Formatting HD

[Sp00nLude]

Hi, I have never format my comp on XP, just wondering how I can completely format a drive that brings it to zero? Is the format option from right click on drive similar to format in DOS? What are the differences between quick format, format from windows, and format from boot disk?

 

[psykoikonov]

I don't believe there is much difference in the end result of formatting in any of those ways. You'll end up with a clean patition, unless it has bad sectors then I would "low level format" using tools generally provided by the HDD maker (found on their website). Use the right one for the right HDD as if not you could wreck your HDD. You can't for obvious reasons format the system drive within the OS,yes right clicking brings up the option however tring it will yeild error or nothing. If formatting system drive, do from dos or from XP CD. BTW what is "brings it to zero"? Any other questions please post, better to know before you jump in.

<b>Who needs heatsinks and fans, I have an igloo</b>

 

[btvillarin]

I think he's trying to use the lingo for a low level format (LLF). That process writes zeroes to the whole disk. Meanwhile, a regular format, whether it's from Windows, FDISK, or Partition Magic, just overwrites the MFT (right?) so that it seems that data isn't there anymore. It's still available, until it's overwritten. That's why there's undelete programs that might work in recovering "deleted" data...because they're not really deleted yet.

If you want to prevent recovery, there's freeware file shredding utilities. Just Google it. (I'm not at home right now, so no favorites on hand.)

It's best to format in DOS, for the reason that there's nothing else happening to disturb the rest of your system.

FYI: A low level format takes many many hours...it's like an overnight process.

I hope that helped!

Bryan

<A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=329" target="_new"><b>My System Rig</b></A> (courtesy of <A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com" target="_new">btvillarin.com</A>)

 

[Sp00nLude]

Thanks Bryan and psykoikonov. A few more questions tho: So does it mean that if I format in DOS it will be like formatting in windows except more stable environment? For normal home users, is this process adequate? Last question: How would I go about formatting in DOS? I don't think I can just run DOS in XP? =\

 

[btvillarin]

If you run DOS in XP, it's not a DOS environment...you still have Windows running.

<A HREF="http://fdisk.radified.com/" target="_new">Radified FDISK Guide</A>

This has a lot of good info, if you're up to some reading. But it'll expand your knowledge, right?

You can grab a boot disk from here:
<A HREF="http://www.bootdisk.com/" target="_new">http://www.bootdisk.com/</A>

Bryan

<A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=329" target="_new"><b>My System Rig</b></A> (courtesy of <A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com" target="_new">btvillarin.com</A>)

 

[Sp00nLude]

Expanding my knowledge......hmmmm......thas why I'm here right? ^_____^

 

[silverpig]

You can't format a drive you've booted from. If you have only one hard drive with one partition, and want to format it, you'll have to boot off of a floppy or cdrom. If you are going to re-install windows XP, the easiest way is to:

1. Boot off the cd. Select install (not upgrade or repair console).

2. Pick your drive and select format. (quick or not... your choice).

3. Proceed with installation.

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

 

[Sp00nLude]

I am formatting the 2nd Physical drive. Which has two partitions on it right now.

 

[silverpig]

Ah, then yeah, just format it in windows. Much easier.

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

 

[Sp00nLude]

Okay, I formatted one partition on the 2nd drive in windows. Thanks for all your input. I still need to find 6 empty floppy for the boot disk =\

 

[btvillarin]

Use a Windows 98 boot disks. Those should be only used for installing Windows XP, if your CD drive doesn't allow to boot from it.

Bryan

<A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=329" target="_new"><b>My System Rig</b></A> (courtesy of <A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com" target="_new">btvillarin.com</A>)

 

[Sp00nLude]

So I can use win98 bootdisk to format the drive that I want to install XP on, if the drive isn't booting from CD-ROM? What do I do about the rest of the drives? Thanks Bryan.

 

[silverpig]

<A HREF="http://www.bootdisk.com" target="_new">http://www.bootdisk.com</A>

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

 

[btvillarin]

I thought you already had Windows XP installed and you just wanted to format that other drive? At least, that's what my understanding is from your explanation. If you're formatting the drive you have Windows XP on, use the CD for that.

If you have the two drives you wanted formatted, for the other drives, I would use the Windows 98 bootdisk. Then if you wanted to clean install Windows XP on your master hard drive, use the Windows XP CD, since it includes a partitioning utility. Delete all the partitions, then recreate them.

(Did you have your data backed up already? I hope so!)

Bryan

<A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=329" target="_new"><b>My System Rig</b></A> (courtesy of <A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com" target="_new">btvillarin.com</A>)

 

[Sp00nLude]

Right. I have a master drive runs XP but I want to format my other two partitions on the slave drive. So I can use a win98 bootdisk and use fdisk from that. And when I need to format my master drive, just use the winxp cd to reinstall the OS and re-partition it from the cd. GOtcha! Thanks for clearing things up about the win98 bootdisk, I was confused since i thought its strictly for win98 =\