Note: If you plan to install Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 with the NTFS file system onto the new hard disk, you will have to back up your files to an external source (e.g., a floppy disk or a file server), because the installation of NTFS requires that the hard drive be reformatted. Successfully format C drive using Command Prompt (Windows Setup CD required) Though you cannot format C drive within Windows like you format other drives, you can format C drive outside of Windows. To do that, you need to boot your computer from the Windows setup media (CD, DVD or bootable USB device), and use the Command Prompt to format C drive.
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Note: UITS recommends that you use a current versionof Windows on computers connected to the Indiana University network;see Recommended Windows operating systems at IU.
Format the Right Drive. View the list of volumes at the top and find the drive that you want to format. Note that even though I said drive, Disk Management actually formats individual partitions. Remember that Windows views each partition as a separate drive, so you can indeed format them separately. Thus, you’d better use the Windows machine to format your external hard drive. Well then, how to format an external hard drive to exFAT with Windows PC? Here we take an example of formatting external hard drive to exFAT in a Windows 10 PC. Format external hard drive with Windows built-in tool. Connect your external hard drive to your. A drive can be used on any type of computer - PC or Mac. But in order for the computer and drive to communicate with one another, the drive has to be formatted with the correct file system. This article explains about file systems and provides instruction to format a drive on Windows. How to connect two clips in imovie.
Warning: Do not attempt this procedure unless youhave a fairly high level of computer literacy. Following theseinstructions incorrectly could result in the loss of data or causeyour computer not to work properly.
Prepare a Windows startup disk before you begin. This will be anecessary part of the process. It will also be useful in anemergency. For information on how to create this disk, see theKnowledge Base document ARCHIVED: In Windows 95, 98, or Me, how do I make a startup (system recovery) disk?
The procedure below assumes that you have installed the new hard drivecorrectly, and that it is set up as the slave drive (i.e., the secondhard drive). See the documentation that came with your new hard drivefor instructions on how to install and configure the drive physically.
Note: New hard drives will often come with diskmanagement software. It's usually better not to use this software, butto use FDISK, which comes with DOS and Windows. The use ofFDISK is described later in this document.
The first hard drive should be set up as master. Consult your harddrive documentation about the jumper settings. Drives can beconfigured as master, slave, or only drive. If a drive occupies anIDE channel by itself (some computers can have more thanone IDE channel), it should be set up as an only drive. If there aretwo drives on an IDE channel, one must be set as master, the other asslave. Only the master can be the boot disk.
Setting up the drive parameters in the CMOS setup
You must tell the computer that a new hard drive has been added. Inaddition, the new drive's geometry must be registered with thecomputer's CMOS setup (sometimes called theBIOS). In most cases, as the computer boots, it will promptyou to press a certain key or key combination to get into theCMOS. Upon starting the computer, press the appropriate key whenprompted to enter the CMOS setup program.
CMOS setup programs differ depending on the brand of BIOS. All of themhave a screen where you can set drive parameters. How to sign out google account in bluestacks 4. Most current CMOSsetup programs can auto-detect the hard drive's geometry, so youusually will not have to input the drive parameters (cylinders, heads,and sectors). If you are installing a drive larger than 500MB, makesure that LBA or Large mode is turned on before you do theauto-detect. You may not have to set this option on newer computers.However, if you have an older motherboard that does not support LBAmode, you may not be able to use all of the space on the drive.
After entering the necessary information or allowing auto-detect, exitthe CMOS setup and allow the computer to boot from the old hard drive(which is set as master).
Partitioning the new hard drive
Before partitioning the hard drive, decide how you are going to dividethe drive (in either FAT16 or FAT32). For more informationon which file system to use, see the Knowledge Base documents ARCHIVED: What is FAT32? and ARCHIVED: What does cluster size mean when referring to hard drives? Remember, since modernapplications and operating systems consist of a large number of smallfiles, a large minimum cluster size can waste a significant amount ofhard drive space. Another thing to note is the maximum limit of thepartition sizes with either file system. With FAT16, there is a 2GBsize limit for drives or virtual drives. FAT32 extends this limit to 4terabytes.
FDISK will allow you to create, on each physical drive, one PrimaryDOS partition and one Extended DOS partition. In addition, theExtended DOS partition may be further subdivided into several virtualdrives. Decide how many virtual drives you wish to make on the newhard drive. If you have a 2.5GB drive, for instance, and you will beusing FAT16, in the interests of efficiency, you can make the PrimaryDOS partition 1023MB, using the remainder of the drive as the ExtendedDOS partition. Then, make two virtual drives on the Extendedpartition, the first being 1023MB and the second the remainder of thespace (about 500MB). How do you take a photo of your computer screen.
Note: If you are using Windows 95OSR2 or Windows 98, FDISK will ask if you wantto enable Large Disk Support. This is for the purpose of installingFAT32. FAT32 is not compatible with DOS orWindows NT, so if you plan to dual-boot with anotheroperating system, do not enable Large Disk Support.
Note: It is possible to use FAT32 to run Windows 98or Windows 95 OSR2 in a dual-boot situation with Windows2000 Professional. Be aware, though, that almost all of thesecurity features of NTFS are notavailable with FAT32, just as they are not with FAT16.
To run FDISK, click Start and select Programs, thenMS-DOS Prompt. At the
C: prompt, enter:
Then follow these instructions:
If you are interested in simply using the drive as extra storage, thenyou are finished. If you intend to replace the old drive withthe new drive or to make the new drive your primary disk, continuefollowing the instructions below.
Backing up important files
If the new hard disk is intended to replace the old one, you may wantto copy some of your more important files to the new hard drive beforeremoving the old one. If you are able to boot into Windows, it iseasiest to copy the files using Windows Explorer. If not,you can boot from your Windows startup disk and use the
xcopy or copy command. Thexcopy command will copy a folder and all of its contents,while the copy command will generally copy onlyindividual files.
Note: If you plan to install Windows NT 4.0 orWindows 2000 with the NTFS file system onto the new hard disk, youwill have to back up your files to an external source (e.g., a floppydisk or a file server), because the installation of NTFS requires thatthe hard drive be reformatted.
How To Format Hard Drive On Windows XpInstalling Windows
Note: For security reasons, you should installWindows or rebuild your Windows computer offline (i.e., unplug yournetwork cable), and then take certain measures to assure its securitybefore putting it back on the network. For instructions, seeSafely rebuild your Windows computer
Once you have backed up your important files, you can remove the oldhard drive and proceed with installing Windows on the new one. Afterremoving the old drive, you will first have to make the firstpartition on the new hard disk the active partition, as follows:
You will also need to make the new drive a master drive or stand-alonedrive. See your new hard drive's documentation for more information.
How To Format A Hard Drive-in Windows Xp
Now you are ready to install Windows to the new hard drive.
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