Will selecting the format option during a Windows install completely erase all existing partitions on a drive?

[Bleedingyamato]

I want to do a clean install of Windows on the Sansung 960 Pro I currently have Windows installed on.

 

Since I know there's recovery partitions that can't be erased by disk management I want to be sure that if I use the format option that is available during the Windows install process that it'll remove all the partitions including recovery partitions that are currently on the 960 Pro. 

[Enderman]

You remove all the partitions by clicking "delete" not "format".

You will then be left with ONE box called "unallocated space" which is where you install windows.

You click next and it will create all the necessary partitions.

 

Remember to only have one drive plugged in while installing windows.

[ARikozuM]

No. Format does not completely erase the disk. Format will remove all protections for the drive, though.

[Bleedingyamato]

3 minutes ago, Enderman said:

You remove all the partitions by clicking "delete" not "format".

You will then be left with ONE box called "unallocated space" which is where you install windows.

You click next and it will create all the necessary partitions.

 

Remember to only have one drive plugged in while installing windows.

Thank you.  ? 

 

I remember last year when I was trying to erase the WD Blue drive that had originally had Windows installed on it I had tried to use disk management to completely erase the drive including removing the Windows recovery partitions but it couldn't erase the recovery partitions.  

 

I ended up using a command prompt with the "clean" command I think it was to hardcore erase the drive which solved the problem.  

 

I wanted to make sure that I could wipe the drive including any recovery partitions during the Windows install process so I won't have to boot from a different drive and erase the 960 Pro that way.  

 

 

 

What's the difference between the erase and format options?

[Bleedingyamato]

4 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

No. Format does not completely erase the disk. Format will remove all protections for the drive, though.

Are you sure?    I know when I format a USB flash drive it always warns me that it'll erase what's on it.  

 

 

So like Enderman said, I need to use the erase option if I need to erase partitions?

[Enderman]

4 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Thank you.  ? 

 

I remember last year when I was trying to erase the WD Blue drive that had originally had Windows installed on it I had tried to use disk management to completely erase the drive including removing the Windows recovery partitions but it couldn't erase the recovery partitions.  

 

I ended up using a command prompt with the "clean" command I think it was to hardcore erase the drive which solved the problem.  

 

I wanted to make sure that I could wipe the drive including any recovery partitions during the Windows install process so I won't have to boot from a different drive and erase the 960 Pro that way.  

 

 

 

What's the difference between the erase and format options?

You mean delete and format?

Format just wipes the data, deleting wipes the whole partition.

 

If you format, you will be left with 3-4 small partitions with no data on them, and when you install windows it will make it's own partitions again so you will be left with small useless partitions taking up space on your drive.

 

When you delete the partitions they get recombined into the unallocated space, so you end up with one big chunk of undivided storage which covers your entire drive.

 

Windows always rebuilds the partitions it needs, so this way you are left with exactly what windows needs and not any extra useless stuff.

[ARikozuM]

4 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

snip

For the Windows install, delete means that it will completely forget the partitions existed without zeroing the drive. Formatting them will leave empty space that will recombine itself if allowed. 

[Bleedingyamato]

30 minutes ago, Enderman said:

You mean delete and format?

Format just wipes the data, deleting wipes the whole partition.

 

If you format, you will be left with 3-4 small partitions with no data on them, and when you install windows it will make it's own partitions again so you will be left with small useless partitions taking up space on your drive.

 

When you delete the partitions they get recombined into the unallocated space, so you end up with one big chunk of undivided storage which covers your entire drive.

 

Windows always rebuilds the partitions it needs, so this way you are left with exactly what windows needs and not any extra useless stuff.

Yeah, the delete and erase in the Windows Setup picture you showed in your post.  

 

26 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

For the Windows install, delete means that it will completely forget the partitions existed without zeroing the drive. Formatting them will leave empty space that will recombine itself if allowed. 

Ok.  Just wanted to be sure I understand how the options work before I go trying to do this.

 

 

[Enderman]

1 hour ago, ARikozuM said:

For the Windows install, delete means that it will completely forget the partitions existed without zeroing the drive. Formatting them will leave empty space that will recombine itself if allowed. 

Neither of them zero the drive.

It is also not necessary to overwrite a drive unless you have sensitive data on it that needs to be destroyed.

 

They just erase the address table, and in the case of deleting the partition it removes the container as well.

Formatting will not recombine partitions, that's what deleting does, it combines them all into unallocated space.

 

All you need to install windows is a single drive with no partitions, just "unallocated space".

Windows creates all the necessary partitions itself.

If you try to manually create partitions beforehand, windows will just create it's own and you will have like 8 tiny partitions on your drive with only half of them used.

[Bleedingyamato]

34 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Neither of them zero the drive.

It is also not necessary to overwrite a drive unless you have sensitive data on it that needs to be destroyed.

 

They just erase the address table, and in the case of deleting the partition it removes the container as well.

Formatting will not recombine partitions, that's what deleting does, it combines them all into unallocated space.

 

All you need to install windows is a single drive with no partitions, just "unallocated space".

Windows creates all the necessary partitions itself.

If you try to manually create partitions beforehand, windows will just create it's own and you will have like 8 tiny partitions on your drive with only half of them used.

I'm not worried about overwriting the 960 pro but rather I want to make sure all existing Windows recovery partitions are removed before proceeding with reinstalling Windows since the only way I know of to remove them is that clean command which would erase the entire drive.   That wouldn't be a good option if I'd have already installed Windows.  

 

 

[Enderman]

7 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

I'm not worried about overwriting the 960 pro but rather I want to make sure all existing Windows recovery partitions are removed before proceeding with reinstalling Windows since the only way I know of to remove them is that clean commend which would erase the entire drive.   That wouldn't be a good option if I'd have already installed Windows.  

 

 

The recovery partitions and stuff is what you delete at that screen, turning it into unallocated space.

 

[Bleedingyamato]

5 minutes ago, Enderman said:

The recovery partitions and stuff is what you delete at that screen, turning it into unallocated space.

 

Cool.    Thank you again.

 

Now the question do I do this now or later next week?    Part of me wants to get it done but knowing I'll have to reinstall programs and show Steam/GOG/ITunes where their library folders are makes me want to wait.  

[Enderman]

3 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Cool.    Thank you again.

 

Now the question do I do this now or later next week?    Part of me wants to get it done but knowing I'll have to reinstall programs and show Steam/GOG/ITunes where their library folders are makes me want to wait.  

Next week, spend a week preparing like making a list of all your programs, backing up files and stuff.

[ARikozuM]

33 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

I'm not worried about overwriting the 960 pro but rather I want to make sure all existing Windows recovery partitions are removed before proceeding with reinstalling Windows since the only way I know of to remove them is that clean command which would erase the entire drive.   That wouldn't be a good option if I'd have already installed Windows.  

 

 

You can actually run "clean" without installing Windows once you're in the installer. For your purposes, you don't have to use the "clean" command. 

[Bleedingyamato]

9 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Next week, spend a week preparing like making a list of all your programs, backing up files and stuff.

I've already got all the installers I'd need to replace the program's I have on my C drive.  

 

Pretty much all that's on it is a few programs and a small number of games that would just need to be redownloaded.  

 

 

So it's pretty much just a matter of when I feel like doing the reinstall of Windows and getting things setup afterwards.  

 

6 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

You can actually run "clean" without installing Windows once you're in the installer. For your purposes, you don't have to use the "clean" command. 

How would you do that without a command prompt?

[ARikozuM]

2 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

How would you do that without a command prompt?

When you have the install media plugged in, you click on "Repair [whatever it says]" and select Command Prompt. Afterwards, you type "diskpart" and you're in.

[Bleedingyamato]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

Next week, spend a week preparing like making a list of all your programs, backing up files and stuff.

I forgot to ask: why did you say I should only have the 960 pro connected when I do the reinstall of Windows?

[ARikozuM]

2 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

I forgot to ask: why did you say I should only have the 960 pro connected when I do the reinstall of Windows?

Sometimes, Windows will install the bootloader and some other files on another drive, but I haven't seen that issue since Vista.

[mad dudy]

4 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

I forgot to ask: why did you say I should only have the 960 pro connected when I do the reinstall of Windows?

just in case you never know. shit happens

[Enderman]

10 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

I forgot to ask: why did you say I should only have the 960 pro connected when I do the reinstall of Windows?

1) prevents windows for accidentally putting partitions on incorrect drives

 

2) prevents you from accidentally deleting all your data on your other drives when you delete all the partitions

[Bleedingyamato]

1 hour ago, ARikozuM said:

Sometimes, Windows will install the bootloader and some other files on another drive, but I haven't seen that issue since Vista.

 

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

1) prevents windows for accidentally putting partitions on incorrect drives

 

2) prevents you from accidentally deleting all your data on your other drives when you delete all the partitions

 

 

 

 

Note to self: before pressing the power button on my computer after unplugging the other storage drives it usually helps to turn the PSU back on first...  ?

[Bleedingyamato]

@Enderman

@ARikozuM

 

Either of you know what an "Intel Network Connection SNMP agent" is?

[ARikozuM]

6 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Either of you know what an "Intel Network Connection SNMP agent" is?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Network_Management_Protocol

 

It isn't too important IMO.

[Bleedingyamato]

7 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Network_Management_Protocol

 

It isn't too important IMO.

Ok.  Thank you.  I need to reinstall the LAN drivers before I can connect to the Internet.  It's faster than putting in our insanely long wifi password.  ? 

[Bleedingyamato]

Wtf?