how do you reformat a hardrive on a cpu?

Question

people told me i should do that and was wondering exactly how to reformat.. i also have a external hd that i was going to drag and drop some programs... when i reformat could i just drag and drop the programs(ie vegas video etc) over to the reformatted hd? .,. what are some of the pro and cons of reformatting?

Answer 1

Insert your windows cd
Restart your pc
Boot in cd
After booting, delete partion, create partition and format partition
Continue installing windows

Pro - Eliminate most problem
Con - Lost all unbackup data (",)

Answer 2

When you reinstall Windows on your PC it can format the hard drive for you as part of the install. Boot the PC from your Windows CD and let the set up start. Right after you do the F8 to agree, it will prompt you about set up partitions and formatting the drive. Be sure you have a working serial number for WIndows before you format the drive.

When you format the drive, it will erase everything that is one the hard drive. So you will want to be sure to back up to the external drive all your music, pictures, videos, and other data files and documents.

Backing up the programs usually will NOT work. Because they add files into places like windows/system32 and entries into the registry, just copying over the directory the program is in will not back it up. You will have to reinstall all the programs. So make sure you have all the CDs and downloads available in advance. Same with any drivers (video, etc) you will need. If you do not have the original CDs for the drivers, you can usually download them for free from the manfacturer's website.

Answer 3

no longer something is saved in the CPU after the skill is became off. To shelter files that became on your computer, you ought to no less than reformat the hardchronic and reinstall the OS. you ought to have an OS CD or fix CD that got here along with your computer. when you're quite paranoid about someone convalescing files out of your computer (it would want to be carried out, even after reformatting thechronic) pull the hardchronic and damage it with a hammer. deploy a cheap repalcementchronic, load the OS, and promote it. actual destruction of thechronic is the basically certain thanks to deny fix of any files. it really is the basically way that the authorities makes use of for pcs that procedure categorised innovations. Repartitioning or reformatting achronic one hundred situations gained't delete a unmarried byte of files from thechronic! That basically re-writes the carry close boot record, partition table, and fat or MFT. Reinstalling an OS will overwrite most of the sectors yet a knowledge fix agency can nevertheless get better most of the files that in the previous existed on the gadget.

Answer 4

MAKE SURE YOU BACK UP ALL YOUR PICTURES, MUSIC, AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU BEFORE YOU FORMAT YOUR DRIVE.

The pro's to formatting your hard drive:

It clears out all of the bad items in your registry
It clears out all the spyware and adware
It can make your system faster

The con's to formatting your hard drive:

You can lose all your personal files if not backed up
You can not be able to recover because you don't have a disc containing your OS.

How to format your hard drive:

click start then run
type cmd into the "open:" field
once you see the command prompt "[drive letter]:\>" Usually the drive letter is "C" type in format [drive letter]:\ (ex. format c:\).

At this point your computer is going to ask you several times if you are sure you want to format. If you are truly ready to format your drive just answer yes to all the prompts.

You will have to install your OS first then all the software programs that you want back on your computer.

Good luck!

Answer 5

cpu's don't contain hard drives. Reformatting your machine basically means deleting the file system - it does not mean that all your data is physically erased from the hard disk. to reformat your machine you can either

1) open a command prompt (presuming that your running windows) - start-> run -> cmd and then type format c: or d: or whatever logical drive you want to erase.

2)download or buy a software tool that gives you a nice graphical interface to play with.

either way make sure you back up all data that you don't want to loose.

the pros are that you free up loads of space and you can improve the overall performance of your machine. Equally it will remove any virus or spy-ware occupying the disk.

the downside being that you have to reinstall all of your apps and repopulate the disk with all of your data.

Answer 6

Ummm, there is no hard drive on the CPU. Maybe get a book "Computers for Dummies" so you can understand the tool you are using before you go following anyone's advice.

BTW, if you reformat the hard drive and you don't know what you're doing, you'll end up with a very expensive paperweight. The OS resides on the HD; without it, you can't do anything.

Answer 7

you only need to format a drive if you want it to be bootable. this can be useful if you want to make a backup of your existing computer hd. if your hd crashes you have everything on a backup that you can easily restore.
when you format a drive there is software that can create an 'image' of your existing hd. this image is a self contained file that includes everything you want from your existing hd. many people make a bare bones image of just the programs for restore purposes.
drag and drop will work to make a backup of just the programs but it would be no different than using the install disks. imaging your current hd is the way to make an actual backup.

Answer 8

Formatting completely erases all data on a hard drive. You will have to reinstall Windows and any programs you have installed. Just copying them over will probably not work. You will want to back up all data you wish to keep.

To format...boot to a startup disk and type "format c:" or replace "c:" with whatever drive you want to format.

Answer 9

for formating external drive u dont need any tools just right click on drive and format it... and then u can copy data u can drag and drop file but before doing that backup your data