▷ How to format a hard drive 【best methods】

To rejuvenate our computer, sometimes we need to format our hard drive. In this article, we will teach you how to format a hard drive step by step. A maintenance task that we usually need at least once a year.

Ready to know everything you need to know about formatting an HDD? We show you in this comprehensive tutorial!

Index of contents

One format a year, it doesn't hurt

The hard drive is the main piece of storage for computers. Here, you will find the system files, the installed programs and everything else that is installed on the computer, from videos, photos and music, to the antivirus, the Internet browser and your favorite games.

But many times, for various reasons, you might want to format to give a general cleaning and to improve its performance or simply, to erase everything before selling it, for example.

Installing a new operating system is common today, but before doing so, it is very important to format the hard drive. Generally, the systems themselves come with software that allows such an operation, however, a certain number of users do not always use the best option when it comes to disposing of the saved files.

Anyone who has already formatted Windows normally knows that there are two different ways to erase data: the quick format and the normal format. Who does not want to spend more time, goes directly to the first option. It is a fact that quick formatting, in most cases, does not generate any problem, but not deleting the files permanently can bring future problems in some cases.

The obvious conclusion is that formatting an HDD is not only important when you want to install a different operating system, but also to clean the disk when you want to use it to save common files and data. Also, many times the formatting itself is necessary to remove viruses from the disk or fix different problems.

There are several reasons why formatting a hard drive is essential, such as a virus attack the disk, reinstalling all programs to solve slow problems, or when you want to loan or sell your computer.

In short, formatting will allow you to erase the contents of a hard drive or a USB stick in its entirety so that it is empty as on the first day.

In this tutorial, we will see how to format a hard drive or a USB memory with four different methods.

If it's an external hard drive or a USB memory, do one of the first two methods. On the contrary, if you want to format the main hard disk that contains the operating system, obviously, it is not possible to delete it during this operation. You are going to need a bootable CD or a USB memory to format it, if this is the case, go directly to method 3 or 4.

What not to do in formatting?

Rapid formatting is not recommended as this is incomplete formatting and causes the disk to not perform at its best.

When formatting an HDD with the quick formatting process, the formatting software does not completely erase the files, leaving the data like ghosts in the background of the disk; As new files are burned, this new data will do so over your old files, which ends up fragmenting (cluttering) your hard drive and reducing the speed of reading and writing data, slowing it down.

Also, don't format the disk without backing up the files first, unless you don't want to save them or can't save them before.

It is important to note that the formatting can be done with the HDD that is being used in the computer (through the installation of an operating system (such as Windows, for example), or with a hard disk installed in the machine as a secondary unit.

If your disk is new, or if you do not want the information previously present on the partition to be formatted so that it can be recovered by specialized software, choose "Normal Format".

Format primary disks

To format the hard drive you are using, you need to have the installation CD of the desired operating system. You just have to enter the BIOS setup of your motherboard and give the CD / DVD player top priority to boot. Thus, you just have to follow the instructions on the CD to format the disk and install the system.

Format secondary disks

To format a hard disk that is connected to your machine, but is not running the operating system, it will be necessary to use specific programs for this task.

There is a huge variety of applications that can help the user to erase the data from a hard disk, however, only a small number of these are useful, since most applications only mask the old data, hiding the of the operating system, which registers the newest data on top of the oldest.

Partitions

Formatting HD is better than partitioning. This means that you must delete the partition table completely, and re-create the file system type that best suits your needs.

Thus, dividing the disk into parts, you can use, for example, one for the installation of the operating system and another for the files, because this way it is not necessary to format the entire hard disk when needed, avoiding the loss of the files.

Format an external hard drive with Equipment Management

The Computer Management tool exists in all versions of Windows and allows you to format, partition a hard disk or create a new partition.

To open it, right-click "Start" and then "Computer Management".

Another way to open this tool is to search for it in Cortana.

At this point, all installed hard drives (with their partitions) appear, as well as external drives and USB sticks connected to the computer. Find the drive you want to format.

Now right click on the drive in question and select "Format".

An alert message will ask you to confirm the formatting operation. Keep in mind that from this moment, all your data will be erased, so it is necessary that you make no mistake when choosing the drive letter to format.

After confirming, you will be asked to select the file system type before you start formatting (if you are using your hard drive or USB stick only with Windows, choose "NTFS").

A final alert message will appear. Click "OK" to start formatting.

Here begins formatting the hard drive. You will have to have a little patience until the "Format" state disappears.

Format a hard drive from the Windows command line

The Windows command line can be used to format a hard drive or a USB memory. It is the easiest method, since you only have to start the command line through the Start menu by entering "cmd" in the search box, and run it as administrator.

Once the Windows command line has started, run the following command:

diskpart

Enter the command "list disk" to see the hard drives and USB sticks connected to your computer.

If you want to format disk 1, you will have to select it with the command: "select disk 1".

Then run the "clean" command to remove all partitions from the disk and erase all the information on it.

Thus, you will only have to create a new partition with the following commands to finish formatting:

create partition primary select partition 1 active format fs = ntfs

The operation will take a little time depending on the capacity of your hard drive. Wait a moment, until the formatting process ends.

Note, of course, you will not be able to format partition "C:" with cmd, because you are using it.

Format a hard drive using Windows installation CDs

Another way to completely format a primary internal hard drive is to use a Windows installation CD or a bootable USB stick.

To format, proceed as if you wanted to do a clean installation of Windows.

Start the computer on the installation CD (or on a Windows bootable USB stick), after booting, choose the language and click "install now".

After accepting the terms of use, you will select the second option (Customized - Advanced options).

This is the step that worries us the most, since from this window you can format or partition the hard disk or even merge partitions of a disk (optional units). All hard drives with their partitions are visible. So, to format a hard drive, it's simple, select it and then click "Format".

In case the disk is partitioned, select each partition and click "delete".

Once finished, you will see only one partition. At this point, you should create a new partition that contains the entire hard drive.

Click "Next" to start Windows installation and complete the formatting operation.

At the end of the installation, the computer will reboot into the Windows operating system. In this way, your hard disk will now be formatted and clean, containing only Windows files and folders. But if you want to do an even cleaner formatting, the following method is recommended.

Format a hard drive with low-level formatting

There is a big difference between standard formatting and low-level formatting (LLF) that cleans your hard drive at a deeper level, making old data extremely difficult to retrieve because it formats the physical sectors on the hard drive itself.

It is important to know that the meaning of "low level formatting" has changed over time, and this efficient formatting method has been replaced today with something known as "Fill with zeros". Here is everything you need to know about this process and the tools you need to do it.

Low level format vs Fill with zeros

Low-level formatting formats your hard drive beyond the point of no return, because it erases all existing sectors on the physical surface of the drive rather than just the file system. It was used in the past to get rid of all existing data on old hard drives permanently, which was useful if you had confidential data that you wanted to disappear forever, if you sold your hard drive or if you had a serious virus such as a boot sector virus, which could not be removed by the standard formatting process.

Today, modern hard drives (SATA and ATA) are low in formatting at the time of manufacture, and technically cannot be reformatted in the same way as older Modified Frequency Modulation (MFM) drives.

However, there are equivalent processes that perform similar functions. The modern equivalent of low-level formatting is " zero-filling ", whereby all the data on your hard drive is replaced with arbitrary zeros or other characters, making the data erased and unrecoverable.

When is a low-level format needed?

There are times when a modern hard drive can become so corrupted that the operating system cannot recover it, and a zero padding can help in this situation. For example, hard-to-eradicate boot sector viruses can be difficult to remove without resorting to low-level intervention.

Since the zero-fill method cleans up all programs and data on the hard drive, it will remove viruses, corrupted partitions and the like. Just remember that this is an extreme measure, as you will lose all the content on your hard drive.

This type of utility can also be used to "hide" bad sectors by telling the drive to remap them. Also remember that a hard drive that continues to increase its bad sectors, over time its reliability will be highly suspect.

How to zero-fill a hard drive

Most major hard drive manufacturers have their own zero-filler tools, which typically require booting from a CD or USB drive.

The advantage of using dedicated tools made by manufacturers is that they can perform formatting faster if used with the same brand HDD.

Alternatively, you can use a great tool called DBAN with any brand of hard drive and you will erase all your existing data in four steps.

This means that you will erase and overwrite existing data six times, making recovery almost impossible. Please note that these tools are designed to work with magnetic hard drives (SATA and ATA), not SSD.

1. To use any of these tools, you will need to create a bootable flash drive. The best tool to do this is Rufus. Download it, then open it and make sure your settings are like the image below.

Be sure to click on the CD icon next to "Create a bootable disk using" and select the DBAN ISO you downloaded earlier (or the ISO image of any formatting tool you have decided to use).

1. When you have configured all the options correctly, click on "Start". Wait for the process to finish, and now you will have a bootable flash drive that contains your “low level formatting” tool. Then, restart your PC and press F8 or F10 repeatedly until your PC asks you which device you want to boot from. Select the flash drive and the formatting tool will open. From this point on, you should be very careful because this is where you will have the power to erase data on your hard drive forever. Each of these tools will work slightly differently, so be sure to read up on their various formatting options before confirming. In the case of DBAN, the best and simplest option is "autonuke", which will instantly go ahead and fill your drive with zeros using the default settings.

This formatting method allows you to restructure the hard drive. It is recommended to follow this method especially if your hard disk is defective, since this is a type of formatting carried out by the manufacturer for the first time, it does not create a file system, but physically structures the disk.

This method is called “Low-level formatting” because it allows you to completely erase a hard disk as the first day.

Alternative: HDD Low Level Format Tool

The HDD Low Level Format Tool software deletes the files at once, preventing even a future recovery attempt.

Despite this, the use of this tool shows an advantage in relation to the others, since there is no possibility of data fragmentation, as mentioned above.

First of all, download and install the software.

Second, connect the destination hard drive or other drive to the computer. You must do this before starting the software because the application is not capable of automatically detecting new units nor is it equipped with an update option.

Then select the destination drive and click "Continue".

Finally, in the "Low-Level Format" tab click on "Format this device".

Conclusion on how to format a hard drive step by step

Each case is specific to each user, so assess the best way to proceed. Remember that each computer, motherboard, system, among others, have their uniqueness, so it is important to keep an eye on how to proceed with each one to ensure effective formatting.

Formatting the hard drive is the best way to clean it. It is also recommended to do it when you want to sell your PC. Now you know how to format a hard drive using one of these four methods, depending on the media at your disposal.

We recommend reading the best SSDs on the market.

The most important thing to remember is that "zero padding" is essentially the modern version of the old "low-level formatting" process and that you should be completely sure that you will lose the data on your hard drive forever when you do it..

It is a powerful process that should not be taken lightly and certainly should not be used if all you are looking for is to reinstall the operating system or upgrade your PC.