Free program to format a harddrive.
I have a couple of harddrives from an old computer build that are setup as boot drives. I want to format them before I attempt to install a fresh OS on them. Is there a program that does this for me?
ummm…. windows?
I am not following. Why do you need a program for this?
You could just use the format that comes with windoze. I know I had a cd from Maxtor with a software called MaxBlast. It worked pretty well.
Just plug them into another computer that’s already running Windows and format them that way. You’ll have to plug them into another computer anyway, if you want to format them before the target machine is bootable.
Maybe the BartPE CD can do what you need?
I dunno if any mentioned this cause I aint’ reading thru all that shit but Windows will probably do that …
you need to find an MS-DOS 3.31 disk.. run format (drive letter): then run fdisk
IDK of an OS installation that wont format a drive for you.
I assume he’s trying to do a non-standard format — different sector size, non-NTFS, something like that. The Windows installer doesn’t let you specify those parameters at install time, it just sets up a default config.
As I mentioned, something like BartPE might let him format the hard drive however he wants, while it’s plugged into the machine it’s going to spend its life in. However, I know for sure that he can format it however he wants prior to installing Windows if he temporarily plugs the hard drive into another machine first.
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I assume he’s trying to do a non-standard format — different sector size, non-NTFS, something like that. The Windows installer doesn’t let you specify those parameters at install time, it just sets up a default config.
As I mentioned, something like BartPE might let him format the hard drive however he wants, while it’s plugged into the machine it’s going to spend its life in. However, I know for sure that he can format it however he wants prior to installing Windows if he temporarily plugs the hard drive into another machine first. |
Windows will allow you to partitian the drive and again, I dont know of an OS installation that wouldn’t be able to format for the file sytem it needs.
Again, the Windows install CD will not let you specify non-standard format parameters prior to installation — and after installation, you can’t change the format parameters on a disk in-use without Norton PartitionMagic or something similar.
I don’t understand why you would assume anyone was doing something non-standard without providing any details to support that. You must drive people nuts when supporting them if you jump to that conclusion every time.
I see two possibilities: one, he has absolutely no idea what he’s doing and he’s never installed Windows before, so he doesn’t realize Windows will format the hard drive for him if it isn’t already formatted; or two, he knows perfectly well that Windows will format the hard drive for him, but he wants to specify non-standard parameters, which is why he specifically stated he wanted to format them before installing Windows.
The first possibility doesn’t seem very likely because he was rather direct about what he wanted to do and wasn’t verbally flopping around like a fish out of water. A third possibility I didn’t mention before, that he knows just enough to be dangerous, also doesn’t seem very likely because in that case he would’ve installed Windows and let it auto-format the hard drive without giving a second thought to the format parameters. That leaves the second option as being the most plausible in my mind.
Anyway, the answer I gave works in all scenarios regardless of how complex and custom his project may be. As for my support skills, the feedback I most often receive is that I’m the only "computer guy" they’ve ever talked to who bothered to explain the options and what the differences were in terms that made sense to them, instead of just foisting the easiest option on them and walking away. I do foist the easiest option on them sometimes, of course, but at least I explain why.
I remember those ‘know just enough to be dangerous’ days with PC building.
They were fun, fun days.
I fear I am gonna achieve my dream of breaking into networking. I am gonna be right back there again. I will know just enough to thoroughly fuck things up. Gives me nightmares.
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I remember those ‘know just enough to be dangerous’ days with PC building.
They were fun, fun days. I fear I am gonna achieve my dream of breaking into networking. I am gonna be right back there again. I will know just enough to thoroughly fuck things up. Gives me nightmares. |
This is a bad time to just barely be starting with networking. With ipv6 rolling out, there’s going to be so much complicated tunneling going on until everyone’s hardware is up to date.
I would put money on that he wanted to ensure that nothing was on the drive prior to installing Windows so as to ensure a CLEAN install. You over thought it – it happens.
There’s a big difference in explaining your help and spending 10 minutes identifying what the actual question/concern is.
Well yes, there is that. It’s also a worthy use of time to notice that the TS hasn’t posted in here since they started the thread, so it’s an entirely academic discussion at this point.
If not using windows, Ive always used Hirens boot CD.
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