How to format a computer using the command line. How to format your hard drive in various ways. With the help of specials. utilities

List of popular freeware programs for various types of formatting hard drives(HDD, SSD, RAID) and removable media(USB, Firewire, SD). In this article, you will learn how to format correctly HDD, learn about different types HDD format- including low-level. 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

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

  1. Open "Explorer" (or another file manager),
  2. We go to the section "My Computer"
  3. Click on the desired disk
  4. Select the item "Format"
  5. 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 performed consciously, clearly understanding why you are doing this. Before giving your consent to formatting, carefully check whether the correct drive is selected.

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

Alternative way of formatting in Windows 7/8/10

  1. IN different systems the path to Disk Management is your own - the easiest way is to open the program search and enter "management". When the system gives a search result, search for "Computer Management" and open it
  2. In the menu on the left go to "Disk Management"
  3. Click right click mouse on the desired section and select "Format". Since the process takes place inside a running OS, the "Format" menu item will be inactive on system partition
  4. 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")
  5. For formatting high level you can leave a tick “ Quick format»Active. If you need to deep clean the contents of the section, then uncheck this box
  6. 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 the CMD command, press ENTER.

Note... To format the disk through the command line, you need administrator rights. Start - CMD - open context menu by clicking on the application icon "Command Prompt" - Run as administrator. If you try to format the disk without administrator rights, nothing will work for you: 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, next steps 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 in preparation for reinstalling the 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 uptime, etc.

how totally format hard drive:

  1. After installation, run the HDD Low Level Format program
  2. 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
  3. Go to the tab LOW-LEVEL Format
  4. For quick formatting (deleting partitions and MBR records), select the Perform quick wipe option.
  5. For a complete formatting hard disc the above option should be ignored
  6. Before completely formatting the hard drive, make sure the correct drive is selected. Only then click the Format this device button.

AOMEI Partition Assistant

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's easy to figure it out:

  1. 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 the top menu
  2. In the lower block of the left menu, select "Erase Hard Drive"
  3. 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.
  4. Confirm your choice by clicking "Yes"
  5. To start formatting, you will need to reboot the system - after clicking the "Restart now" button there is 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:

  1. Run the program. In the block on the left you will see all devices available for formatting
  2. Select the desired device and click "Wipe Disk" in the top menu
  3. 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"
  4. 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:

  1. In the main window, click "Partition Manager" in the menu on the left, then select "Start Partition Manager"
  2. From the list of devices offered, select the one you need, open the context menu with the right mouse button, and click "Format Partition"
  3. Specify the type of the future file system and the name of the volume, then click "Format"
  4. The procedure will be queued - to apply the changes, you must click on the green checkmark in the top menu
  5. 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, 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 day.

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 even 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 markings are 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 only be overwritten with 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 will not 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 for formatting the hard drive, which I have already written about, can be used.

    High-level... In the process of this type of reformatting, boot sectors and file tables are created.

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 the file structure, and if there were defects on the hard disk, you cannot fix them by quick method

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

There are 2 types Windows installations 7, after which operating system works correctly:

  1. Direct upgrade through a previously installed system such as Vista.
  2. A clean install that removes the old OS by formatting.

Advice! For a clean installation, you will need a disk or flash drive with installation files new OS.

Why do you need formatting?

In order to new system worked without bugs and crashes, you need to prepare a flat platform for it by deleting old files. Manual removal not effective, so it is better to format the disks by first copying the necessary information from them.

Deep formatting solves the following tasks:

  1. Zeroing all data and preparing the disk for a new operating system. Formatting removes dead files that no longer carry the functional load. Prevents the system from slipping after installation, cleaning the remnants of old games and programs, invisible Internet files and much more.
  2. Removes viruses and malicious files.
  3. Produces markup and systematization.

Important! If you unknowingly formatted a disk with the necessary information, then the Active Partition Recovery. Advanced program EFS Data Recovery recovers and decrypts NTFS partitions.

Clean installation from a USB flash drive or disk formatted via BIOS (BIOS)

Before formatting, you need to close all windows, and then reboot the system. After starting, enter BIOS, usually, for this command, use the Del, F12, F8 key. After logging in, select the Boot-Device Priority tab in the BIOS, and as boot device disk or flash drive. Further, the priority of the device from which the boot will be made is saved and the F10 button is pressed to exit the BIOS.

When you restart your PC, the disc names are different from what you are used to. Therefore, for the formatted disk, enter in the command line: for NTFS systems format / FS: NTFS X: / q, and for FAT32 format / FS: FAT32 X: / q. After that, Enter is pressed and the end of the process is expected.

Cleaning through BIOS using the OS installer

On Windows 7 and older versions of the OS, it is produced directly during installation. At the stage of selection system disk, on which the installation will be made, you need to go to the Settings section, select the formatting and confirm it. After completing the process of installing the new operating system will continue automatically. All actions are performed in this order:

  1. Insert the media with the bootable file of the new OS into the device, select the desired installation language.
  2. After determining the language, select Full Installation.
  3. Now select the drive that needs to be formatted and go to the Disk Settings section.
  4. That's it, click the "Format" button, wait for the process to complete and continue installing the fresh OS.

Important! Formatting permanently erases data on the hard drive. therefore required files first copy to any media.

Formatting via cmd (command line)

Full cleanup via the command line is performed in the following order:

  1. Bring up the command line by pressing the Win-R keys.
  2. In the window that appears, enter CMD, press Enter.
  3. Enter "format *:" directly on the command line, where * is the name desired disk(C or D). Press Enter again.
  4. After clicking, a dialog box will appear in which you will be asked if you agree that all data from the selected disk will be deleted. Confirm and wait for the formatting to finish.

Follow the sequence of actions, and formatting will not cause difficulties

Formatting with Acronis Disk Director

It is most convenient to use the Acronis Disk Director program to format a hard disk, although there are many others.

Advice! To download the program, enter in search engine request "Acronis Disk Director Boot ISO". After booting, mount the image or burn the program to CD / DVD.

Set BIOS boot priority from disk, wait for the program menu to appear on your monitor:

  1. In the window that appears, select the "Format" section, left-click on the required disk and select "Format" again.
  2. In the new pop-up window, you do not have to change anything except the file system: it should appear as NTFS.
  3. Confirm the action in the Apply Pending Operations check box.
  4. In the window that appears, click "Confirm".

If you format the disk on which the OP was stored, then after formatting the computer will not boot. Further installation of the operating system is performed from a USB flash drive or disk via BIOS.

Acronis Disk Director will come in handy in the future, it has a number of useful features:

  • recovers damaged or deleted disk partitions;
  • has support for mirrored volumes;
  • splits volumes on different disks;
  • converts regular disks to dynamic and vice versa;
  • optimizes the structure and free space on the hard disk.

The updated versions of the program are irreplaceable helpers in working with system disks.

What other programs can I use?

To format for a new operating system, the following software is most often used:

  • Convenient free program HDD Low Level Format Tool. Be careful, the developer promises that after cleaning, the files cannot be recovered.
  • Paragon Hard Disk Mananger, an English-language program, with the same principle as Acronis Disk Director. Formatting is done through the Format Partition section.
  • Another program of this type, Partition Magic, has received excellent reviews.

Formatting prior to installing a new operating system significantly improves its quality and lifespan. Formatting in one fell swoop gets rid of the old OS and all the garbage, coupled with viruses that have accumulated on the disk over the years.

Follow the entire process carefully, especially when choosing the right drive. Some information after formatting cannot be recovered, and in service center this service costs more than 4 thousand rubles.

How to format a hard drive: video

There are four different algorithms for formatting a Windows 7 disk. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, which we will display in the article.

Standard method

Method 1. Using standard Windows operating system tools for formatting. This method is the most convenient in terms of implementation, but the formatting process takes place in most cases with sufficient simple algorithms... This leads to superficial clean up hard wild of your computer and simplifies the task of data recovery.

To implement the method, we do in the following way.


Command line

Method 2. Using a window windows consoles for formatting. The advantage of this method will be the simplification of actions to achieve the final result. Of the minuses, you can list all the same disadvantages as the first method, since the formatting method is the same.


The Windows format command, like most service commands of the Windows operating system, has a number of additional parameters and attributes. To call complete list you can enter "format /?" in the console window.

The most significant parameters include the "format / FS: filesystem" command to explicitly set the disk file system after formatting the computer, and the "format / X" command to force disconnect all attached descriptors. This is necessary to obtain full access to disk and execute all algorithms of the format command.

Using the installation disc

Method 3. Formatting the computer disk using installation disk windows. This method has the same standard drawbacks in the shallow depth of information formatting as the format command, but it allows processing any disk and partition, including the system one.

To start the procedure, you must start the computer with installed disk Windows and the parameter for starting the system from CD-Rom set in the BIOSf settings. At the start of the installation process, you will be prompted to format the disk before installing the system. By selecting this item, it is enough to simply produce a quick format of the desired section.

But you have to be careful. If you use the first three methods, when you try to format a disk with the Windows operating system installed on it, you will receive a warning with no action. In this case, this prohibition will not happen and it is enough just to delete important information and disrupt the entire operating system.

When you start format, you will be prompted to choose one of two ways to format your computer: fast and full. Quick format deletes information, but does not correct it system errors and checking the physical space, which is critical for a Windows installation.

Third party software

Method 4. Using an auxiliary software for Windows OS. There are a huge number of specially designed applications with which you can implement this operation on your computer. Their advantages include the maximum possible level of disk cleaning and the use of complex formatting algorithms. Of the minuses, this is the fact that there is almost a widespread requirement to pay a certain amount to get the full functionality of the program. We will not describe these applications due to their diversity.

When installing the operating system, as well as when changing files, redistributing space between partitions, it is necessary to format the hard disk. This is a fairly common operation performed by PC users. If you have not done anything like this yet, then let's deal with the theoretical part of the question.

Formatting process, what is it?

Layout of information storage areas, in which some of it is deleted, is called formatting. It creates a system for accessing stored information.

As a rule, it is performed for:

  • changes from one file system to another;
  • delete files from hard disk.

On the this moment there are many different file systems. They are used on various equipment, including not only computers, but also mobile devices... To work in the latter Windows versions the file system is NTFS.

Video: How to Format a Hard Drive

Why format your hard drive?

Formatting is done to remove files from the hard drive, as well as to change one file system to another.

In most cases, they resort to it:

  • before installing a new operating system;
  • to create an installation Windows image, for example, on a USB flash drive;
  • for the reason, the need to clean the disk from files, in case they are not needed.

Formatting with Windows tools

Despite the large number of various programs for working with hard disk the Windows operating system has its own set of utilities.

Consider the process of formatting disks using Windows:

  1. select the drive to be formatted;
  2. press the right mouse button;
  3. select the Format item;
  4. in the window that appears, select the file system, cluster size, and formatting method;
  5. as a file system, it is recommended to set NTFS, and leave the cluster size by default - 4096;
  6. after setting the necessary parameters, click Start.

Windows also includes a more complete service for working with hard drives.

To open this menu, do the following:

  1. right-click on My Computer;
  2. select Management;
  3. open the Disk Management item;
  4. in this menu the user can perform various operations with the hard disk including formatting.

Command line formatting

You can also perform this operation using command line:

  • press the key combination Win + R;
  • enter cmd and press Enter;
  • in the command line, write the command format y :, where y is the letter of your drive, maybe, for example, c or d;
  • the system will ask you to confirm the operation by pressing the Y key;
  • after confirmation, the system will start the formatting process;
  • when finished, this message will appear



Formatting HDD in BIOS

If you need to format a hard disk partition from the BIOS, you have to tinker a little. Unfortunately, the BIOS does not have tools to format the hard drive, so you should use third party programs to perform these operations.

One of the most common is Acronis Disk Director. To work with it, you need to create a bootable media with the files of this program in the operating system. But before you start creating bootable media another option worth considering is formatting with Windows Installer. This decision is a simpler option compared to Acronis Disk Director.

For this method you only need a disk or flash drive with the recorded installation package of the operating system.

To format, follow these steps:


Attention! The drive letters may not match. For a more precise definition required disk use the command wmic logicaldisk get deviceid, volumename, size, description.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive Acronis Disk Director

To create a bootable flash drive you will need:


Algorithm of actions:

  1. insert a USB flash drive;
  2. install and open the program;
  3. in the application, open the Tools section and select Acronis Bootable Media Builder;
  4. click next;
  5. choose the type of boot Windows media PE;
  6. in the next menu it should be noted necessary components for writing to a USB flash drive;
  7. after selecting, you must select the medium to which the recording will be made, and click Next. The USB flash drive should be formatted in FAT 32 format using the Windows utility;
  8. you can also create an image for later burning to a flash device or disc using the Ultra ISO program.

Working with a bootable USB flash drive Acronis Disk Director

To download a USB flash drive you need:


How to format an external hard drive to NTFS

The most convenient formatting method is to perform all actions using standard operating system utilities. This solution does not involve installation additional programs and creating additional bootable disks.

If you do not have an operating system installed, then in this case you should use special programs such as Acronis.

Steps describing how to format a hard drive as ntfs:

Utilities

Besides the standard Windows programs there are various utilities used for the same purpose.

Of the most common options, the following can be noted:


What is the best program in ntfs to format drives?

Each program has its own characteristics, but the main direction for all utilities remains one - working with disks, including creating partitions, forming into others file systems etc. Therefore, the choice of the program is a purely personal question of each user, which depends on his preferences.

Formatting problems and solutions

How to format a disk quickly without losing data?

Unfortunately this is not possible. All stored information will be deleted. Only part of the data can be restored.

Which drive is better: external or external?

Formatting external drives is the same as for a regular hard drive. When this process all information will be deleted, including windows, after execution the disk turns out like a new one without windows.

Unable to format hard disk

If you did everything according to the instructions, but did not achieve the result, do not sound the alarm. It doesn't always mean something bad.

  • format command - cannot be used for the system disk if it is in its environment;
  • if the operating system is located in another partition of the hard drive, it cannot be deleted;
  • settings antivirus software access to different sections of the hard drive may be closed;
  • different applications and viruses can block access.

If you removed the above factors, but you still cannot format the hard drive, you will have to resort to special programs... The most popular tool is HDDscan, which is easy to install and free.

Algorithm of actions:

  • download the utility;
  • open and install;
  • run as administrator;
  • click on the sphere-shaped icon located in the center of the interface;
  • select Surface tests;
  • check the box next to Erase;
  • go to the Add test tab;
  • click on Scan;
  • in the lower right corner, write down the error data;
  • set the EraseWAITs option to ON and select Scan again;
  • repeat until the error clears up.

You can also use the Acronis Disk Director program. If it is impossible to format the portable hard drive using this program, most likely the hard drive is partially out of order. And the whole procedure, sometimes it is possible to perform, only from bootable media, that is, not in the operating system.

How to force format a USB flash drive?

You can use the program to format flash drives HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool.

How do I format a write-protected drive?

  • open command line;
  • register the following commands:
  1. diskpart;
  2. list disk;
  3. select disk Z. Z - the number of the flash drive, the execution of the previous command is shown;
  4. attributes disk clear readonly;
  5. clean;
  6. create partition primary;
  7. format fs = ntfs;
  8. exit.

The operating system includes utilities that:

  • provide the required set of functions;
  • have a fairly simple interface that will be easy for novice users to work with.
>