Computer Hard Drive Formatting Tips

This type of formatting is done when you want to format the drives, that do not contain your operating system files. The basic purpose may be to create new partitions or reformat the order of the old partitions. Here I assume that you have Windows installed in your computer. You can follow this simple procedure to meet your purpose.

• The most important step that you need to take, before you start with the formatting process, is backup all your important data in a CD, DVD or hard disk.
• Now go back to your desktop and right click on the 'My Computer' icon and select 'manage'. A new window appears on the screen. Select 'storage' and then go to 'disk management'.
• You will now have a window, illustrating the graphical representation of the partitioned hard drive that exists in your computer.
• Right click on each of the drives that you do not need or you wish to format and click on delete existing partitions. Each partition will take a little time to be deleted.
• The deleted partitions then appear in graphical representation, in the available or free unformatted space. Right click on this free partition box that will be labelled as unallocated and select 'New Partition'.
• Once you click on it, the new partition wizard starts. Follow the simple steps of the wizard. You will be asked to enter the size of the new partition that you want to allocate, the drive name and the filesystem type (NTFS or FAT). Enter the appropriate details and then click on 'finish'.
• The process will take some time. Do not close the computer management window, until the graphical window shows the partition to be healthy.
• Repeat this procedure for as many drives as you want to create depending on the amount of unallocated space you have.
• If you want to make a single drive, then select the default size that is given once the new partition wizard starts.

Installing the Windows XP Operating System

When doing so, you can leave the other drives untouched and simply install the operating system on the primary drive.

• The first and foremost step that you again need to take is to, backup all the important data that is present in your primary drive.
• Now restart your computer and enter its BIOS. Generally, if you press the F8 function key during booting up, you can enter the BIOS. However it may be different for different computers.
• Once inside the BIOS go to the list that gives your booting preferences. Follow the key instructions illustrated at the bottom of the page and check that the first priority to your booting order is given to the CD/DVD ROM.
• Once you are done, exit the BIOS screen and enter the operating system. Now put your Windows CD into the CD ROM and restart your computer.
• The computer will take a little more time than it normally takes before booting. Then a message will be flashed, asking you to press any key if you want to boot from the CD ROM. Press any key, when you are prompted with this message.
• A blue screen will appear and various messages will be flashed, that will indicate the loading of various files. Finally you will be given a list of options. Select 'setup Windows XP' and press enter.
• The next screen that appears can allow you to delete old partitions and create new ones. You can also select the file system type (NTFS or FAT).
• Use the up down arrow keys to select any partition. To delete a partition, select it and press D. To create a new partition, select the unpartitioned space and press C.
• You can allocate the size of the partitions. If you do not want to disturb the drives other than your primary drive, where you want to reinstall your Windows then simply leave the drives untouched.
• Once you are done with this process, a screen appears again, where you can select the drive to install your operating system. Select the primary drive and hit the enter key.
• Once the formatting is done, the computer will reboot and you will again be asked to press any key, within a few seconds to boot from the CD. Do not press any key.
• Then the installation of the Windows files will start. The process will proceed step by step and take around 20 minutes. You will be asked to enter your Windows license number, name, address, company, organization and the time.
• Once this process is completed your computer will have a fresh copy of Windows installed in it.Installing the Linux Operating System
  
  The initial processes for installing the Linux operating system is not much different from installing the Windows Operating System.
  • You need the booting priority to be set such that the CD/DVD ROM has the highest priority.
  • Then you put in your Linux installation DVD into your DVD ROM and reboot your computer system.
  • Once the rebooting starts, you will be asked to press any key, to boot from the DVD. Follow the instruction and you will reach a screen, its color depending on whether you are installing Red Hat Linux or Fedora Linux or may be Linux from some other vendor.
  • A large number of comments will flash on the bottom of the screen that will illustrate the different files that are being loaded. Finally you will be asked to select the type of installation procedure that you want to follow. Select the graphical mode as it is more user friendly.
  • Now follow the simple steps like entering your name, license key and whether you want a full installation or just a compact installation.
  • After following the basic steps, you will reach the screen where you can partition your hard disk. Delete the existing partitions and create new partitions by clicking the create button.
  • The type of partitions in Linux are entirely different from those in Windows. In Linux, the file system type that you need to select is ext3. Then create the different partitions. They should be nomenclatured as /, /boot, swap, /usr and /var. / should be allocated to minimum 2000 MB, /boot to 200 MB, /usr to 9000 MB and /var to 3000 MB of memory. Swap is a virtual memory and should be allocated the maximum allowable size.
  • Once you are done with the partitioning process, click on continue. You will be asked to enter your time zone.
  • The remaining procedure will take 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Once you click on the final 'Finish' button, you are done with installing Linux on your computer.
  Formatting a hard drive is the final step that you can take, when you are facing a lot of software problems, caused mainly because of some virus. It is however advisable that you try out all other solutions to restore your computer back to normal, before you take this step. Formatting a drive causes you to lose all the information you have on it. Try out everything before formatting, right from installing an antivirus to working it out in the registry edit section, to remove any problems that you are facing.