- HOW TO REFORMAT HARD DRIVE FOR VISTA HOW TO
- HOW TO REFORMAT HARD DRIVE FOR VISTA FULL
- HOW TO REFORMAT HARD DRIVE FOR VISTA WINDOWS 7
When the Advanced Boot Options screen appears, choose the Repair your computer option, and press Enter. To begin, restart your computer and hold down the F8 key. The trick is to format the disk while Windows is not using it. You're done! Formatting a Bootable Driveįormatting a bootable drive is a little more complicated, because Windows doesn't allow you to format the drive or partition that is currently running. When the format ends, close the Format dialogue box.
HOW TO REFORMAT HARD DRIVE FOR VISTA FULL
A quick format takes only a couple of minutes, while a full format can run for hours. If you do not select "quick format", a full format will be done, which can clean up any corrupted sectors on a hard drive.Ĭlick the "Start" button when you are ready. Data formerly stored on the old drive is not actually erased, it is simply ignored and written over after reformatting. A quick format does not format every sector on the drive it just wipes the existing file system and writes a new one to your specifications. Check the "quick format" box if you are in a hurry and do not need a bootable drive.The volume label will appear next to the drive's icon and the drive letter that is assigned to it by Windows. The "volume label" is any name that you wish to give to the drive.The "restore device defaults" button sets the file system and allocation unit size to the values that Windows automatically determines are optimal for the device in general-purpose use. Use the standard allocation unit size for NTFS (4,096 bytes) unless you have a good reason to change it. "Allocation Unit Size" is the number of bytes allocated to each sector of the drive.USB flash drives, for instance, perform best with the FAT16 file system. You should use NTFS with Windows 7, unless you have a specific need for an older file system. The "File System" is the method used to organize disk space and keep track of where files are stored.
You will also see four options that you can specify. The dialogue box that pops up will show the drive's capacity in megabytes. To reformat a secondary drive, simply right-click on its icon in the Computer view and select Format. A secondary drive could also be a second physical drive installed inside your computer, an external hard drive, or a USB flash drive. If you have just one physical hard drive, a secondary drive could be a partition on that drive marked as D:, E:, etc. It exists just to store files, but it doesn't have the operating system installed on it. I'm defining a secondary drive as a hard drive or a drive partition that is not bootable. Let's handle the case of a secondary drive first, since it's simpler. Okay, so you really want to reformat your drive.
HOW TO REFORMAT HARD DRIVE FOR VISTA WINDOWS 7
- Speed Up Windows 7 Formatting a Secondary Drive or Partition.
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Doing so just might help you clean up and speed up your system, and change your mind about formatting. So if you're frustrated with a computer that seems to be running slower than normal, or if you've run into a problem with viruses or spyware, read each of the articles below before resorting to a reformat. And if the drive is a boot drive, you'll also have to re-install the Windows operating system.Īll of that can take many hours. It will wipe your drive clean of ALL files, and afterwards you'll have to restore any important files from a backup. But first, I think it's important to let you know why that might not be the best solution.
HOW TO REFORMAT HARD DRIVE FOR VISTA HOW TO
I know, I promised to tell you how to reformat a hard drive (or a drive partition) on a PC that's running Windows 7. How to Reformat Your Hard Drive on Windows 7