How to Format a Hard Drive

This article includes the basics for high-level formatting a hard drive.

Method 1 of 5: For Windows XP

1. 
   1
   Back up your data. If you want to save any of the data on the disk, back it up by copying it to a CD or another hard drive. Formatting will destroy ALL of the data on the disk.
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2. 
   2
   Use the Windows XP CD-ROM to boot the computer.
3. 
   3
   Select the "Recovery Console" option.
4. 
   4
   At the prompt, type FORMAT C:
5. 

   
   5
   Also open computer, then right click "local disk (c:)", select "format...", click start (If other than c drive and windows not installed on the drive.
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Method 2 of 5: For Windows 7

1. 
   1
   Back up your data. If you want to save any of the data on the disk, back it up by copying it to a CD or another hard drive. Formatting will destroy ALL of the data on the disk.
2. 
   2
   Click Start.
3. 
   3
   Click Control Panel.
4. 
   4
   Click System and Security.
5. 
   5
   Click Administrative Tools.
6. 
   6
   Click Computer Management. Type in your password if asked.
7. 
   7
   Click Disk Management, under Storage. Storage should be located on the left.
8. 
   8
   Right-click the item your want formatted.
9. 
   9
   Click Format.
10. 
    10
    Follow the prompts.
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Method 3 of 5: For Mac OS X

1. 
   1
   Back up your data. If you want to save any of the data on the disk, back it up by copying it to a CD or another hard drive. Formatting will destroy ALL of the data on the disk.
2. 
   2
   Open the Hard Drive.
3. 
   3
   Open the Applications Folder.
4. 
   4
   Scroll down and open the Utilities folder.
5. 
   5
   Click Disk Utility.
6. 
   6
   Select the drive you wish to format from the list on the left.
7. 7
   Select your volume format.

   • Mac OS Extended is the most basic, standard option. Journaled will help the computer track changes over time and is usually a good idea.
     
   • Case Sensitive is for use with UNIX.
     
   • MS-DOS is best if you wish to share files between and connect the computer with a Windows system.
     
8. 
   8
   Name the drive.
9. 
   9
   Click Erase. Follow the prompts, wait for it to finish, and you're done.
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Method 4 of 5: For Windows 9x (95, 98, Me)

1. 
   1
   If you want to save any of the data on the disk, back it up by copying it to a CD or another hard drive. Formatting will destroy ALL of the data on the disk.
2. 
   2
   Use a startup floppy (sometimes called a "boot disk") to obtain a DOS prompt.
3. 
   3
   Type FORMAT C:
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Method 5 of 5: For Linux or BSD

1. 
   1
   Boot from a livecd
2. 
   2
   Open a terminal window (usually something like xterm or konsole)
3. 
   3
   Log in as root by typing su or sudo -i
4. 
   4
   Enter the code. Type mkfs.ext2 /dev/hdxy where you change the ext2 by the filetype you want (e.g. ext2, ext3, reiserfs,...) and the x by the letter of your drive and y by the number of the partition you want to format. (e.g. /dev/hda1, /dev/hdc32,...). Using the -j option (mke2fs -j) will create the ext3 (or journaled) file system that is much more resistant to the unexpected power loss.(Under Linux, you can also format the hard drive in FAT file system that is readable from Windows (use mkfs.vfat instead of mkfs.ext2). However such partition cannot store the root of the Linux operating system).