I recently installed a fresh copy of Windows on my SSD. During setup I opted to delete all my old partitions on the drive, however I did not format the drive. Will this decision have an impact on the performance of the drive? Should I have reformatted the unallocated space on the drive to get better performance?
Windows will not install on an unformatted partition. So you can be sure the C partition is formatted, even though you say "I did not format the drive". It takes place automatically.
The rest of the drive may or may not be formatted. We'd have to see a picture of Windows Disk Managment to tell.
My Computer
At a glance
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bitIntel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
If you use the Advanced features of the Windows installer to delete the existing partitions on the drive, the installer will then create the appropriate partions and quick format them.
On an SSD, it's almost instantaneous.
My Computer
At a glance
Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1Intel Core I7-3930k16 GB Gskill DDR3-2133eVGA GTX680
It isn't necessary to apply format during install, even after correctly deleting partitions not needed. The installer will format for you if you don't.
Likewise it's a waste of time to format using a 3rd party manager before install unless you have some reason you dont' want the System Reserved partition which is not really worth thinking twice about.
