List of popular free programs for various types of formatting hard drives (HDD, SSD, RAID) and removable media (USB, Firewire, SD). In this article, you will learn how to properly format a hard drive and learn about various types of HDD formatting, including low-level. We will also choose a good program for partitioning the hard drive.

Methods for formatting HDD - from simple to complex

Formatting is a simple operation that can be performed by inexperienced users. Next, I will tell you how to format a HDD yourself - from simple to complex, depending on your skills and level of PC proficiency.

Using standard Windows tools when formatting

The Windows XP-10 operating system has built-in tools to perform this operation. Formatting a hard drive is done like this:

1. Open “Explorer” (or another file manager),
2. Go to the “My Computer” section
3. Click on the desired drive
4. Select “Format”
5. Next, click on the “Start” button

This is the easiest way to format your computer without additional tools. Despite its simplicity, however, all stages must be performed consciously, clearly understanding why you are doing it. Before giving your consent to formatting, carefully check whether the drive you have selected is correct.

Perhaps the video instructions show more clearly how to format a disk.

An alternative formatting method in Windows 7/8/10

1. Different systems have their own path to Disk Management - the easiest way is to open the search for programs and enter “management”. When the system displays a search result, find “Computer Management” and open it
2. In the menu on the left, go to "Disk Management"
3. Right-click on the desired partition and select Format. Since the process occurs inside a running OS, the “Format” menu item will be inactive on the system partition
4. Next, select a label for the new partition, the type of future file system and the required cluster size (if you don’t know what size you need, leave “default”)
5. For high-level formatting, you can leave the “Quick Format” checkbox active. If you need to deep clean the partition contents, uncheck this box.
6. After clicking the “OK” button, the system will ask for confirmation - click “OK” again

Administration section "Computer Management"

Formatting a hard drive via the Windows command line

To start formatting, open a command line (console) on your computer. To do this, use the key combination WIN + R, in the “Run” window that appears, enter the CMD command, press ENTER.

Note. To format a disk via the command line, you will need administrator rights. Start - CMD - open the context menu by clicking on the application icon "Command Line" - Run as administrator. If you try to format the disk without administrator rights, you will not succeed: access will be denied. Anyway, watch the video where I show you how to format as an administrator.

To format via the console, use the following commands:

Format drive letter

Press Enter. We carefully read what is written in the console and perform further actions with the hard drive depending on the situation.

Full hard drive formatting via HDD Low Level Format Tool

Low-level formatting will optimize the HDD structure. This is useful when preparing to reinstall the operating system. At the same time, you can solve problems with bad sectors of the hard drive.

HDD Low Level Format Tool is suitable for low-level formatting. The utility will help you format your computer's hard drive, external HDD, tablet SD card and other storage devices.

In addition to the basic functions, HDD Low Level Format Tool can be used to read SMART indicators, check read errors, disk uptime, etc.

How fully format the hard drive:

1. After installation, run the HDD Low Level Format program
2. In the Drive selection window, select the hard drive (if several HDDs are connected to the PC). The easiest way to distinguish one hard drive from another is by capacity. Click Continue
3. Go to the LOW-LEVEL Format tab
4. To quickly format (delete partitions and MBR records), select the Perform quick wipe option.
5. To completely format the hard drive, the above option should be ignored
6. Before completely formatting your hard drive, make sure you have selected the correct drive. Only then click the Format this device button.

AOMEI Partition Assistant

AOMEI Partition Assistant

The program offers a number of useful functions, including low-level formatting of hard drives and most types of removable media. The interface resembles standard Windows tools, so it won’t be difficult to understand:

1. The main window automatically displays the disk with the installed OS. If you need to format another device, select it by clicking “Disk” in the top menu
2. In the bottom block of the left menu, select “Erase Hard Drive”
3. When you click this button, you will be prompted for the number of passes for the operation. If you intend to restore destroyed data in the future, then select a value from 1 to 7. If you specify a parameter of 8 or more, it will be almost impossible to recover information from the device
4. Confirm your choice by clicking "Yes"
5. To start formatting, you will need to reboot the system - once you click the “Reboot Now” button, there is no turning back, so make sure you have selected the correct disk and the desired operation settings

After restarting the computer, the program will perform all the specified actions and you will have a clean hard drive at your disposal.

DiskWipe

DiskWipe is an excellent solution for situations when data on storage media needs to be destroyed beyond recovery. The program uses several proven algorithms (Dod 5220-22.M, US Army, Peter Guttman), and advanced settings allow you to select the formatting depth. According to the developers, the program does not contain hidden viruses, etc., and also does not transmit user data.

DiskWipe

It’s extremely easy to format the desired device using DiskWipe:

1. Launch the program. In the block on the left you will see all devices available for formatting
2. Select the desired device and click "Wipe Disk" in the top menu
3. Advanced settings will open with preset standard values. For complete and irrevocable formatting, you can check all available fields and indicate “Highest” in the right block
4. After selecting settings and clicking “OK”, formatting of the selected device will begin

Paragon Partition Manager

A test period of 30 days allows you to evaluate the capabilities of the program and format the desired devices in various modes. Since Paragon Partition Manager has several options for working with partitions (partitioning, recovery, and others), it is distributed shareware.

Paragon Partition Manager

The formatting process is intuitive:

1. In the main window, click "Partition Manager" in the menu on the left, then select "Launch Partition Manager"
2. From the proposed list of devices, select the one you need, open the context menu with the right mouse button, and click “Format partition”
3. Specify the type of future file system and volume name, then click “Format”
4. The procedure will be queued - to apply the changes, you must click on the green checkmark in the top menu
5. After confirming the operation (the “Yes” button), it will no longer be possible to stop its execution.

Separately, it is worth noting the fact that Paragon Partition Manager not only formats the device, but also creates a new partition with the specified file system, so after the system boots, the disk can be used without additional actions.

reference Information

What is formatting?

Disk formatting is the procedure of applying marks to a data storage device - a hard drive (HDD), memory card, CD/DVD or other storage medium. The formatting operation is equally useful for new and “worn” HDDs that have served their life.

A disk that has no partitions is absolutely useless. In addition to the fact that you mark up the disk, formatting deletes all data almost irrevocably (although there are many programs for recovering after formatting). Therefore, you need to be careful and prepare in advance to format your hard drive.

Over the years of operating the operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux), the hard drive turns into a “garbage dump”, since many programs leave their files on the disk, and after uninstallation, their “roots” still remain on the HDD. As a result, the system is slow and unstable. Various freezes and slowdowns occur, the disk clicks, makes noise, and behaves inappropriately. After reformatting, the hard drive is optimized and begins to work better. Many devices last a long time without this procedure. I advise you to be on the safe side and format your hard drive at least once a year.

Sooner or later, formatting the disk is inevitable. However, before doing this, it is very important to update or reinstall the operating system on your computer. Along with removing unnecessary files, you get a completely clean environment without defects, harmful viruses, unused programs, and data that lead to conflicts. Thus, before reformatting the hard drive, we reinstall the OS.

Before formatting, back up all important data to another drive. As already mentioned, during this procedure, various service information and marks are written to the disk, which allow information to be written to the HDD in the future without hindrance.

Steps to format a hard drive

Low level– at this stage, basic markings are applied to the disk at a low level. Typically, this is done by the hardware developer. In this case, special tracks and service data are written to the disk. This information remains on the hard drive almost forever - it can only be overwritten using proprietary utilities. These programs can only replace service data. By the way, if you perform low-level formatting of the hard drive, then you will no longer be able to recover data later, unfortunately or fortunately. Therefore, if your goal is to destroy information, then you can use this format. Read about low-level formatting

Section breakdown. It is clear that storing data on a disk without partitions is quite inconvenient. For some logical organization, the HDD is divided into special zones, disks - drive C:, drive D: and so on. For these purposes, both utility utilities built into the OS and external programs for formatting the hard drive, which I have already written about more than once, can be used.

High level. During this type of reformatting, boot sectors and file tables are created.

Types of disk formatting

You may know that standard system tools provide 2 methods by which you can format a hard drive - external or internal:

quick formatting: takes less time, allows you to carry out the procedure as is. The point is that with this type of computer formatting, the files in the file table are overwritten with zeros, while the data is stored as if nothing had happened, and you can later restore it. Also, with this method you do not optimize the file structure, and if there were defects on the hard drive, you will not fix them with the quick method

normal formatting: Longer and deeper formatting of the hard drive. The data on the internal or external drive is completely destroyed, the file system is checked for possible errors and damage. bad sectors, bad blocks. Thus, with the usual reformatting method, you kill two birds with one stone, although you lose a little more time.

I’ll explain so that the author of the question can calm down. There is a computer. It has a hard drive on which everything is recorded. It has a certain structure. We will not consider structures hidden from the naked eye; we will pay attention only to the partitions of the hard drive. In the data area of ​​a hard drive, one or more partitions, also called logical drives, are created to store data. All data storage devices, including hard disk partitions in the Windows operating system are designated by Latin letters. In Windows, there is usually a drive "A" for 3.5" floppy disks, then starting with the letter "C" the hard drive partitions are listed, after which all other external storage devices (CD, DVD, flash memory) are listed.
Each hard drive partition has its own internal structure. The creation of this structure is performed during the so-called formatting. There are several types of formatting, two of which are quick formatting and full formatting. With any formatting, the data structure of a hard disk partition is formally returned to its original state, that is, to the state of no data on the disk (on the disk partition). However, if a full format resets the structure records of the entire disk partition, a quick format resets only the information about the location of these structures. For the user, these operations lead to the same result: the data disappears, everything is empty. But, since formatting is a partially reversible process (after formatting there is a chance to restore the data partially or completely despite people’s misconceptions to the contrary), then with quick formatting all the data seems to remain in its place, only the information about its location is reset (recoverable). All this can be done with special software. This is a lyrical digression for Dima.
Now, to the essence of the issue. Your hard drive (if there is one at all) may consist of one or more partitions. This is usually easy to find out for sure by doing the following. In “My Computer”, right-click on the “C” drive, call up properties (menu item “Properties”), select the “Hardware” tab. In the list of all storage devices, the first one should be the hard drive, so you need to select it and click on the “Properties” button, where you select the “Volumes” tab. On this tab, you need to click the "Fill" button, after which a list of all partitions of this hard drive ("volume") will be displayed and their capacities will be indicated. Thus, if Windows is installed on the first partition (C), then Windows will be erased only when this partition is formatted. Formatting other Windows partitions does not affect.
And here comes the most important point. I suspect that you see the need for formatting in solving certain problems in the operation of the computer. Something is buggy somewhere, errors, viruses. However, formatting partitions on which Windows is not installed cannot, in principle, solve any problems, since Windows remains in its current state. Accordingly, formatting in any form that does not affect the partition with the operating system makes very little sense, unless it is formatted for the sake of pampering. To eliminate serious problems in the operation of the computer that are not related to hardware malfunctions, in any case you will have to reinstall Windows, but it is not necessary to format it at all (if it is reliably known that there is no strong virus infection affecting not only system folders, but also the Program Files, Document and Settings folders and other folders of the "SE)b section, it is enough to start the Windows installation in the usual way from the distribution disk and, when notified that the Windows operating system is installed on partition "C", confirm its overwriting. The old operating system will be removed and the new one installed, the remaining folders on section "C" will remain untouched.

If you need to completely format your hard drive and return your computer settings to their original settings, then you need to perform a number of steps. Usually you need to reset the BIOS settings and perform several operations on the hard drive.

You will need

• - Partition Manager.

Instructions

Turn on your computer and hold down the Delete key. Once the BIOS menu opens, highlight Use Default Settings and press Enter. Now select Save & Exit. This is necessary to save changes and exit the BIOS menu.

There are several ways to format your hard drive. If you have the opportunity to connect the hard drive to another computer, then perform this action. Turn on this PC and wait for the operating system to load. Open the “My Computer” menu by simultaneously pressing the Win and E keys. Right-click on the hard drive partition that you want to format.

Select "Format" and click the "Start" button. Repeat this procedure with all other partitions on your hard drive. If you are unable to connect the hard drive to another computer, then install the Partition Manager program. It will be needed to format the system partition of the hard drive, because... This procedure cannot be performed using Windows.

Restart your computer and launch Partition Manager. Open the Wizards menu and select Format Partition. Click the “Next” button in the menu that opens. Select the hard drive partition you want to clean. Click "Next". Specify the file system type of the future partition. Give it a letter and a label if required. Click the "Next" and "Finish" buttons.

Open the Changes tab located above the toolbar. Select Apply Changes. After a while, a window will appear asking you to restart the computer and continue the operation in DOS mode. Click the "Reboot Now" button. After some time, the computer's hard drive will be completely formatted.

Tip added May 17, 2011 Tip 2: How to format your computer Many PC users often need to repair their computer or install software. Sometimes a radical solution to problems is necessary - and then it becomes necessary to format the hard drive in order to reinstall the operating system and other programs.

You will need

• Installation disk with operating system.

Instructions

You will need an installation disk with the operating system. Insert the disc into the drive. Restart your computer. Set the BIOS to boot from CD-ROM. After the Windows installer loads its files into the computer’s RAM, you will see a dialog box labeled “Installing Windows.” Where you will be asked to select one of the items.

Select "To restore Windows using the Recovery Console, click ". The recovery console will open in front of you. If there is only one operating system installed on your PC, and it is located on the C: drive, then the message will load in front of you: “1: C:\WINDOWSWhich copy of Windows should you log in to?” Enter the number "1". Press the "Enter" key on your keyboard.

The system prompt appears: "C:\WINDOWS>". Write “format with:” or “format with: /Q /FS:NTFS” in this line, where “Q” means quick formatting, and “FS” means the file system. Press "Enter" and enter the English letter "y" from the keyboard. The formatting process will begin.

It must be remembered that during the formatting process, data from the disk disappears. And before carrying out this operation, it is recommended to save the files you need on other storage media.

After formatting, you can install the operating system. How to format a computer - printable version

Formatting - There are many reasons why you need to completely erase all data from your computer. Perhaps the computer was given as a gift and you want to get rid of the data from the previous owner. Perhaps the introduced virus is so deep that it is easier to erase all files than to try to treat it. Sometimes you just want to erase everything and install the operating system and the necessary programs from scratch. And an inexperienced user is faced with the question “How to completely format a computer.” The most common computers in Russia are PCs and Windows operating systems. Therefore, we will consider formatting on this platform.

Before you format your computer, you should save all important files on a flash drive or other media. Otherwise, most likely the necessary documents will no longer be returned. If you need to format not the entire computer, but a specific local drive, then just go to My Computer, right-click on the desired drive and select the Format section. In the window that opens, check the box next to Quick formatting and click Start. The process will take up to several minutes depending on the size of the local disk. If you need to format the entire computer, then it will be somewhat more complicated. There are several different ways to do this. Below is one of the simplest and most convenient ones.

If there is a need to format a hard drive, then, as a rule, the operating system is immediately reinstalled after formatting. Therefore, a boot disk with the operating system is required. You need to launch it and wait until the installation menu starts loading. Next, you need to follow the installer's instructions until you reach a menu where you need to choose where to install the OS. You will be prompted to select the partition on which to install the operating system. But at this stage you need to choose not to install, but to format. You should select Quick Format to save time. File system – NTFS. And repeat this operation with each local disk.

Next, select where the system will be installed and continue the installation. If there is a need to change the size of local disks, this can be done here. However, it should be remembered that even if you completely format the hard drive, some of the data can still be recovered later. An experienced system administrator can do this using special software. There are also many other ways to format a hard drive. For example, using the command line. However, the method described above is the simplest and most accessible to the mass user.