Formating in Win7 (Full Format)

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  1. Posts : 12
    Win7
       #1

    Formating in Win7 (Full Format)


    Hey, I have recently installed Win7 Ultimate on my pc. When I installed I was only given the option to do a quick format. I'm am not concerned about the pro's/con's of either method, I would just like to know how to do a full format in Win7.

    Thanks,

    Marty.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 12
    Win7
    Thread Starter
       #2

    I've searched everywhere for a solution to this, but can not find a thing. It seems that quite a few people are having this same problem, with seemingly no real resolutions at hand.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,112
    XP_Pro, W7_7201, W7RC.vhd, SciLinux5.3, Fedora12, Fedora9_2x, OpenSolaris_09-06
       #3

    Marty said:
    Hey, I have recently installed Win7 Ultimate on my pc. When I installed I was only given the option to do a quick format. I'm am not concerned about the pro's/con's of either method, I would just like to know how to do a full format in Win7.

    Thanks,

    Marty.
    What do you mean by "full format" ?

    How to format a physical hard drive, or only a single partition ?

    Zero everything first, then do an HDD format ?

    ""pro's/con's"" of what ?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 12
    Win7
    Thread Starter
       #4

    What do you mean by "full format" ?

    By 'full format', I mean a normal format, as opposed to a 'quick format'.

    How to format a physical hard drive, or only a single partition ?

    I will be formatting a whole drive, with two partitions.

    Zero everything first, then do an HDD format ?

    ??

    "pro's/con's"" of what ?

    Not really interested in the pros and cons of normal vs quick format types.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,112
    XP_Pro, W7_7201, W7RC.vhd, SciLinux5.3, Fedora12, Fedora9_2x, OpenSolaris_09-06
       #5

    Marty said:
    How to format a physical hard drive, or only a single partition ?

    I will be formatting a whole drive, with two partitions.

    Zero everything first, then do an HDD format ?

    ??
    I see...

    To format the entire physical disk drive,
    you might want to look into the w7 included utility "diskpart".
    He does some formatting stuff.

    To create the 2 partitions afterwards, you can also do that using the w7 utility "diskpart".
    He does 'partition-creation' stuff.

    To get there, you have to get into a 'Command Prompt' from w7.

    Then type : diskpart

    When you see the prompt:
    _______DISKPART>

    type in: help format
    (for the "formatting stuff") or,

    type in: help create
    (for the partition-creation' stuff)...

    When finished gathering info from the 'diskpart' utility,

    Type: exit

    Then type: exit __________ again, to exit CmdPrompt, and get back to Windows

    That should be enough to get you started....

    Be careful though, you really have to know what you're doing, when working with the 'diskpart' utility...
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 12
    Win7
    Thread Starter
       #6

    So do I access the cmd prompt during the win7 setup, so OS, or anything else for that matter, is not running from the hdd at the time?
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  7. Posts : 5,642
    Windows 10 Pro (x64)
       #7

    When you booted up to Windows 7 setup screen, Hit SHIFT+F10 to bring up a Command Prompt. From there you can use diskpart.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 12
    Win7
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Cool cool. Also, excuse my ignorance in this matter but, do I format the entire drive then partition, or partition and then format each partition individually? Blaah, that's a mouthful.

    Thanks very much for you help also, it's much appreciated.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 12,177
    Windows 7 Ult x64 - SP1/ Windows 8 Pro x64
       #9

    Marty said:
    What do you mean by "full format" ?

    By 'full format', I mean a normal format, as opposed to a 'quick format'.

    How to format a physical hard drive, or only a single partition ?

    I will be formatting a whole drive, with two partitions.

    Zero everything first, then do an HDD format ?

    ??

    "pro's/con's"" of what ?

    Not really interested in the pros and cons of normal vs quick format types.
    Got to Disk Management right click the partition you want to Full Format, un-check 'perform quick format' then follow instruction from there.

    You do know this will wipe out everything that is on the partition?
    If it's your OS partition, it will be completely gone.

    Follow logicearth's advice to format during installation using diskpart.

    Make sure you understand chuckr's suggestion:
    Be careful though, you really have to know what you're doing, when working with the 'diskpart' utility...
    This is not the time to try and learn diskpart.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 1,112
    XP_Pro, W7_7201, W7RC.vhd, SciLinux5.3, Fedora12, Fedora9_2x, OpenSolaris_09-06
       #10

    Marty said:
    So do I access the cmd prompt during the win7 setup, so OS, or anything else for that matter, is not running from the hdd at the time?
    Since you have w7 already installed, and you just want to "know how" to do a 'full format',

    those 2 'diskpart' HELP commands will tell you how to do a 'full format'.

    Beyond that, anything else is beyond the scope of helping you to "know how".

    (You're now getting into: "know when", and "how to", etc.)

    You might want to start a new thread, stating exactly what it is you're looking for, or want to do...
    Hope this helped...
      My Computer


 
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