Just select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) to remove everything and install Windows 10. Step 5: In the pop-up window, you can see all the partitions you have. Just select the system partition and then click Format to format it. A quality feature in the Windows family is to format a hard disk partition (drive). Users can use this feature in Windows 10 to format a hard disk partition (drive) as well. The user can format a hard disk partition (drive) by using the built-in Disk Management Tool or by using Command Prompt.
© Provided by Windows CentralIf you have a new drive, it's essential to format it to prepare the store for use, and in this guide, we'll show you how to complete this task on Windows 10.
On Windows 10, when connecting a new internal or external hard drive, it's important to spend the time to format it before storing files. You want to do this to make sure that the drive is empty, working as expected, and free of malware that might otherwise harm the current setup and files. It's also important to format the storage to ensure that it's using the proper settings to avoid compatibility problems.
Whenever you format a hard drive, the data will be deleted, since part of the process includes purging the file system table that tracks the locations of the files written on disk. The process will then define the area where files will be stored, and a compatible file system (such as NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT) will be applied to organize the new content. The system will continue to detect the previous data, but it'll identify that information as available space to store new data.
Windows 10 includes many methods to format a hard drive, but using Disk Management is perhaps one of the best options for most users.
In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to properly format a traditional hard drive or Solid-State Drive (SSD), whether it already has a partition or was never initialized.
- How to format existing partition using Disk Management
- How to create and format partition using Disk Management
How to format existing partition using Disk Management
When you're dealing with a drive that already has a partition, you can format the existing partition to delete its files and start with a clean storage.
To format a partition using Disk Management, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for Create and format hard disk partitions and click the top result to open the Disk Management console.
Right-click the new hard drive and select the Format option.
© Provided by Windows Central- In the 'Value label' field, confirm a new name for the storage.
- Use the 'File system' drop-down menu, and select the NTFS option (recommended for Windows 10).
- Use the 'Allocation unit size' drop-down menu, and select the Default option.
Check the Perform a quick format option.
© Provided by Windows CentralQuick tip: The quick format option wipes the drive fast, but it doesn't check for problems. On the other hand, when clearing the option, a full format will be performed, which not only wipes the drive clean, but it'll also check for bad sectors. It's an option that could take many hours depending on the size, but it's a good practice to make sure the drive is in working conditions.
- Clear the Enable file and folder compression option.
- Click the OK button.
- Click the OK button again.
Once you complete the steps, the tool will format the selected partition on the drive, and then you can begin storing files.
How to create and format partition using Disk Management
In the case that you have a hard drive that was never partitioned and formatted, it will not appear in File Explorer, and you'll have to initialize, create a new partition, and then format it before you can use it.
Usually, you can tell a hard drive doesn't have a partition, because it will not appear in File Explorer, and on Disk Management, it'll show up as unallocated space. Creo 1 1 8.
https://xfys.over-blog.com/2021/01/microsoft-access-gratis.html. To set up a new hard drive with raw space on Windows 10, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for Create and format hard disk partitions and click the top result to open the Disk Management console.
Right-click the hard drive marked as 'Unknown' and 'Not Initialized' and select the Initialize Disk option.
© Provided by Windows Central- Under the 'Select disks' section, check the disk to initialize.
Select the partition style:
- Master Boot Record (MBR) for hard drives smaller than 2TB in size.
- GUID Partition Table (GPT) for hard drives larger than 2TB in size.
- Click the OK button.
Right-click the Unallocated space part of the storage, and select the New Simply Value How to get winrar windows 10. option.
© Provided by Windows Central- Click the Next button.
Under the 'Simple volume size in MB' section, leave the default size if you're planning to use the entire hard drive to store files. Otherwise, specify the amount of space in megabytes you want to allocate for the partition.
© Provided by Windows Central- Click the Next button.
How to access photos on android phone. Use the 'Assign the following drive letter' drop-down menu to select a new drive letter.
© Provided by Windows Central- Click the Next button.
- Use the 'File system' drop-down menu, and select the NTFS option (recommended for Windows 10).
- Use the 'Allocation unit size' drop-down menu, and select the Default option.
- In the 'Value label' field, type a descriptive name for the storage.
Check the Perform a quick format option.
© Provided by Windows CentralQuick tip: To perform a full format that includes a disk check, clear the quick format option. If you use the full format option, remember that it can take many hours to complete depending on the size.
- Clear the Enable file and folder compression option.
- Click the Next button.
- Click the Finish button.
After you complete the steps, the new hard drive will be initialized, partitioned, and properly formatted.
If the drive is exhibiting problems using the Disk Management tool, as a result of data corruption or another issue, you can use the DiskPart command-line tool to resolve the problem.
We're focusing this guide on Windows 10, but these instructions should also work on Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.
More Windows 10 resources
For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:
While most external hard drives are already designed to work for Windows computers, there are times when you need to reformat one. How to download apps for windows 10 laptop. You might want a drive that works with Macs and PCs, or maybe you want to partition it, which will split it up into two different formats. Here's how to format an external hard drive for Windows 10 or partition it.
How to Format a Hard Drive for Windows 10
Note: Formatting your drive will erase all the existing files on it. So if your external hard drive already has important files on it, make sure to back them up before proceeding.
- Connect your external hard drive to a Windows computer. If your external hard drive is working, your computer will automatically detect it, and the drive will appear under Devices and Drives next to your internal drives in the This PC window. You can also find it in the left sidebar of File Explorer.
Note: If you already used your external hard drive on a PC, be sure to back up any files on it. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it.
- Right-click on the external hard drive and click Format.
- Choose a format under File System. By default, Windows computers will choose NTFS (New Technology File System) for you because that's the native Microsoft filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT.
Note: The exFAT file system only works on Mac 10.6.5 or later, and Windows XP SP3 or later.
- Check the Quick Format box, and click Start. Depending on the size of the drive, and if there are files to be deleted in it, this can take a few to several minutes to finish.
- Click OK when the Format Complete pop-up screen appears.
Now you have a hard drive formatted for Windows, but what if you wanted to use it with Mac computers also? One easy way to have a hard drive that works with Mac and Windows is by partitioning it. This means you're splitting the drive into two formats, one for Mac and one for PC. Here's how to do that:
How to Partition an External Drivein Windows 10
- Open the Windows search box, type 'diskmgmt.msc,' and hit enter. The Windows Search Box is the magnifying button icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
- Right-click on your external hard drive and select Shrink Volume. If this option is not available to you, reformat the drive to NTFS and try again.
- Enter an amount of space that you want to shrink your volume by. The remaining space will be displayed in megabytes.
- Then click Shrink. This will split the hard drive, with one part becoming unallocated space.
- Right-click the unallocated space on your drive and select New Simple Volume.
- Click Next.
- Then indicate how big you want the partition to be. If you want to use the rest of the space, enter the maximum disk space indicated above it. Then click Next.
- Next, choose what drive letter you want to use. Letters that have already been assigned to other drives will not be on this list, so don't worry if there are missing letters. Just choose among the drive letters still available.
- Go to File System and choose a format. Windows will choose NTFS for you because that's Microsoft's native filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT, which is an upgraded version of FAT32.
Note: The exFAT file system only works on Mac 10.6.5 or later, and Windows XP SP3 or later.
- Check the Quick Format box, and click Next.
- Finally, click Finish. If a pop-up appears telling you to format the disk, click Format Disk. After that, the newly formatted disk will open automatically.
Partitioning your external hard drive will enable you to perform tasks in one section without affecting the rest of the drive. If you want to know how to format a hard drive for Mac, check out our previous article here.
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