Do It Yourself – Format a Hard Drive
If you have known numerous Blue Screens of Death on your PC, or hear the fateful clicking noise coming from your laptop, it is likely time to format your Hard Drive. Formatting will get rid of all info on the hard drive and is the easiest way to get rid of computer viruses. Formatting does not only have to be done when there is a problem, it can also be utilised to just erase a drive in one go, if for example you are planning to upgrade the drive a new operating system. This guide will explain how to format a Hard Drive on a PC as well as MAC.
Required tools and materials
A Windows or Macintosh Hard drive utility disk
Instructions
Step one:
Select the main drive of the Mac usually called Macintosh HD
Go to: Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility
This will select all the drives linked to the computer.
Step two:
Select the disk that you want to erase from the listing on the left, then select the erase tab that is located to the right of the HD list. A listing of formatting options will open.
Step three:
Choose the Volume erase option from the listing that will open up.
Step five
Chose a name for the mounted hard drive and type it in the area intended.
Step six
Select the erase button and a window will select asking to confirm your selection. Pick erase again and the formatting process will begin.
Once formatting is done, the drive will be displayed with the name it was given in step five as well as on the desktop of the Mac.
How to erase a Hard Drive with Windows XP.
Step one:
To format a hard drive with Windows XP or 2000, insert Windows CD and restart your computer.
Step two:
Your computer must automatically start up from the CD to the Windows Setup Main Menu.
At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.
Step three:
Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
Step four:
If XP is already installed, you will be asked if you want to repair it. Press escape to bypass the option.
Step five:
Use the ARROW keys to select the partition or the unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition. Press D to delete an existing partition, or press C to create a new partition. Enter the size in megabytes (MB) that you want to use for the new partition, and then press “enter” or just press “enter” to create the partition with the maximum size.
Step six:
Select the erase option that you want to use for the partition (Recommended: NTFS), and then press ENTER.
Step seven:
After the Windows Setup program erases the partition, follow the directions that appear on the screen to continue installing Windows.
Tips and warnings:
1) Before erasing a hard drive back up all the info you need from the drive. You will lose ALL the data stored on the drive after formatting.
2) If you are formatting a Macintosh, you cannot format the startup disk unless the system has booted from the installation disk.
3) Be patient, this may take some time. The length of time it will take to format a hard drive will depend on a number of factors:
1. The size of the drive (larger drives (120 GB and up) will take a longer time to format than smaller ones).
2. The type of file system of the drives. Windows drives with New technology File System (NTFS) file systems will take longer to erase than (FAT or FAT 32).