How to Format Hard Drive and Install Windows Operating System
By expectus
FORMAT HARDDISK/ HARDDRIVE
Depending on whether you are formatting your master hard drive or slave hard drive the ways of formatting will differ.
To format a Slave Hard drive (Not the hard drive with your current Operating System) you can simply format the drive in two ways, these methods are
1. Simply go into My computers then right click the specific Hard drive you wish to format then simply click Format. From here you can select the format type Fat 32 or NTFS ( NTFS the most common these days as its much faster than Fat 32)
Its also best to click the quick format option as this will dramatically reduce the time it will take to format the Drive. Remember when using this method you must close all applications and files that are being run the computer from that drive otherwise you will not be able to proceed with the format.
2. The next way is to format your hard drive via command prompt. To enter command prompt simply click start then run and enter “cmd” (without the “”) this will then bring up the command line. You can now format from here by simply typing format followed by the drive letter. E.g Format C:/
The next method is for formatting your primary or master drive and the best way to do this is to do it as a part of your windows installation. I will cover the formatting of the hard drive along with the installation of windows O/S below.
Format Hard disk and Install Windows Operating System
Steps
1.
The first step is to enter your computers BIOS. To do this when your computer is booting up it may ask you if you wish to enter setup or bios. The most common key to enter your setup/bios is DEL or F1. It may differ depending on what sort of motherboard you have just make sure you look out for the alert to find the appropriate key. If you cant seem to catch the key or if the screen flashes on too quick try pressing the Pause Break key and this will pause the boot up screen for you.
2.
The next step is to change the boot up options for your computer. Depending on your motherboard it will be in a different location but it should be quite easy to find with a little searching. When you find it simply change the boot up priority on your computer so that the number 1 priority is to boot from CD or DVD ROM Drive.
3.
Once you have setup your boot up priority and saved and exited your BIOS, its time to put your Windows CD into your CD/DVD rom drive and wait for it to do its thing and boot up. You may be presented with an option “If you wish to boot from the CD press any key” where you should press a key for the windows cd booting process begins.
4.
Once the windows CD has booted up select from the Menu install Windows. From this point you can choose where about you want to install your operating system files. When starting from scratch the easiest thing to do is to delete all the partitions and start from the beginning. Once you have created the partition sizes you would like (e.g. a 80GB hard drive into two 40GB partitions.) you can select on which partition to install windows. Its always recommended to install windows onto a partition incase one of the partitions fails the other one can be used to retrieve backup data.
5.
Now select the type of format FAT 32 or NTFS (NTFS recommended) and once you’ve pressed enter Windows will pretty much take over the rest. You will have to answer a few prompts along the way (admin name, passwords, network settings etc) but that’s about it. The installation of windows usually takes no longer than an 120 minutes , the time taken will depend on how much memory you have, hard drive space and cpu speed.
Goodluck I hope I helped. Let me know if I left something out :)
Remember to Backup your Files before Formatting
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Comments
No Problem :)
Interesting hub on installing Windows, but how to go about formatting your hard-drive a second time if needed.
Thanks for comment, not quite sure what you mean by second time but i am assuming you format it once then make paritions then decide to clear it and format again, u you can use all the proccesses above to do the format again, or simply format from command prompt format driveletter:/
A very nice tutorial.
good explanation with nice language..
I'm sure a few folks are gonna find this useful with all the nasty viruses floating around on the net these days...
Yea very true some virus's just dont go away until you do a fresh format and install
Very handy advice. I kept installing two or more versions of windows on my computer after a format. :-)
HINDI MASYADO DETAILED ANG INSTRUCTIONS!!!!
Nice Explanation with good comments. Thanks expectus.
thanks for the comment chandanakumarct :)
I've never really formatted my own hard drive to prevent creating problems for myself. Now that I've read this, I just want to know how to partition hard drive into two. Will bookmark this for future reference. Hope you don't mind. :)
ofcourse you can bookmark it :), the easiest way to do this is to run the windows xp setup disk, and follow the installation procedure until you get the part of selecting the partition and create a partition from your unallocated space (free space on current harddrive) , beware dont delete a partition unless you know what it is I dont want you deleting you precious files.
Another option is to use a partitioning software package while in windows, to make it easy and prevent making mistakes. I hear partition magic is popular but I dont think its freeware.
hi beatsme , sorry the above method actually wont work I realized , only work if your main drive has unalloacted space but I am assuming the entire drive is being used otherwise its kinda silly.
If you have vista there is an easy option to shrink down the size of drive , therefore leaving freespace left over unallocated which you can use for your 2nd partition unfortunately its not available in anything before vista. if you have vista do the following,
goto your control panel -> Administrative tools -> computer management - under storage Disk management then you can right click on a drive and click shrink. then create partition from space you just created.
Otherwise it looks like third party software is the best bet without sacrificing you data. The trial version of partition magic should be able to do everything you need :)
just search for partition magic on http://download.cnet.com/windows/ , good site for downloads:)
Hi Expectus, thanks. :) Will try to do your advice, probably in the future. Right now, I have lots of files that shouldn't be deleted. :)
I know what you mean my entire desktop is filled with random files:) goodluck
i so so much believe in it
I format my harddrive every 6 months to completly cleanup and speed up my pc...
I then enjoy installing again, all the latest programs, drivers, ect...
Formatting a harddrive is easy when you know how, which you have detailed how very well!!
thanks for the comment compu-smart :)it definitely speeds up your comp after formatting you just got to make sure you install all the motherboard and chipset drivers afterwards :)
Easiest method I seen :)
Sir I wanted to know that what do you mean by FAT 32 or NTFS format.Basically what is this format and what is its affect in installation of windows and my other question was that if i only have a single drive that do i have to follow the same procedure and last question that will all these networking settings and other basic components such as different drivers that include sound drivers and extra so are they also installed when i install the operating system If not,then should i make partitions and transfer these files into another partition and then only format the drive containing the windows or what else?
Hi kahoot , Fat32 is just the older file format in regards to NTFS its a lot slower and has little security , no compression or encryption.
and yes you can use these steps if you have just a single drive, just make sure to install all the drivers that came with your motherboard , if you have an inbuilt soundcard the cd with your mobo will have the drivers on it. Otherwise you can just install windows and use windows update to find drivers for your hardware.
No need to create a partition to transfer files, But its usually best to have atleast two partitions that way you keep a backup on one incase one gets corupt you simply format 1 partition instead of the entire drive
Very well written hub .....
very much informative ......
Thank you very much for your great hub, for good advice, good wishes and support. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us.
thanks for the very nice comment Sexy jonty :)
how do i partition my hard disk
you can follow the instructions above using your windows cd , or you can use a 3rd party software like partition magic
Thanks for the great info. I have done this many times and found it rather difficult on my old computer because it often froze during windows installation. Needless to say, this was very frustrating, but luckily I have a new computer now, and am thoroughly enjoying it. Awesome hub! =]
thanks CHoke Frantic:)
i've just reformat my pc & install new os (xp)..one thing i feel wierd is after installation done in My Computer> drive c:>Program files there's still program (Software) from my last os..i did reformat my hdd.pls help
i want fresh hdd with fresh os from my old pc
Hi fred, its normal to have folders inside C:/program Files , as you would have installed things from windows xp cd as well as motherboard drivers.
if it formatted correctly it should be obvious because your harddrive will have lots of freespace, and some folders in program files is normal. otherwise the format may not have been successful
Useful post. I've tried formatting in the past. Every one should know to do this.
thanks for the comment peterander, very true and it does wonders for a sluggish PC
thank you, its a useful information
In upper section you wrote that we can use "Format C:/" to format which I think cannot be true because C: cannot be formatted under Windows (you cant destroy your WIN installed drive).
Another little note is that you should select Quick Format only if you are 100% sure that the drive is error free.
Any way, thanks for writing.
well that's true but not everyone has there O/S installed on C:/ and in the old days your could run a recovery console or windows console and simply type C:/format to get it started and then run setup from your installation disk or bootup cd's.
and as far error free, do you mean no damaged segments? things like that because a quick format is still a format and problems with the harddisk will be obvious before deciding to do a format
Hey i have a 80gb hard disk which got corrupted(blue screen probs)
And i cant even format it with my windows 7 cd.
Help...
Please..
can you access it at all? if you set is as slave drive? otherwise if you cannot format i'm sorry to tell you it may be on its way out.
I agree with backing up to a second drive. I did a reformat and install a few months ago. Using the backup feature of XP was such a useful app. Don't forget to export your bookmarks from your browser to the second drive. That is something a lot of people forget to do. Spend at least 1 hour going through your files to make sure there is nothing you forgot to back up!
slave, master, it just wont work at all..
Thanks anyway :]
thank u very much for giving all the information about installing and formating our hard drive ,thanks once again------rouf
my pleasure, glad it helped :)
after i formated and go to boot from my cdrom it says the ntdlr is missing press ctl alt del to restart? i dont have the xp home disk thats on my (was)on my pc i have a xp pro i was gonna install but im stuck like chuck any ideas? thank you for your time!
hi cobain check out these two links for the solution , its a pretty common problem
Slightly confused on number four. You said install on one partition in case one fails the other can be utilized to retrieve data. Did you mean install windows on both or just one. I am just checking.
Just on one drive will be fine, good to have the other partition for backup files and what not
expectus- very useful tips. I tried to follow your second step so I can also install windows 7 but it kept booting back on the hard drive even when i already has set the boot devices to cdrom on the advanced bios features. I even tried choosing cdrom in boot menu but it just kept booting back to the hard drive. can you help? thanks
hmmm thats strange is your windows 7 version a cd version or an image iso file. are u selecting the wrong cd-rom by any chance.
I know of few ppl having this problem , and some say it wont read the DVD but will read of a USB plug and play device. So you could always try loading it onto your USB. its possibly the bios doesn't recognize windows 7, are you running the beta or official?
very good explanation with the good language.
Just an awesome tutorial mate!! just wondering if u could give some advice on how to format the master drive without installation cd. cheers!:)
Im running windows 7 32bit but im told that 64bit runs faster. i only have 768mb, and im thinking of buying more ram. my computer's maximum ram is 2Gb and i was wondering if installing 64bit windows i could add more than 2Gb of ram. my question really is, does adding ram depend on the motherboard or does it depend on the operating system?
you could try creating a recovery cd with windows 7, and whether or not you decide to change to 64 bit should be only if your CPU can actually support the 64 bit version otherwise there is no point really. :)
Ok, finally i found out my cpu does support 64bit will i be able to do what i want?
"Im running windows 7 32bit but im told that 64bit runs faster. i only have 768mb, and im thinking of buying more ram. my computer's maximum ram is 2Gb and i was wondering if installing 64bit windows i could add more than 2Gb of ram. my question really is, does adding ram depend on the motherboard or does it depend on the operating system?"
adding ram totally depends on your Motherboard nothing to do with your operating system , even at 2gb I would think its not quite enough for 64 bit windows it will probably end up being slower than 32bit as you wont be running it at full speed.
Its a real good thing getting an answer to your question(s) just when you need it most. thanks so much.
bakwas information
excellent, very helpful....thanks
Thanks for providing such nice comments. I used to format my hard drives as they get corrupt due to virus attack and trojan one. I also prefer it to speed my pc speed to great extent.
Thank you very much for the article. It was really helpful.
i have a hard drive 80 gb on 1 theres 50 gb and on the other drive theres 24.4 gb but when i go to my computer and try to format local disk D it says windows was unable to complete format and 1 more thing how do i format from bios i cant find it please help i hav e tons of viruses and i want to install my win7 ultimate again
easiest way to do it , is pop the dvd in the drive, restart your computer and start up the installation process, there is an option during the setup that allows you to format drives/create partitions etc..
Hi Expectus, ok first of all I know very little about computers and problem solving, with that said I was told my hard drive was bad on my sony laptop, I ordered online and did the removal of the old and installed the new (exacttly the same) hard drive as origional. Now my problem is when trying to boot up the screen reads operating system not found? Even tried useing a windows operating system disc during boot up, still reads system not found, can you help please?
You can try again using the installation cd but this time change the boot options in the bios to choose cd drive first, when pc
starting up press del or f2
an error message says, "Cant format, the hard disk might be damage" while i try to intall my os,what am i going to do?
What os are you trying to install your hdd may have some bad segments boot with windows and click repair use the command prompt to run chkdsk /f / r and then try installing again remember to specify your main drive usually c:/
Hi,
i have some problem when formatting my system that it is not detecting the cd even cd drive and os cd are working properly. another thing i couldn't able to un install any program in my system.It is saying that i don't have administrative privileges. my laptop is toshiba company's and os is vista.
can anyone help me for the same.
regards
pallavi
plzzz somebody help me my windows is not formatting at all neither its reinstallating windows xp when i agree lisence and agreement after pressing f8 ..then options come but it says u have no hard drive installed on ur computer :( im really in trouble .... plzz somebody help me whats going on with my computer and what to do.... ? kindly help me ..may God bless u for this help .thanx bye
sulakshana - you could try loading up the operating system onto a usb stick instead otherwise you may have open up the laptop and make sure the cd drive connections are plugged in correctly.
sam - you may need to check the hdd connections otherwise press DEL as your computer starts up to go into the Bios and check to see if the harddrive is detected or needs to be assigned a number
I don´t have option "format" when I install win7. On XP I had option with partition and formating, but on win7 it starts Install automaticaly but not formating the C: drive. When I install it I have folder "windows" and "old windows" on my C:. Where do I go wrong???
i cant reformat my laptop if turns off when it reads my xp installer
Please,what is the meaning of drive concerning formating? How can someone know if a system is having drive
This tutorial,imust say is wonderful,its d best!!
I have just reinstalled Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit. There was no option to reformat the drive at all.
Nice Blog..as i want to format my sys but got worried if i do any mistake..But now m free from it
Thanks... Very helpful
Thank you.
I have an older ibm that came with 2000 pro.. The hd was wiped clean(before i obtained it).. The hd is recognized by the bios as drive "0", but when I go to install xp pro it can't find the hd.. What am I missing?
excellent!vVHONGGA!!!!
thanks a lot for information
keep sharing more of them....
You have installed a windows xp on a computer and work it for four years. During that time you had some important data on it and now a new Chinese IT engineer came and need to use your OS in Chinese language with all you data.
Question: How do you fix that without backing up any data or formatting the machine?
I've been looking for help on this for almost 3 hours now. With no success obviously. Until now. Thank you, sir. I shall name my first born after you. Your name is Daniel right? ;)
Thanks again.
When I setup XP from the CD, it run for a little while and jumped out a blue screen says psi.sys problem.Seems that the CD is too old?
Okay now my question is I deleted all my partitions and created partition c using all my space. When I go to install windows it notifies me about putting another OS over another. I thought deleting and formatting a new partition erased everything?
eventhough I tried to change the priority of the boot device to CD or DVD-ROM drive, I am unable to get the message "press any key to Boot from CD or DVD" what should I do?
Hey, I've got one concern. Does formatting using the command line usually slower than that of the GUI-based formatting?
1.First you must put your Windows XP CD in the drive.
2.Then restart your computer.
3.When it says press any key to boot from cd, Press any key on the keyboard. I use the space bar, easy to get to. (If you can do this Go to step 6)
4.If it doesn’t ask you to press any key to boot from cd then restart your computer again.
5.Go into the BIOS settings of your PC, usually by pressing the F1, F2, F10, or maybe the delete key. If you are not sure watch the screen at startup and it will say “To enter setup press…….”. You have to be quick and press it. If you miss it restart again. Once you are in the bios you have to change the boot options. You have to make your cd rom the first boot option. Save and exit. If you do not understand how to get into your BIOS please see how to get into your BIOS and change settings.
6.When the CD starts up A blue screen will appear and you are on your way..
after this i am getting,
"setup did not find harddisk drives installed in ur comp.
make sure any harddisk drives are properly connected……………….."
after this asking me to exit. please help me install windows XP properly
Regards,
Renu
To Renu: you must change your CD installer...or have another CD-ROM drive
Hub I wish to be ur friend, am studying computer science but we are not getting enough knowledge here cos of lack of practicals
Hub I wish to be ur friend, am studying computer science but we are not getting enough knowledge here cos of lack of practicals
i want to format my notebook, but it cant detect my hard disk, why? thanks
THANK U FOR THIS , ,& GIVE SOME MORE INFO. . . . .
i am getting NTLDR ( NT Loader) not found .
what is the solution?
best buy said my hard drive was bad , god new one , But now all it does is not find operating system .It wont let me get beyond that ,So i could try to do something, do I have to go buy another win7? HELP!!!!!
Hello Sir..
I want to formatting my C drive only(not others E,F,G-drives)
I have windows Xp cd.
How to format my C drive only ??
DIS TUTORIAL IS VERY REAL MA PALS
I dont know how to do format:-)pls help me to giv u step by step procedure for formatting harddisk with windows xp for 160 gb:)
I want to get answer from you of few questions,
1: Suppose I have bouht a new computer, now I wnat to istall an operating system on it like win.xp,, as I want to make four partitions like c,d,e,f,, pls tell me how can I do this.
2: Suppose my computer has fully damaged with virsus, as i am trying to power on (start) it , it is unable to start,only shows windows xp on screen whole time. after this I used to format it ,but there are important files in drive c which I want to backup. pls, tell me how can get
Help im installin win xp but it appear after it loads it cant acess the hard drive on my laptop. ill try to make partition by presing c but error occur. pls help
I have an older Dell. The HD needs replaced. I wouldn't have a problem getting a HD for it but how do I put XP or anything else on it if it does not have a cd/dvd drive?
I'm installing windows 7;the problem was my DVDROM can read my installer but after clicking the "install now" button it cannot load on the set-up wizard. what can I do?
does it really affects the mother board if the system is formatted frequently?
please reply
i have an hp g60 235dx laptop running vista home premium. i got a copy of windows 7 professional, a legit copy, and when i boot it from the cd the "windows is loading files" window comes up and then never finishes loading. please help. i cannot format the master partition without booting from the disk and it wont boot.
That really helps
HI,I DID WHAT YOU SAID, BUT AFTER THE WINDOWN SET UP SCREEN CAME UP & FINISHING DOWNLOAD EVERYTHIGN, THERE IS A BLUE SCRREN COME UP SAY" WINDOW IS CLOSES ... PLEASE REMOVED THE NEW HARD DRIVE INSTALLED OR RUN CHKDSK/F" BUT I CAN NOT RUN CHKDSK/F AS I JUST PUT A USED HARD DRIVE FROM THE OLD COMPUTER IN AND THEREFORE WHEN I START UP THE COMPUTER, I CAN NOT LODGE ON ANYTHING AT ALL..PLEASE HELP
HI,
MY LAPI CANT BOOT FROM CD I HV CHECKED BOOT ORDER IT SETUP AT CD/DVD BUT IT CANT BOOT. BUT IT READS WHEN WINDOW IS STARTED. I WANT TO INSTAL FRESH COPY OF WINDOW BUT IT DONT ALLOW FORMET DISC C B,COSE WINDOWS IS INSTALLED ON IT.
PLESE HELP ME......
HI,
MY LAPI CANT BOOT FROM CD I HV CHECKED BOOT ORDER IT SETUP AT CD/DVD BUT IT CANT BOOT. BUT IT READS WHEN WINDOW IS STARTED. I WANT TO INSTAL FRESH COPY OF WINDOW BUT IT DONT ALLOW FORMET DISC C B,COSE WINDOWS IS INSTALLED ON IT.
PLESE HELP ME......
REPLY ME ON ashishjha009@live.com
I WANT TO FORMAT A SYSTEM WITH TWO OPERATING SYSTEM BUT EACH TIME I FORMAT IT'S JUST ONE ASPECT AND WHEN I STARTS IT IT GIVES ME TWO OPTIONS TO CHOSE, ETHER THE FIRST OR THE SECOND
thanks for your helr brother i think you are an computer engginear
Hi! I want to know price of 18 GB capacity put software,and how I can collect the software?
Thanking you,
Md. Sakyet
i got error code 2000-0146; and error code 2000-0147
From above suggestions i got that my hard drive has gone bad, as my laptop is not under warranty period , so what can i do now?
One more question: can i use external hard disk as master disk for my laptop by installing operating system on that??
can i run my laptop on the cpu of any desktop as the hard drive of my laptop has gone bad
Hay Gays I'm Here,
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I was so upstate with my New laptop.
At this time My friend Told me about http://techexpert.com.au/ He told me this is the Best pc repair shop in whole Australian Market.
Than I contact with http://techexpert.com.au/ they hear my problem and they told me they can solve my pc problem and they have home service too.
I'm very happy now coz my pc after servicing is so good.:)
To know more about how to erase hard drive easily, go here http://how-what.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-erase-
thanks. this is very helpful,.. :)
after all the processed finalizing, cmd.exe appear,then my laptop just restart all the time and do not enter OS?what happen?
K, thanks. i knew that much! :) but vista says that hard drive drivers are missing?????????? Any ideas???
Where do you get a new hard drive disk? And where do you get a windows cd? Someone feel free to email me & help me out please! Krystinadaniels@yahoo.com
Can I install and format a new OS on my new hard drive using my desktop computer?. After doing so, transfer the newly formatted disk with an OS on it to a desktop without a hard drive on it?
If its possible can you please show or teach me how?
by the way Im using Vista on my desktop to which I want to use to format and install a new OS on my new SATA hard drive... please email me on how will I do it...my email add phyro685@yahoo.com
Its quite useful. Too simple and workable too........... i have never try to formated in CMD. I just gonna give try for it.........
Suppose I have bouht a new computer, now I wnat to istall an operating system on it like win.xp,, as I want to make four partitions like c,d,e,f,, pls tell me how can I do this.
after prompting as boot from cd..... im direct directed to windows opening without booting the cd what shall i do??
HELLO SIR, WHILE INSTALLATION OF WINDOWS XP, It asks partation space, but i didnt understand that ,and final executed ,finally in my system i got onlt one drive "c". But i didnt get drives like D ,E.G. hOW TO DO PARTITATION
Hey... Question... I have Windows XP Ultimate on my desktop, but have misplaced my CD. I'm missing drivers and files when I try to recover it says to enter my CD. I lost my audio drivers as well... I'm not sure what to do. I've tried to find what I'm looking for on line but they want me to buy. Is there a way I can Get it back or is there a way use my laptop to fix this preblem?? laptop is windows 7
I have a 750Gig Seagate Sata Hard Drive that has a fatal error when I try to boot my computer with XP Professional.
Is there someway I can get around this error (the system load ends once the error is detected and I get no options to reformat it. I do not have another computer that will take the SATA hard drive as a slave for reformatting.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. My email is jdellis777@gmail.com if a lengthy reply.
Jim
to format in cmd the comand is Format C: (Not Format C:/)
wow this is just awesome knowledge you have given to me, I really salute you for for this wonderful thing.
This is awesome and self explanatory. Good work keep it moving.
it is a very good explanation
THANK YOU
Thanks very much hub, you've really answered my question.
Is it possible to format a pc running Windows 7 and install Vista Home Premium?
Tanks alot, let me go try n c wat hapens
WHAT NICE EXPLANATION BUT YOU SAY VIDEO CHAT VERY G00D EXPLANATION
could not of don with out you
The installation for Windows 7 and Vista have become even more simpler/smoother. Considering they are much larger in size, they do install very quickly. Microsoft had done a very good job with XP vs previous operating systems and it has improved the installation process even further with new operating systems.
Thanks for the Hub and for sharing.
hey guys please help.am trYing to install a windows vista,afta doing the formating,choosing the petition when its now installing its bringing ne a message of a fetal error what do i do??please help
I'm using dell inspiron 6400, 32 bit, 1.83 GHz. it originally came with vista but then i upgrade to windows 7 professional, it was working fine but now when i play any video it get struck after 10-15 min & stop responding. Can it happen due to dust in my laptop?? i reinstalled the windows again & got windows.old in my c-drive, which i deleted later, but the problem remains same.
Now i want to format everything from my laptop (c & d drive) & reinstall everything again. Will this also delete drivers? i do have windows CD with me but where i will get drivers from?
PLEASE HELP..........
is their any need to update drivers in my dell inspiron 6400?? if yes, how to do it??
nice one
guidebaba 3 years ago
Excellent. Thanks for answering my request.