home » Entertainment » In what format to format the removable hard drive. How to properly format a hard drive or drives: methods and programs - detailed instructions. Full formatting of the hard drive via HDD Low Level Format Tool

In what format to format the removable hard drive. How to properly format a hard drive or drives: methods and programs - detailed instructions. Full formatting of the hard drive via HDD Low Level Format Tool

Many people know that external hard drives are no different from those that were originally installed in system blocks computers or mounted in laptop cases, with the only exception that an external HDD is connected via a USB port. It follows from this that the process of formatting external hard drives will be no different from formatting internal HDDs. But if you are very interested in this question, and you have long wanted to find detailed instructions on how to do this, then you have come to the right place, because now we will tell you about three ways to format using the built-in Windows tools external hard disk.

Method 1. Using the context menu

The first considered method is convenient in that it allows you to format the HDD in just a few clicks. However, there are several disadvantages here:

if the icon My computer is absent on the desktop, then an inexperienced user can search for a very long time how to get to it;
due to the occurrence of some errors, the explorer may not display the connected disk in the window My computer.

But, no matter how, let's look at how to format the external hDD using context menu.

Connect the external HDD to your computer and go to My computer.

Right-click (RMB) click on the disk icon, then in a new window, select Format.

presets

assign the type of file system that will be used by the media after the formatting process (we recommend installing NTFS, since this type removes the restrictions on the maximum size of objects that can be stored on the disk);
change the name of the volume;
put a mark on quick format.

After pressing the button To begin, you will see a window with a warning that all files on the disk will be deleted. Click OK and wait for the formatting to finish.

Method 2. Using the command line

The command line is a tool for "advanced" users, because knowing the required commands, you can use the console to perform almost any action on your computer in a matter of seconds. The disadvantage of this method is the need to memorize the commands by heart. Let's take a look at how to format an external HDD via the console.

Formatting an external HDD, like most other operations in Windows OS, you can do using command line... You can open the command prompt in Windows 7 by opening the menu Start and in the field Execute by writing the command cmd , then clicking on the icon cmd.exe.

In the console, write the following code:

FORMAT (disc title) - instead of brackets, the letter is indicated, which was assigned to the drive after it was connected to the PC (see the My Computer window)
/ FS: NTFS - setting the file system as NTFS
/ V: (volume name) - instead of brackets, it is indicated how the medium will be named after formatting
/ Q - enable quick formatting (optional)

In the end it will look like this:

Important! Space between each command on a line. The commands themselves are written together.

Method 3. Using the Disk Management section

We recommend using this method if, for some reason, you cannot format the first method, and the second seems difficult to you. In addition, using Disk Management, you can perform a variety of manipulations with volumes on your computer. Let's learn how to use this method.

Go to the menu Start and in the field Execute write the command diskmgmt.msc , then click on the corresponding icon.

List of popular free programs for various types of hard disk formatting (HDD, SSD, RAID) and removable media (USB, Firewire, SD). In this article, you will learn how to properly format your hard drive, learn about different types HDD formatting - including low-level. We also choose good program to partition the hard drive.

HDD Formatting Methods - From Easy to Complex

Formatting is a simple operation that can be performed by inexperienced users. Next, I will tell you how to format the HDD yourself - from simple to complex, depending on your skills and level of PC proficiency.

Using standard Windows tools when formatting

The Windows XP-10 operating system has built-in tools for performing this operation. Formatting the hard drive is done like this:

Open "Explorer" (or another file manager),
We go to the section "My Computer"
Click on the desired disk
Select the item "Format"
Next, click on the "Start" button

This is the easiest way to format your computer without additional tools. For all its simplicity, however, all stages must be carried out consciously, clearly understanding why you are doing this. Before you give your consent to formatting, carefully check that the correct drive is selected.

Perhaps the video tutorial shows you more clearly how to format the disk.

Alternative way of formatting in OS Windows 7/8/10

In different systems, the path to Disk Management is different - the easiest way is to open the program search and enter "management". When the system gives a search result, find "Computer Management" and open it
In the menu on the left go to "Disk Management"
Right click on desired section and select "Format". Since the process takes place inside a running OS, the "Format" menu item will be inactive on system partition
Next, select a label for the new partition, the type of the future file system and the required cluster size (if you do not know what size you need, leave it "default")
For formatting high level you can leave the "Quick Format" checkbox active. If you want to deep cleaning section contents, then uncheck this box
After pressing the "OK" button, the system will ask for confirmation - press "OK" again

Administration section "Computer Management"

Formatting the hard drive via the Windows command line

To start formatting, open a command prompt (console) on your computer. To do this, use the key combination WIN + R, in the "Run" window that appears, enter cMD command, press ENTER.

Note... To format the disk via the command line, you need administrator () rights. Start - CMD - open the context menu by clicking on the application icon "Command Prompt" - Run as administrator. If you try to format the disk without administrator rights, you will fail: access will be denied. In general, watch the video where I show you how to format as an administrator.

To format through the console, use the following commands:

Format drive letter

Press Enter. We carefully read what is written in the console, further actions with a hard disk we perform according to the situation.

Full formatting of the hard drive via HDD Low Level Format Tool

Low-level formatting will optimize the HDD structure. This is useful when preparing to reinstall operating system... At the same time, you can solve problems with bad sectors of the hard disk.

HDD Low Level Format Tool is suitable for low-level formatting. The utility will help you format your computer hard drive, external HDD, tablet sd card and other storage devices.

In addition to the main functions, HDD Low Level Format Tool can be used to read SMART indicators, check read errors, disk runtime, etc.

how totallyformat the hard drive:

After installation, run hDD program Low Level Format
In the Drive selection window, select a hard disk (if several HDDs are connected to the PC). The easiest way to tell one hard drive from another is its size. Click Continue
Go to the LOW-LEVEL Format tab
For quick formatting (deleting partitions and MBR records), select the Perform quick wipe option.
For full formatting of the hard disk, the above option should be ignored
Before completely formatting the hard drive, make sure the correct drive is selected. Only then click the Format this device button.

AOMEI Partition Assistant

The program offers a number of useful functions, including low-level formatting of hard drives and most types of removable media. The interface resembles standard means Windows, so it won't be hard to figure it out:

The main window automatically displays the disk with the installed OS. If you need to format another device, select it by clicking the "Disk" item in top menu
In the lower block of the left menu, select "Erase Hard Drive"
When you press this button, you will be prompted for the number of passes of the operation. If in the future it is planned to recover destroyed data, then select a value from 1 to 7. If you specify parameter 8 or more, it will be almost impossible to recover information from the device
Confirm your choice by clicking "Yes"
To start formatting, you will need to reboot the system - after clicking the "Restart now" button there will be no going back, so make sure you select the correct drive and desired settings operations

After restarting your computer, the program will perform all the specified actions and you will have a blank hard disk at your disposal.

DiskWipe

DiskWipe is an excellent solution for situations when data on a medium needs to be permanently destroyed. The program uses several proven algorithms in its work (Dod 5220-22.M, US Army, Peter Guttman), and advanced settings allow you to select the formatting depth. According to the developers, the program does not contain hidden viruses, etc., and also does not transfer user data.

DiskWipe

Formatting the desired device using DiskWipe is extremely simple:

Run the program. In the block on the left you will see all the devices available for formatting
Select the desired device and click "Wipe Disk" in the top menu
The advanced settings will open with predefined default values. For complete and irreversible formatting, you can mark all available fields with checkmarks, and in the right block indicate "Highest"
After selecting the settings and clicking "OK", the formatting of the selected device will start

Paragon Partition Manager

A test period of 30 days allows you to evaluate the capabilities of the program and format required devices in various modes. Since Paragon Partition Manager has several options for working with partitions (splitting, restoring, and others), it is distributed shareware.

Paragon Partition Manager

The formatting process is intuitive:

In the main window, click "Partition Manager" in the left menu, then select "Launch Partition Manager"
From the list of devices offered, select the one you need, open the context menu with the right mouse button, and click "Format Partition"
Specify the type of the future file system and the name of the volume, then click "Format"
The procedure will be queued - to apply the changes, you must click on the green checkmark in the top menu
After confirming the operation ("Yes" button), it will no longer be possible to stop its execution

Separately, it is worth noting the fact that Paragon Partition Manager not only formats the device, but also creates new section with the specified file system, so after the system boots up, the disk can be used without additional steps.

reference Information

What is formatting?

Formatting a disc is the process of labeling a storage device — a hard disk drive (HDD), memory card, CD / DVD, or other storage medium. Format operation is equally useful for new and "worn" HDDs that have served their time.

A disk that has no markup is completely useless. In addition to the fact that you mark the disk, formatting erases all data almost irrevocably (although there are many programs for recovering after formatting). Therefore, you need to be careful and prepare in advance to format your hard drive.

Over the years of operation of the operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux), the hard disk turns into a "trash heap", since many programs leave their files on the disk, and after uninstallation, their "roots" still remain on the HDD. As a result, the system is slow and unstable. There are various freezes, slowdowns, the disk clicks, makes noise - behaves inadequately. After reformatting, the hard drive is optimized and performs better. Many devices serve for a long time without this procedure. I advise you to insure yourself and format your hard drive at least once a year.

Sooner or later, disk formatting is inevitable. However, before doing this, it is very important to update or reinstall the operating system on your computer. Together with the removal unnecessary files you get a completely clean environment without defects, harmful viruses, unused programs, data that lead to conflicts. Thus, we reinstall the OS before reformatting the hard drive.

Before formatting, do backup all important data on another drive. As already mentioned, during the execution of this procedure, various service information, marks, are recorded on the disk, which allow you to subsequently record information on the HDD without hindrance.

Stages of formatting a hard drive

Low level- at this stage, the basic marking is applied to the disc at a low level. This is usually the responsibility of the hardware designer. In this case, special tracks and service data are applied to the disk. This information remains on the hard disk almost forever - it can be overwritten only using proprietary utilities. These programs can only replace service data. By the way, if you make a low-level formatting of the hard drive, then you won't be able to recover data later, unfortunately or fortunately. Therefore, if your goal is to destroy information, then you can use this format. Read about low-level formatting

Breakdown of sections... It is clear that storing data on a disk without partitions is rather inconvenient. For some logical organization, the HDD is divided into special zones, drives - drive C :, drive D: and so on. For these purposes, both the service utilities built into the OS and external programs to format the hard drive, which I have written about more than once.

High-level... During this type of reformatting, the creation of boot sectors, file tables.

Types of disk formatting

You may know that staff funds systems provide 2 methods by which you can format the hard drive - external or internal:

quick format: takes less time, allows you to carry out the procedure as it is. The bottom line is that with this type of computer formatting, files in the file table are overwritten with zeros, while the data is stored as if nothing had happened, you can later restore them. Also at this method you are not optimizing file structure, and if there were defects on the hard disk, you will not fix them with the quick method

normal formatting: Longer time and deeper formatting of the hard disk. Data on the internal or external drive is completely destroyed, file system checked for possible mistakes, damage. bad sectors, bad blocks. Thus, in the usual way of reformatting, you kill two birds with one stone, although you lose a little more time.

When working with an external HDD for the first time, you may have a question :? How to do it right and without bad consequences for the newly purchased device, which, as you expect, will serve for a long time.

In general, an external hard drive is a real find for modern reality, which will allow you to store large amounts of information "close to you", easily transferring tens and hundreds of gigabytes without having to take a dozen DVD-disks or flash drives. And the speed of data exchange, as you yourself perfectly understand, is much higher on an external disk. It's like comparing the speed of a floppy disk and a magnetic disk - the difference is enormous.

We will use the usual built-in formatting wizard of the operating system. It is incredibly easy to use and, at the same time, effectively copes with the task at hand.

So, after you bought an external hard drive and connected it to your computer via USB, it should appear in the list of devices in My Computer. Now right-click on it and click "Format". Select the format in which the external hard drive should be formatted (you can read about formats and watch the lesson). And click on the corresponding button below.

The process is now running and, after a few minutes, the formatting will be completed successfully. Do not forget that ALL data will be irretrievably DELETED, therefore, if something is stored there, transfer it to another medium for safety.

I hope that now you have no questions left regarding how to format an external hard drive... Such manipulation is absolutely not complicated and fast enough. Just do not forget about all aspects of data security and safety, this is important. Good luck!

How to format an external hard drive using Windows

Connect your external hard drive to your computer and open the My Computer window. After the external drive is detected by the system and appears in the "My Computer" window, open the context menu of the external drive (right-click on the drive) and select "Format".

After that, a window with disk formatting settings will open in front of you.

How to format an external hard drive via the command line

You can also format your external hard drive via. To do this, connect the disk and run the command windows string (Menu "Run" - command "CMD").

Formatting disks via the command line is performed using the FORMAT command. To find out all the parameters that can take given command, enter "FORMAT /?".

To format the external hard drive, we need to execute the format command with the following parameters:

/ FS: NTFS - formatting using the NTFS file system.
/ V: MyDisk - specifies the name of the disk. You can use any other disk name instead of MyDisk.
/ Q - enable quick formatting function.

As a result, the command to format the external hard drive using the command line looks like this:

FORMAT X: / FS: NTFS / V: MyDisk / Q

Where X: is the letter that is assigned to this external drive... When formatting via the command line, it is important not to mix up the disks, otherwise you may format the wrong disk, which is fraught with big trouble.

It should also be noted that when formatting a disk via the command line, the system does not display any additional warnings. Therefore, you need to be especially careful.

How to format an external hard drive via Disk Management

In the operating room windows system there is a very handy tool called "Disk Management". It can be used to create and delete partitions, format disks, and more. To access this tool, open the Run menu and enter the command "diskmgmt.msc".

After the "Disk Management" window opens, find your external one and open the context menu ( right button mouse).

In the context menu, select the "Format" item. After selecting this item of the context menu, you will see a warning about deleting all data from this disk.

To start formatting the external hard drive, click on the "Yes" button.

You may need to reformat to the FAT32 file system only to ensure compatibility with a large number of subscriber devices. After all this system has a significant limitation - the size of one file recorded on cannot exceed 4 GB, and a section of 8 TB, which is not so critical at the current level of development of the production of these devices.

A portable hard disk may need to be reformatted to the FAT32 file system only to ensure compatibility with a large number of subscriber devices

Thus, if you need to connect to various household appliances such as a radio tape recorder, player, TV, then you need to format the hard drive in fat32. Moreover, this operation is impossible by the built-in windows utilities... When you try to do this, a message will appear that the partition is too large to be converted to FAT32 format, but as mentioned above, the maximum volume capacity for this file system reaches 8 TB. The simplest method of reformatting external drives in FAT32 will be discussed in the next section of the article.

Using the fat32format utility

Formatting an external hard drive to FAT32 will help free program fat32format. To do this, follow these steps:

Download the app from the official developer resource: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm. To start downloading, click on the screenshot of the program screen.

Free fat32format software to format external hard drive to FAT32

Connect the removable hard drive and run the downloaded utility. After that, its working window will open, since fat32format does not require installation.

Connect the removable hard drive and run the downloaded utility

Select in the drop-down list "Drive" the letter denoting the connected external hdd.
Click on the "Start" interface button, wait for the formatting to finish and close the program.

Important: do not disconnect the external hard drive and do not restart the computer while formatting is in progress, as this will damage.

With this software you can also reformat the internal hard drive if the need arises. But it is not recommended to do this, because the modern file system for Windows NTFS has a number of advantages:

Automatic.
Operating system support for large drives.
Ensuring a high level of security. Here it is possible to configure the parameters of user access to the data stored on the carrier.

WATCH THE VIDEO

The only reason you need it in FAT32 is to install old version Windows. In such cases, remember that to provide access from earlier operating system modifications to partitions internal storage you need to reformat them to this format.

Tip: don't forget about the size limit a separate file up to 4 GB. It cannot be bypassed in any way, and its appearance is due to the fact that FAT32 was created a very long time ago - in windows times 98 and Windows Millenium Edition, a file size of four gigabytes seemed almost unattainable.

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