way.
However, it does not provide additional functions. This is why many specialists use special programs for formatting, which work even without an installed operating system. The above is considered the most convenient Acronis Disk Director. This application is paid, although there is the possibility of temporary use.
Formatting using Acronis Disk Director( ^)
To use the application you need:
1 Download the program image file using a torrent tracker.
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2 Write the downloaded image to a USB flash drive
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3 Using the BIOS, check that the system boots first from the flash drive, press the F10 button and agree.
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4 After rebooting, confirm working from the flash drive.
5 A black screen appears where you need to select full version Acronis Disk Director.
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6 On the pop-up window, mark “manual” mode.
7 After this, select the section and click on the item in the left menu.
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9 After this, the program sends us to the initial partition selection window. This is necessary to make additional changes. But since we are only formatting the disk on which Windows will later be installed, we click on the checkbox.
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10 We are waiting for the process to complete. After this, you can exit the program and continue installing the OS. In this case, there is no longer any need to format the disk with the built-in program.
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Formatting via the command line( ^)
Almost no one uses this method, since the methods described above are sufficient for most. But sometimes there are situations when he is the only one left. enlarge(^)
Several times I encountered situations where malicious software (aka virus) damaged system files on your hard drive. As a result, the operation of important mechanisms is disrupted, which leads to a formatting error in the standard utility. It turns out that in order to cope with the “infection”, you need to install a new Windows. And it won't make sense without formatting.
The situation can be resolved using third party computer. An infected hard drive is connected to it and standard system cleared. To do this, after booting the system in the section " My computer"you need to select the damaged partition, click on it right click, and then select the appropriate menu. Specify the file system, cluster size, and volume label.
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After formatting, the hard drive is installed on the original computer and Windows is installed. Sometimes during this, the system requires you to re-divide the partition into sectors and tracks. Don't worry - this is normal.
Formatting your hard drive before installing Windows is an important step. If you don't do it, a new version will work with errors and most likely not for long.
I hope this article will clarify for you the main issues that are associated with the formatting procedure. Subscribe, recommend me to your friends and along with you become computer literate.
The other day I tried to connect my old WD external hard drive (which had been lying around for a long time) to a Windows 8.1 computer and found that they couldn't access it. As soon as I connected it and opened the "This PC" folder, I saw green stripe, slowly filling address bar window, and when I right-clicked on the icon of this disk, the system hung for a while. Then I realized that there was something wrong with the disk, and in order to try to “revive” it, I needed to check it for errors and format it if necessary.
External hard drive not available
If you encounter a situation where your external hard drive has become inaccessible, this guide will help you check for errors/format it using the Command Prompt (CMD).
How to check disk using CMD
Using the WinX menu in Windows 8 (8.1), open a Command Prompt window and enter the following command:
Where "D" is the letter of the external hard drive - or any other drive for that matter - that needs to be scanned for errors and then corrected if any are found. In short, you just need to replace "D" with your drive letter and then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
This will start the process of checking the disk and correcting any errors that are found.
Advice: The command line can also be launched using the Run dialog. To do this, press Win + R on your keyboard, enter the command “cmd” (without quotes, of course) and press Enter.
In my case, it was the check that helped - as soon as the process was completed, I discovered that I again had access to the disk.
How to format a drive using CMD
There is nothing complicated here either. To format a drive using the command line, type the following command and press Enter:
Again, replace “D” with the letter of the drive you want to format.
I hope this information will help you someday. Good luck!
Have a great day!
Formatting the hard drive – software process applying marks to elements of the magnetic plate memory area and creating a new file structure of the media. Without labels and file structure hard system The disk is a useless device; it is impossible to write information to it due to the physical and software features of the processes of recording, storing and reading information.
Physically, nothing happens to it when formatting a hard drive, but on program level The storage medium organizes its logical structure - a certain order necessary for recording, storing, editing and deleting data. Otherwise, the logical structure of the disk is called a file system. Depending on the selected file system, the speed of access to information, the maximum length of a file name, the number of files in one directory, the efficiency of the drive, search methods, recording information, etc. will differ.
Formatting a hard drive is divided into two types. These are low-level and high-level formatting.
Low-level formatting is a process by which special electronic marks called servo marks are applied to the magnetic surface of the polished platters of your HDD. They contain service information about the positioning of the read heads and the position of sectors and tracks of the disk, which determine the physical format of the drive. This procedure is performed on special factory equipment, since before this the media does not contain any information about the sectors and tracks of the plate(s), due to the absence of which, working with the media is impossible. Due to the coefficient of volumetric expansion of the materials (as many know from school physics lessons) that HDD platters were made from in the past and stepper motors, controlling the positioning of the heads, sectors and tracks were shifted relative to the read heads. Thus, when, according to the controller, the head was in the desired sector, it could physically be on the adjacent track. Because of this, the hard drive malfunctioned and bad (inoperative) sectors appeared (if the controller thinks that the head is in the first sector, but in reality it is positioned, for example, above the 5th, then the first four sectors are inaccessible to it). Such hard drives required repeated low-level formatting throughout their entire service life, which required the complete and repeated destruction of all data on the hard disk platter(s).
In new HDDs, this problem was solved by using a voice coil in the read head mechanism, due to which the influence of thermal expansion was compensated by recalibrating the operating parameters of the disk heads (to put it simply, everything was solved at the software level by simple redirection).
Low-level formatting is necessary to solve several problems and is performed in such cases:
- at the production facilities of the manufacturer to create physical structure the manufactured hard drive before it is tested and delivered to the end user;
- on old ones hard drives to reset the file system (due to the coefficient of linear expansion of materials when heated during long-term operation of the HDD, the head moves slightly in relation to the formed grid of tracks and sectors);
- complete, reliable and irrevocable erasure of all information stored on the hard drive, for example, before sale own computer or the hard drive itself.
High level HDD formatting– the process of forming the file structure of a hard drive, which consists of creating a master boot record, a file table, a file system structure and, depending on the formatting option, checking the surface of the hard drive platters for the presence of damaged sectors, followed by their replacement or deactivation. High-level formatting prepares the hard drive for use by the operating system to store data on it.
High-level formatting is divided into two types: quick and full. During the quick process, the file table is updated, which stores file names and paths to them, attributes, etc. After this, its new structure is formed, and the main one is created boot record disk or its logical partition. Upon completion of the process, the operating system will recognize the hard or logical drive as clean, although physically all the information on it will remain intact, with the exception of the file table - all data in it will be marked as non-existent and will be overwritten with new bits of information during operation.
Full formatting is a procedure for clearing the file table, as during quick formatting, but with the subsequent rewriting of each sector with zero bits of information. Also, during full formatting, all sectors of the hard drive will be checked for functionality. If a bad sector is detected, it will be replaced with a functional one that is in reserve, or simply excluded, as a result of which the usable volume of the HDD will slightly decrease.
High-level formatting hard drives and their sections must be performed in the following cases:
- during reinstallation of the operating system to reset all data located on them and form a new disk structure;
- when dividing the drive into logical drives;
- for high-quality checking of magnetic plates for the presence of damaged sectors;
- immediately after low-level formatting to form the file structure of the disk by the manufacturer or user (mandatory procedure);
- deleting all information on the hard drive.
2. Formatting a non-system hard drive
Any operating system of the Windows family is located on a disk or its partition, which is designated as system. It contains the master boot record and system Windows files, thanks to which the interaction of the software with the hardware is carried out. There may be several such partitions, but, as a rule, the user has one operating system installed, which implies the presence of a single system partition. All other partitions and connected to the computer hard disks are not systemic. The second and subsequent hard drives are non-system, so the procedure for formatting them is no different from formatting removable USB drives.
Let's consider methods for forming the file structure of non-system hard drives using tools built into the operating system and with the help of third-party software products, designed to work with hard drives.
2.1. Formatting using BIOS
One way to format a hard drive is to use a bootable USB flash drive or CD with an operating system installation distribution Windows systems, the so-called LiveCD or bootable media with one of the programs for formatting storage media. There are versions of programs, such as AcronisDiskDirector, that can boot directly from a flash drive, which means they work without an operating system. The latest versions of Acronis have a bootable media creation wizard. Such a flash drive will allow the AcronisDiskDirector program to boot from the BIOS and format the hard drive.
In addition to third-party programs, formatting a hard drive with BIOS can be done by booting from the installation disk with the Windows distribution using the command line or the operating system installer. All these options will be discussed in more detail below.
2.2. Formatting using Windows
The Windows operating system contains all the tools necessary to format hard drives. In this section, we will consider all the methods to format a hard drive using the tools provided by the Windows operating system.
2.2.1. Through properties
The simplest way to prepare a hard drive for work is to clean it from unnecessary information and form new system, is formatting via context menu.
2.2.2. Through “Creating and formatting hard disk partitions”
The second method to format a hard drive using the Windows operating system tools is the Disk Management snap-in, located in the Computer Management system console.
"Disk Management" - system Windows service, designed to manage flash drives, hard drives and their partitions. This program allows you to format hard drives connected to your computer in one of three file systems and create new partitions on them. Almost all actions are performed without rebooting the operating system, which will not distract the user from his main work.
You can start Disk Management using one of the following methods.
Via the Start menu
Via "My Computer"
Via "Control Panel"
We have launched the Computer Management service. Next, you need to go to its subsection called “Disk Management”, which, in turn, is located in the “Storage Devices” section.
During formatting, you will not see any windows with the progress of the operation, except for the inscription “Formatting” in the “Status” line (see screenshot).
Our hard drive is formatted in the selected file system and is ready for further use. You will be notified about this dialog box and system signal.
2.2.3. Command line
In addition to formatting hard drives via graphical interfaces, the operating system, since the days of the console MS-DOS, allows the formation of a new file system of the hard drive with the deletion of all files and, with full formatting, checking its surface for integrity, through the use system commands, entered into the command console, also called the Windows command interpreter.
The command line allows the user to interact with the computer directly, without any intermediary in the form of an outsider software. It is a window for entering text commands understandable to the operating system with many parameters for direct control of the operating system or computer hardware. Naturally, using the command line, you can quickly format the hard drive. To do this, launch the system console using any of the listed methods or a more convenient method for you.
Through the Run window
Via the Start menu
Using Windows Explorer
The command line is launched by calling the file “cmd.exe” located in the “System32” folder of the system directory of the Windows operating system. To launch the command line, you can go to c:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe or use the shortcut to launch the command interpreter.
Having launched the command line, we will see a black window on the screen where you can enter text commands, understandable for the Windows operating system, starting from its first versions.
If you did not enter a label, the operating system will ask you to enter it before formatting or leave the hard drive without a name by pressing “Enter” (see screenshot).
The process of formatting a hard drive, depending on given parameters and storage capacity, can last from several seconds to several tens of minutes. Formatting is accompanied by the inscription: “Creating file system structures.”
At the end of the process, the console window will display the message: “Format completed” and the results of the operation will appear.
Now our hard drive is formatted using the system console and is ready for further use.
2.3 Formatting a disk using the HDD Low Level Format Tool
The HDD Low Level Format Tool utility, or HDDLLFT for short, is designed for low-level formatting of hard drives and digital storage media based on memory chips. It copes with the task perfectly even in cases where the magnetic surface of the plate is severely damaged.
Carrying out the procedure for formatting a hard drive through the utility does not require any special user knowledge.
Please keep in mind that in free version HDD Low Level Format Tool formatting speed is limited to 50 Mb/s, which, with significant volumes of modern hard drives, during a full format with checking the drive for bad sectors, can result in several hours of work. The second drawback of the program is the inability to specify the cluster size.
3. Formatting the system hard drive
A system hard drive is, as a rule, a high-speed (with a platter rotation speed of 10,000 rpm, although it can be with a standard 7200 rpm) hard drive on which the operating system is installed. Based on this, format it using Windows will not work. Formatting a system hard drive is carried out using a different method, the essence of which is no different from forming a new file system for a regular hard drive. The only difference is that the utility to create a new file system will have to be launched from installation disk or flash drives.
3.1. Formatting using a bootable USB flash drive or disk
3.1.1. Through the Windows operating system installer
One of the most common methods to format a hard drive used as a system drive is to use removable media or a CD and a Windows OS installation distribution.
We will not consider how to create bootable media; many articles have been written on this subject on the Russian-language segment of the Internet. Let's get straight to the point.
- We insert bootable USB flash drive into the USB socket of your computer or laptop (or a CD into its drive).
- Reboot or turn on the computer.
- We select our media as the device to which control of the system will be transferred (in our case, it is a 4 GB USB flash drive for booting from UEFI).
- Depending on the Windows builds, select the operating system installation option (with a different bootloader interface, using third-party assemblies, the essence of the process will remain the same).
- Select the installation language. Naturally, it will be Russian, as will the keyboard layout, time format, etc.
- Click “Full installation...”.
- Click “Ok” to confirm your intentions.
Immediately after downloading basic system input-output and carrying out initialization and testing of equipment, we begin to click on the button quick selection bootable media.
This key can be "F9" or "F11" (see manual instructions before your motherboard or laptop), this data is also displayed during BIOS boot.
When a similar black screen with an inscription appears, press any button on the keyboard.
Information will be read from the bootloader program to which the BIOS has transferred control.
In the next window, simply click “Install ->”.
We accept the terms of use of the operating system, preferably after reading them.
We settle on the second option so that we can get into the menu hard settings disk.
Using the keyboard and mouse, select the required hard drive if there are several of them connected to the computer, and click “Disk Setup”.
The toolbar will change slightly.
Click on the “Format” button.
A standard window will appear warning that all files and programs on the disk will be destroyed.
After clearing the table of contents, the hard drive will be formatted and ready to install the operating system.
This method is reasonable to use in cases where the Windows operating system cannot format the hard drive, for example, because it is used by some application or is a system partition.
3.1.2. Formatting the system hard drive via the command line by booting from the installation disk/flash drive
Another simple option to format the disk on which the operating system is located is to use the command line, booting from a disk or flash drive with installation files Windows operating system.
3.2. Acronis Disk Director
- To launch the bootable drive creation wizard, go to the “ Backup and recovery" on the program control panel, which is made in the style of a ribbon, like Microsoft Office, starting with the 2007 edition.
- Click on the “Create bootable media” item.
- Depending on the version of the program, a window may appear asking you to select the type of boot media. It is recommended to select a bootloader based on Windows PE. Click “Next”.
Select the type of Acronis bootable media to be created.
- Then we confirm our intentions to write the program files to the flash drive, having first destroyed all the files on it, and wait for the end of the writing process.
We boot from the created drive.
To do this, restart the computer and select our flash drive as boot media. This is done by changing the priority in the list of boot devices (“Boot” menu item) in your BIOS or hotkey selecting boot devices.
In most cases, during the initialization procedure, which occurs before loading the operating system, you must press the F11, F9 or other key to bring up the boot menu. In it, select the USB drive and click “Enter”.
We are waiting for the program to load.
Typically, this procedure takes little longer than loading Acronis Disk Director in Windows.
- We select our hard drive and call the formatting procedure using any method:
- In the dialog box that appears, select the hard drive formatting options:
- file system – it is recommended to use NTFS, due to support for files larger than 4 GB, which is not available for FAT and FAT32;
- Leave the cluster size at “Auto” if you have no idea what this value is. However, to store a huge number of small files, it is recommended to select a cluster size of less than 4 KB;
- volume label – enter the name of the hard drive or leave the field blank.
- If you are confident in the actions you are performing, check the correctness of the specified parameters and click on the “Continue” button.
We select the necessary components on the basis of which the wizard will create a bootable USB flash drive.
To format a hard drive, the AcronisDiskDirector program is sufficient. If you want to have a tool for creating backup copies of partitions, also select AcronisTrueImage.
Having set all the parameters, we turn our attention to the toolbar located at the top of the screen. Click on the button called “Apply pending operations (1)”.
After a short loading of the list of operations, a small window will appear with their detailed description and parameters.
After a few seconds of fixing the operation, the hard drive formatting procedure will start.
Be careful, the program will not display a warning window asking you to confirm the operation and will not notify you that all data on the hard drive has been destroyed.
Formatting will occur within a few seconds, since the utility uses a quick formatting algorithm. At the end of the procedure, the window will close automatically, and the hard drive with a cleared file table and a new file system will be ready for further use.
3.3. Paragon Partition Manager
Paragon Partition Manager is the most powerful free software product for working with hard drives. Naturally, you can use it to format any hard drive or partition. In addition, the utility can work with backup copies, change and create logical partitions, install multiple operating systems on a disk, etc.
- Load the LiveCD or installation distribution of the Windows operating system, which includes the Paragon Partition Manager program.
- We write the image to removable media and boot from it, specifying in the BIOS the highest priority for booting from a flash drive or selecting the drive with the Paragon Partition Manager distribution as the boot device.
- We select our program using the mouse cursor or cursor keys and the “Enter” button, depending on the graphical menu and the bootloader used to create the LiveCD.
- The main menu of the utility will appear, where we select “Partition Manager” in the list on the left, and then in its right frame.
In the next window, in the list of your hard drives, select the one you want to format.
This can be done both in the “Disk Panel” tab and in the lower frame called “Partition List”.
- Call up the context menu of the magnetic drive and select the “Format” command in it, which is located in one of the first places.
- We indicate file system and a new hard drive label.
- Click “Advanced options” if you want to change the number of sectors in one cluster. Also here you can specify whether to perform formatting using the built-in Windows commands“format”, which we became familiar with when formatting a disk from the command console, or use the developers’ own algorithm.
Click “Format”.
The program will not ask for confirmation of the operation, but it will not start executing the command specified to it.
To do this, click on the “Apply intended changes” button, which is located in the toolbar under the main menu.
To view planned changes, use the magnifying glass button.
- In the dialogue, we agree to make changes by clicking “Yes”.
- We are waiting for a notification that the program has completed its operation.
The same is done through the main menu of the program.
4. Possible errors and ways to solve them
One of the many problems that users face when formatting a hard drive is the use of outdated software. This happens because the user has not updated the disk management program that he trusts for several years. Also, using queries like “download hacked acronis” often leads to the most popular sites, which have been in first place for many months search engines and contain outdated software versions.
Make sure your hard drive software is up to date, especially if you are using one of the latest versions Windows.
The second problem is an error when trying to format the disk being used, especially for system partitions. Also, some application can use the hard drive or its partition, even in read mode, while the user is trying to format it. The way out of the situation would be to use Bootable LiveCDs or media with Windows distribution.
An error in the process of formatting a hard drive due to a huge number of damaged sectors occurs when trying to fully format a hard drive, the surface of which is replete with damaged memory cells. Run a HDD scan, for example, with the Victoria utility, with reassignment of damaged areas or their exclusion from the area used for storing information.
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