At some stage in your computers life things are going to take a turn for the worse, and you will need to format a partition. The most common reasons are when you sell your computer, or your hard drive becomes infected with a crippling virus. Format a hard drive with windows xp by running the windows xp install program, installing windows and formatting the hard drive. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. While formatting a large hard drive, external hard drive or usb drive as fat32, you may fail to complete the format using the default windows format tool using windows. On the left side of the screen, select remove everything and reinstall windows. Rightclick on the my computer icon on your desktop or click the start button on the task bar and then click my computer in there. The choice of file system will almost invariably be ntfs unless there is a specific need to select fat32. To wipe a hard drive means to completely erase the drive of all its information. In the guide below im going to tell you how to format a partition correctly. Skip this article entirely and instead learn how to do a clean install of windows. How to split hard disk without formatting in windows xp7810.
You cant format the c drive like you can format another drive in windows because youre within windows when you perform the format. Specify the formatting options you want to use by using one of the following procedures. How to format hard drive and reinstall windows xp full step. Click on start, richt click my computer click on manage and than on disk management. Select the disk you want to format and do a right click, select format from the popup window and read the warning about loosing all data on the disk. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. Search for command prompt, right click and run as administrator. How do i format the hard drive in my laptop to reinstall. How to format a hard drive with windows xp dumb little man. When it comes to changing hard drive or giving away a computer, simply deleting files or formatting the hard drive is not enough to ensure privacy, as recovery software makes it possible to recover lost data easily. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp lifewire.
A system repair disc can be created from any working windows 7 computer and can then be used to write zeros to any drive using the included format command, including the primary drive, no matter what windows operating system is on the computer. It is not possible to format your primary drive probably labeled c in windows xp, as it contains windows itself. Now, you will learn the method to format c drive on windows xp. While i was attempting to format and install xp on the larger hard drive i disconnected the smaller. After disk management opens, which might take several seconds, look for the drive you want to format from the list at. Formatting hard drive in xp pro by thechas 17 years ago in reply to formatting hard drive in. Its good for clearing everything off a secondary drive or when installing a new copy of windows. I want to format the c drive to remove all data etc if this is the way to do it. If you want to format a hard drive while using or installing windows xp, youve come to the right place. Deleting everything does not wipe a hard drive and formatting does not usually wipe a hard drive. As soon as you reformat your hard drive all data on that drive or partition will be destroyed. Other than using the thirdparty tool, you can also format your hard drive from usb with the help of windows installation disk, which, as you will know, is relatively more complicated than using a bootable format tool as shown in method 1 step 1. Reformatting a hard drive prepares the disk surface to accept and store data.
How to reformat a hard drive in windows xp to get rid of a virus. For instance, users want to write data to and read data from, to do a clean installation of the windows system, to get rid of a virus or malware, to erase the data before giving the drive to someone else or throwing it away, or some other reasons. As far as the recovery partition goes there are two kinds of recovery partition. How to format hard drive and reinstall windows xp full. This tutorial will show you how to format and partition new hard drives using the disk management tool built into windows xp. Additionally, if you are going to be formatting and installing xp you need to make sure you have the discs for any applications or third party hardware you use since you will need to re. Before you can format your drive from the windows xp cd you must. The formatting process erases the hard drive before installing windows. Formatting an external hard drive microsoft community. Are there any external drives that work with windows xp. To create a partition or volume the two terms are often used interchangeably on a hard disk, you must be logged in as an administrator, and there must be either unallocated disk space or free space within an extended.
It is used to perform specific tasks with a commandline interface such as cleaning the primary drive of the os. Being different from deleting a partition or formatting a hard drive, to wipe a hard drive means to completely erase data from a computer, leaving no chance of recovery. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways. To partition a hard drive in windows means to section off a part of it and make that part available to the operating system. Is there a thirdparty fat32 format tool that can help. In the value label field, type a descriptive name for the drive. How to format a hard drive with windows xp howcast. If you cant find your disc, you can download an iso of the windows installation disc. Without the cd you will not be able to install windows on your pc. Format an exfat external hard drive to fat32 with easeus. Jan 17, 2019 rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option.
After the control panel window opens click on administrative tools and let the new window open. It lets you create, delete, and clone partitions in addition to formatting hard drives to chosen formats. Jan 24, 2020 if youre trying to format your c drive because you want to replace or reinstall windows, you do not need to format c ahead of time. New external hard drive that works with windows xp. Today were going to go over how to format your hard drive and reinstall windows xp from scratch to get back that shiny new operating system feeling untainted by years of wear, tear and added and. Windows support for hard disks that are larger than 2 tb. Select the disk you want to format and do a right click.
Just because you dont see the option to format your hard drive to fat32 in windows user. Since any data stored on the disk would be erased with disk formatting, please back up necessary files to ensure data security before going any further. Since windows vista, a full format writes zeroes to all data sectors see mskb 941961. The first step in repurposing a windows xp computer is to reformat the hard drive, and this is how it should be done. The above steps worked perfectly for me, but just last week i was helping a friend reformat and reinstall windows xp on her laptop, but everytime i tried to boot off the cd by pressing f12, the system skipped it and went to teh hard drive anyway. How to use the format command to write zeros to a hard drive. Rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option.
When you format a computer hard drive you will lose everything that is on the drive. Mar 20, 2020 4 free disk formatting utility in windows windows 1087 no matter why you need to format a hard drive in windows 1087, you can try the following 4 disk format tools. The two most popular operating systems, windows and mac os both have formatting utilities builtin, which makes formatting external drives even more convenient. If it is, the status row for that disk at the bottom of. How to format your hard drive using diskpart and command prompt. Best 4 free hard drive format tool download easeus. Need to reformat the hard drive in windows xp and start with a clean slate. Windows vista and windows 7 users if you surfed onto this page looking for a tutorial on how to format a hard drive in your operating system, click here.
How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. The tutorial posted above is for formatting your hard drive partition and reinstalling windows xp using the windows xp installation cd. How to partition, format, install ssds in windows xp when ssd. What is the difference between a quick and full format.
It was working at some point, but i stupidly formatted the hard drive and have no drivers for my hitachi hard drive. Jan 14, 2020 diskpart format command that runs on command prompt is used for formatting internal and external storage mediums of hard drives. This can be very useful for clearing everything off a secondary drive or when installing a fresh copy of windows. There is no need to download the file explorer as its a builtin tool on windows computer. Formatting hard drives and external hard drives is usually a fairly straightforward process. Follow the onscreen instructions to select a hard drive partition to format and install windows xp on. You can use it to deal with unlocked files means the files that are not currently in use. Data can be recovered from just a format though it is expensive. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt tom. How to erase my hard drive and start over computer hope. This wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drives format on windows and mac computers. To restore a windows xp or 2000 computer, you must have a set of restore discs for the computer or an original windows xp or 2000 installation disc. To format c from within windows would be like lifting a chair in the air while sitting on it you cant do it.
Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended. It is important to reformat the hard drive before selling, donating, or returning a computer to an employer. To reformat a hard drive with windows xp, insert windows cd and restart your computer. To do this, youll need your windows xp installation disc. In the new window there should be several shortcuts to different services. How to install the microsoft windows operating system. In many cases, these utilities are often more effective than the builtin options that windows and os x offer as well. Note if you select this option, this hard disk will not be recognized by windows versions earlier than and including windows xp. Then format it and if desired reinstall windows or leave it blank.
One point worth drawing your attention to, however, is that, if your hard disk is not empty in other words it contains data at the time you come to reformat or create a partition, all of the data on the drive will be destroyed. To create this article, 24 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. Jul 27, 2006 formatting a hard drive posted in windows xp home and professional. Thus, when it comes to wiping a hard drive, you need to make it clear why you have this need, and what data you dont want anymore. How to format a hard drive partition in windows xp tech. If you were looking for a tutorial on how to format your system operating system drive and completely reinstall windows xp, click here. There will be an option to assign a name to the drive, otherwise windows xp will automatically label it new volume. Decide whether to manually assign a drive letter, let the system automatically enumerate the drive, or do not assign a drive letter to the new partition or logical drive, and then click next. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows.
When you say full format, then windows xp also scans all sectors on the disk for bad sectors see mskb 302686. In order to use a hard drive, or a portion of a hard drive, in windows you need to first partition it. Thats why you want to wipe a hard drive instead of simply deleting or formatting it, by which data becomes invisible but not really gone. Reformatting a hard drive erases all of the information on the disk and recreates the file system architecture that is responsible for organizing data on the drive. This will happen automatically if you install a new operating system, or you can manually format by selecting the unpartitioned space and pressing c. Your computer should automatically boot from the cd to the windows setup main menu.
Splitting hard drive in windows 7810 means divide hard disk into partitions. How to wipe a hard drive windows xp without cd easeus. Sep 30, 2019 how to reformat a pc running windows xp. Press the windows key plus the c key to open the charms menu. Formatting internal hard drive and installing windows xp. In some cases, you have to split a hard disk into 2 partitions or more, which makes your computer more convenient to manage. The command is available in all windows operating systems like windows 10, 8 7, vista, xp and in other older versions too. For instance, some of the modern video doorbells you buy require your storage devices to be in the fat32 format. Click your hard drives name in the window near the bottom of the screen. Jul 21, 2010 formatting your hard drive is a relatively easy and very effective way to ensure that your computer runs fast and works reliably. Aug 17, 2018 the above command will open a diskpart window. Computers store their data and operating procedures on devices called hard disks. Format your hard drive using diskpart and command prompt.
Apr 10, 2020 but windows 10 disk management tool failed to format the external hard disk drive to fat32 as it is larger than 32gb. I have a dell with windows xp how can i reformat the hard drive. In both cases, correct formatting and reinstallation methods are paramount to. You can help protect yourself from scammers by verifying that the contact is a microsoft agent or microsoft employee and that the phone number is an official microsoft global customer service number. You will need to specify the size of the partition, the drive letter you want to assign. Most of the time, the part of the hard drive is the entire usable space, but creating multiple partitions on a hard drive is also possible so that you can store backup files in one partition, movies in another, etc. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt. Reformat hard drive with windows xp whitecanyon software. It still is not working, and now it isnt found with the windows 7 disk i have.
I bought a new seagate barraccuda, but now that hard drive is. Even though tech giant microsoft has tried to convince users of windows xp to upgrade to modern operating systems, there seems to be a. Sep 10, 2007 previous xp yes his small 15gig hard drive has windows xp installed on it and works just fine. How to format hard drive and reinstall windows xp full step by step tutorial. How to wipe a hard drive permanently erase everything. How to format a hard dr ive partition in windows xp. I have a dell with windows xp how can i reformat the hard. A selection of the best programs for different types of formatting a hard disk drive hdd, ssd, raid and removable media storage devices usb flash drives, sd card. Easeus partition master free is more than just a disk formatting tool. Dec 29, 2015 the instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. Diskpart format command that runs on command prompt is used for formatting internal and external storage mediums of hard drives. How to format the c drive on a windows xp sp2 wikihow.
Format an external hard drive to fat32 using command prompt. Tech support scams are an industrywide issue where scammers trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services. This page focuses on methods to completely wiping a hard drive or computer on windows 1087. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. When you format a disk, windows xp does a high level format and it writes a file system structure to the disk. You will need to specify the size of the partition, the drive. Todays usb flash drives are huge, but they come formatted with the fat32 limit of 4gb filesif you want to format them as ntfs under windows xp youll need a little trick. Only at best buy safeguard your library with this 4tb western digital hard drive. To start over, you need to boot from the cd, or the floppy disk boot set. If upgrading to windows 7, download the vista 32bit or xp drivers for windows 7 32bit or the vista or xp 64bit drivers for windows 7 64bit and install the drivers in the compatibility mode.
May 02, 2015 the first step in repurposing a windows xp computer is to reformat the hard drive, and this is how it should be done. How to format a pc and install windows xp sp3 with pictures. Insert the windows xp disc in the computer and then choose the option for usb or integrated cdrom device and press enter. Create and format a hard disk partition windows help. This is a detailed tutorial on how to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, and windows xp. Its durable construction protects against shock, and usb 3. Help formatting a drive with windows xp microsoft community.
To restore a windows xp or 2000 computer, you must have a set of restore discs for the computer or an original windows xp. How do i partition and format my hard drive using xp setup. In those cases where a hard drive is simply not formatting, partitioning, etc. Click on start click on the start or windows icon button and then click on control panel from the popup menu. The process of removing all data from these disks is called re formatting. Create a windows installation disk and boot your pc from it. You need to split the hard disk when it is first used. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways depending on your version of windows, but the easiest method is to type diskmgmt. Therefore, it is very important to back up anything you might want later. Once the windows partition has been deleted, you can format the unpartitioned space. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers operating system, as well as fix any nonphysical errors on the drive itself. How to format a hard drive with windows xp youtube. Formatting is also good for cleaning up storage issues, eliminating viruses and other hard toresolve problems.
Use a usb flash drive or your computers recordable disk drive to back up your files. Back up files back up important files or transfer them to your new computer before formatting the drive. How to format a hard drive partition in windows xp. Jan 23, 2014 when you format a disk, windows xp does a high level format and it writes a file system structure to the disk. This tutorial explains in a detail the process on how to format your hard drive and reinstall windows xp using the windows xp installation disc. This can easily be achieved during the installation of windows xp or simply from the setup procedure of the xp cd. Select the search option and type reinstall in the search text field do not press enter. Apr 29, 2020 follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. Tutorial 3step formatting hard drive in file explorer. Open windows file explorer, locate and rightclick on the target hard drive which you need to format, select format. Unfortunately, its very much not a straightforward process to format c.
This tutorial will show you how to easily format a hard disk in windows xp. Formatting an external hard drive how do i format an external hard drive in windows xp. Formattingpartitioning hard drives windows xp youtube. Formatting a hard drive windows xp home and professional. Press f8 to accept the windows xp licensing agreement. A system repair disc does not install windows 7 and you will not need a product key to use a system repair disc. How to format external hard drive to fat32 in windows. Follow these easy steps to format a hard dr ive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. Formatting is done automatically during the windows installation. How to format a hard drive on your windows xp pc top. This video will show you exactly how to format your hard drive for. Check the disk management window to verify that the disk is initialized. You can also use any other version of windows installation disc.
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