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How to format

Ezsno
By Ezsno
in Storage Devices
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Go to solution Solved by Xanthe_2871,
2 minutes ago, Ezsno said:

Ah okay after i download that to my pc i just open and it and pick the drive that i need to wipe out? 

Pretty much! :)

Posted

I currently have my harddrive on my laptop (still has the os and stuff) 

and i already backed up all my files that i needed. 

so.. how do i format my harddrive? 

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Well Windows can't exactly format itself... I would suggest you plug the hard drive into a USB adapter and use a second computer to format it. There's probably a program you can run off a flash drive at startup to format the drive, but I wouldn't know what that is. It might be easier though! See if someone else posts with a tool like that. If not, my USB idea will work!

Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. -_-

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Just now, Xanthe_2871 said:

Well Windows can't exactly format itself... I would suggest you plug the hard drive into a USB adapter and use a second computer to format it. There probably a program you can run off a flash drive at startup to format the drive, but I wouldn't know what that is. It might be easier though! See if someone else post with a tool like that. If not, my USB idea will work!

Can i plug the harddrive on my pc and format it there? using sata? 

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Just now, Ezsno said:

Can i plug the harddrive on my pc and format it there? using sata? 

Yes, absolutely. 

 

If it's too old and the HDD doesn't use sata you can get an adapter online. 

Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. -_-

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Like using disk management or something? 

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I should also mention that formatting won't delete everything. Here's a post on how to permanently delete the data: 

And here's why you should do that instead of just formatting:

 

Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. -_-

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3 minutes ago, Xanthe_2871 said:

Well Windows can't exactly format itself...

Actually Windows can format hard drives.

 

All you have to do is boot with the hard drive plugged into the PC, then go to My PC, right click on the hard drive in question and select "format".

i7 4790K || R9 290X + R9 290 || 16GB G.Skill TridentX 1866 || Gigabyte Z97MX Gaming 5 || Crucial MX100 256GB || WD Caviar Blue 1TB

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Just now, Litargirio said:

Actually Windows can format hard drives.

 

All you have to do is boot with the hard drive plugged into the PC, then go to My PC, right click on the hard drive in question and select "format".

Right, but can Windows format C: ?

Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. -_-

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3 minutes ago, Xanthe_2871 said:

I should also mention that formatting won't delete everything. Here's a post on how to permanently delete the data: 

And here's why you should do that instead of just formatting:

 

Will permanently deleting the data harm my drive? 

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1 minute ago, Xanthe_2871 said:

Right, but can Windows format C: ?

Oh nevermind, I see what you said there, I thought you meant something else, hehe.

 

i7 4790K || R9 290X + R9 290 || 16GB G.Skill TridentX 1866 || Gigabyte Z97MX Gaming 5 || Crucial MX100 256GB || WD Caviar Blue 1TB

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1 minute ago, Ezsno said:

Will permanently deleting the data harm my drive? 

Not at all!

Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. -_-

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Just now, Xanthe_2871 said:

Not at all!

ahh i see 

okay so what do i have to do? 

can you give me a check list of what to first

I'm very sorry, I'm really new to this 

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@EverythingPinkIsMagic @DeadEyePsycho can attest that this will not harm the drive.

Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. -_-

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On 7/16/2014 at 1:30 AM, ZacDaMan72 said:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/eraser/

This will help you remove all data forever. 

Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. -_-

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Just now, Xanthe_2871 said:

This will help you remove all data forever. 

Ah okay after i download that to my pc i just open and it and pick the drive that i need to wipe out? 

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2 minutes ago, Ezsno said:

Ah okay after i download that to my pc i just open and it and pick the drive that i need to wipe out? 

Pretty much! :)

Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. -_-

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5 hours ago, Ezsno said:

~snip~

Hi there :)

 

My two cents on this: 

You can fill your drive with zeros thus wiping the data off of it and prevent any future data recovery options (at least at 99%) by either doing a full format, using the clean all command in Diskpart or simply use a tool, as @Xanthe_2871 suggested. 

If you are selling or reusing hat drive I would also recommend checking its health by running a S.M.A.R.T. diagnostic test with tools from the manufacturer and see if the drive passes them. Such tools often offer the zero filling option too.

 

What's the drive's brand and model? 

 

Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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