Formatting the hard drive at a low level. How to format a hard drive before installing Windows in four different ways - step-by-step instructions

To format a drive through Windows Explorer, starting with Windows 7, you can choose two options - quick (clearing the table of contents) and full formatting:

At the same time, it is not clear what the differences are between them - let's figure it out. First, the definition of formatting:

Formatting is a process that involves creatingmaster boot record with partition tableand/or structures are emptyfile system, installationboot sectorand similar actions, the result of which is the ability to use the media inoperating systemfor storing programs and data.

As you can see, there is not a word about deleting data - in fact, formatting only allows the system to work correctly with the disk and the information on it. An example of formatting without deleting data is changing the file system from HFS+ to APFS when installing iOS 10.3 - the file system has changed, but all the data remains in place. But this is rather an exception - usually the formatting process means clearing the disk of data.

Now that we understand the concept itself, let's move on to the types of formatting.

Quick formatting

As the name suggests, it happens quickly - even multi-terabyte hard drives are formatted in just a few seconds. However, in this case, data is not deleted as such - the boot sector and an empty file system table are written to the drive, and the disk space is marked as unused.

The advantages of this approach are clear - time is saved, but there are also disadvantages:

1. Files are not deleted, so after quick formatting (in the case of a hard drive, we’ll talk about SSDs later) they can be restored (partially or completely) using special programs. So if you are going to give your disk to someone, quick formatting is not the best option.
2. Quick formatting does not check the condition of the drive, and if there were bad sectors on it, they will remain, which in the future can lead to data loss and (or) incorrect operation of the drive.

Full formatting

A full format not only writes the boot sector and an empty file system table, but also writes zeros to all sectors of the disk. In addition, all sectors of the disk are checked, and bad sectors are marked in a special way and are not subsequently used to write data, so after full formatting, the disk volume may decrease slightly. Since you essentially need to fill the entire disk with zeros, the full formatting process takes a very long time, especially on hard drives (for a terabyte drive it can take up to 2-3 hours).

The advantages of this approach are that the data will be impossible to recover, so after a complete formatting the drive can be safely given to another person. The disk is also checked for errors, which allows you to avoid problems with its use in the future. The only downside is probably the time spent on formatting - full formatting takes two to three orders of magnitude more time than quick formatting.

In the case of SSDs, the system formats disks differently - for quick formatting, the TRIM command is used: when used, the SSD controller erases all data on the drive and recreates the list of sectors. That is, for an SSD, quick formatting does essentially the same thing as a full format for an HDD. Therefore, when you quickly format an SSD, you can forget about data recovery.

Performing a full format of the SSD, firstly, becomes unnecessary (since a quick format will erase everything anyway), and secondly, it can even harm the SSD - it will work slower. This is due to the fact that the operating principles of HDD and SSD are very different: in the case of the latter, writing zeros to all cells will mean that the cells are not empty - they are occupied by zeros. And in order to subsequently write something to these cells, the SSD controller will have to not write new information into them, but rewrite it (that is, first remove zeros and then write new information) - this greatly reduces the speed of the SSD, sometimes even to the speeds of ordinary hard drives. disks.

Which formatting type to choose

As a result, you can create a simple algorithm: if only you use the drive, and it works without failures, use quick formatting. If the drive fails, or you want to give it to another person, use full formatting (with the exception of SSD - for it, in any case, use only quick formatting).

Hello, friends! Why might you need to format a hard drive or partition? There are a lot of options, starting with the fact that you need to make a new hard drive usable and ending with the next reinstallation of the operating system. With partition formatting of course. In this article we will understand what formatting is, how to format a hard drive using built-in Windows tools and using the operating system installer.

While writing this article, I was lucky enough to expand my knowledge on this topic. For that, readers, thank you.

Formatting a hard drive is the process of marking out the data storage area. Includes several stages:

• low level formatting
• dividing the entire area into logical drives or partitions
• high-level formatting of the latter

Low-level formatting All modern hard drives are installed at the factory using special equipment. This process cannot be done at home or in a service center. With low-level formatting, servo marks are applied to the surface of the disk, thanks to which the read heads are positioned. The new, just purchased hard drive is formatted only at a low level.

Dividing the hard drive into partitions. The first step is to create partitions on the new hard drive. This is most likely done when installing the operating system or if the hard drive is the second one in the system, using built-in Windows tools. How to partition a hdd on Windows - .

High-level formatting. After the partition is created, it is formatted. This is high-level formatting. You decide on the file system (in most cases, you can accept the default settings. Let's hope Microsoft doesn't give bad advice :-) and format the desired partition. In this section, a file table appears and system information is recorded. In this case, the entire partition is divided into clusters of a given size. Default is 4KB. A cluster is the minimum amount of information that can be allocated for data storage. Those. if you have a 20 Byte file, then a whole cluster will still be allocated for it - 4,000 Bytes by default. You can learn more about clusters.

There are two types of high-level formatting:

• fast
• complete

At quick formatting The file table is updated and that's it. All files remain in their places. By updating the file table, the operating system sees the partition as empty and writes information over the old one. At full formatting section (how to do below) in addition to deleting the file table, the entire section is checked for professional suitability. (More about hdd diagnostics -) If the scan reveals an unreadable cluster, it is marked as not working and the operating system will not write anything to it. This is done using the software on the hard drive itself.

It is precisely due to the fact that when formatting, even complete, information is not deleted, you can try to restore it. How to recover data from a flash drive - .

Quick formatting is called because the process itself is fast. Only clearing the table of contents. Full formatting may take several hours depending on the size of the partition or volume.

Format the partition using Windows.

You can format your hard drive using Windows by opening your Computer and selecting the desired drive or partition. Right-click on it and select Format...

Click OK. Your partition is formatted. Close the window with formatting options.

Formatting from Disk Management

You can also format hard disk partitions from Disk Management. To get there you need to go to the Start menu, right-click on Computer and select Manage. In the window that opens, in the left field, in the Storage devices section, select Disk Management.

Here it is convenient to see what kind of disks are connected to your computer and how they are partitioned. To format, right-click on the desired partition and select Format...

Formatting using the command line

Hard disk partitions can just as easily be formatted using the command line. Open the Start menu, write CMD in the search bar and run the found utility. Running the command line with Administrator rights is not necessary.

Write the command:

Replace f with your drive letter. Press Enter. Then press Enter again and formatting will begin.

Carefully! There is no warning that all data will be deleted.

The default is full formatting. If you need something quick, use the command:

If you need more information about the parameters of this command, type:

At the end of the formatting process, you will have the opportunity to set a volume label. If you don't need it, just press Enter. Upon completion, you will see approximately the following picture.

Formatting is complete. Close the command line.

Formatting the system partition

The information from point 2 is good, but you cannot format the system disk this way. A message is displayed.

This Windows security system warns the user about incorrect actions. This will prevent accidental formatting. If our system is infected (In this section you will find everything to clean your computer from viruses, Trojans and other evil spirits), or is somehow damaged and system recovery does not help, then you need to format the system partition. A good way to do this is to use the installer's built-in disk management tools. Comfortable. You immediately format the partition and install a new operating system.

You can also format the system partition by connecting your hard drive to another computer. In this case, proceed as in the second point.

Formatting the system disk when installing Windows

To do this you need an installation disk or flash drive. How to make a disk, how to make a bootable USB flash drive.

Then you need to install boot from disk or flash drive. You can read how to do this in the article about installing Windows 7 from a flash drive.

Boot from the prepared drive and do everything as if you wanted to install Windows. When you select the installation partition, you click on the Disk setup link.

Additional links appear: Create Volume, Delete Volume, and Format Volume. Select your system disk and click format. The system partition of the hard drive will be quickly formatted. Then, if you don’t need to install Windows, just close the Windows Installation window and the process will be interrupted.

Conclusion

In this article, we learned how to format a hard drive in the Windows operating system and how you can format the system partition. As you can see, there is nothing complicated, everything is simple. If you have any questions, ask in the comments.

Video - how to format your hard drive in the Windows operating system and during its installation process
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Formatting
Most PC users are of the opinion that hard drives, like any other storage device, must be formatted before use. On the issue of formatting, there is some confusion regarding what and how the procedure for formatting a hard drive does, which we will try to address in this article. Modern hard drives use techniques that are fundamentally different from the methods used to format older hard drives.
Two formatting steps
Formatting a hard drive involves three steps:
1. Formatting the disk at a low level (low-level formatting). This is the only "true" method of formatting a disk. During this process, physical structures are created on the hard drive: tracks, sectors, control information. This process is performed by the manufacturer on plates that do not yet contain any information.
2. Partitioning. This process splits the hard drive capacity into logical drives (C, D, etc.). This is usually done by the operating system, and the partitioning method is highly dependent on the operating system.
3. High-level formatting. This process is also controlled by the operating system and depends on both the type of operating system and the utility used to format. The process writes logical structures responsible for the correct storage of files, as well as, in some cases, system boot files to disk. This formatting can be divided into two types: quick and full. With quick formatting, only the file system table is overwritten, but with full formatting, the drive surface is first verified (checked), and only then the file system table is written.
From the above it follows that two of the three steps are formatting, and this dual meaning of the word leads to some confusion when using the term "formatting". It is also a historical fact that the well-known MS-DOS format.com program works differently when formatting hard and floppy disks. Floppy disks have a simple, standard geometry and cannot be split into logical disks, so format.com is programmed to automatically perform two operations at once: both low-level and high-level formatting. For hard drives, format.com only performs high-level formatting. Low-level formatting was performed by the hard drive controller on old hard drives and by the manufacturer on new hard drives. Unlike high-level formatting, partitioning and file structure, low-level formatting refers to the basic layout of disk surfaces. For early model hard drives that were supplied with clean surfaces, such formatting creates only information sectors and service servo information and can be performed by the hard drive controller under the control of the appropriate program. For modern hard drives that contain servo information recorded during manufacture, full formatting means both marking up information sectors and rewriting servo information.
Low-level hard drive formatting

Formatting a Windows operating system hard drive

Let's look at such an interesting and not everyone understands question - formatting the hard drive. Why is it needed and how to do it?

So what is formatting? Someone may answer that this is deleting all files from the hard drive (hard drive). Roughly speaking, this is true, but it is not only the removal of all information.

In general, formatting is the fundamental technical process of preparing a hard drive for operation. Moreover, the very beginning can be done only with the help of special equipment.

There are 2 main types of hard drive formatting:

• Physical
• Boolean

Physical formatting of the hard drive (low-level) is the process of dividing a new hard drive into tracks, sectors and other important technical features for its subsequent delivery for sale.

This initial preparation of the hard drive is carried out exclusively at the manufacturer’s factory, using special equipment. You cannot do it yourself or at home, because this requires special factory equipment.

At home, you can only perform software formatting of the hard drive. Although many who have encountered this issue have seen programs on the Internet that supposedly offer to do it, this is not true; it is impossible to do it at home, as mentioned above.

Logical (high level)- this is already quite feasible formatting at home.

In its process, boot records, sectors, and the file system structure are created, that is, everything that is essential for the normal operation of the hard drive in a computer.

It often happens that you need to format a new hard drive, let's describe the path it takes to begin full operation:

1. Low-level formatting - carried out at the manufacturer. Then sent for sale.
2. Division into sections. After the hard drive falls into our hands, we need to create partitions on it. This is necessary for the correct operation of the operating system and the subsequent safety of personal data. Usually, 3 partitions are created - local drives C, D, E. You can read more about this issue in the article how to partition a hard drive into partitions.
3. High level formatting. And now the final stage before installing the operating system (OS) is this stage. This is what we all usually do when we need to format either a hard drive, a local drive before installing the OS, or a flash drive.

It comes in two types:

• Fast
• Complete

If we choose fast, we get only superficial updates, that is, file tables are quickly updated. Moreover, all the files are still stored in place, although invisible. They are not visible due to the updated file table.

In this case, data recovery is easiest and with almost 100% probability. It’s just extremely important to remember that if you plan to restore this information, you shouldn’t write anything down here.

Because new information will simply overwrite old files. If we perform a full format, then a whole range of measures are taken to clean and update the hard drive.

What is also very important is that at this moment all cells of the formatted partition are diagnosed for operability. If faulty ones are detected, they are marked as unusable and are not used by the operating system during subsequent operation.

Now let's see how you can format a hard drive or one of its partitions. In general, it can be produced:

• In the OS itself

Let's look at the second, easiest way

First, go to “My Computer”. There we usually see local drives C, D, E, although there may be fewer or more of them.

Select the disk that you want to format and right-click on it. A menu for working with this section will appear. Find “format” there and click on it:

Next, the settings menu will appear, in it we leave everything as it is, the only thing left to decide is whether we do quick or full formatting. What is their difference can be seen above. Once you have made your choice, click “start”.

A window about preventing data loss will appear; if you are confident in your actions, then we agree and the process will start. If you need to format the entire hard drive, this can only be done if you connect it to another computer or when installing/reinstalling the OS.

In general, that's all, for more information on this topic, you can read the article on how to format a flash drive. We looked at the issue of formatting the hard drive. What is this process? What types is it divided into and how to produce it.