What is "formatting" a computer?”
Formatting on a computer applies to the storage devices used on the computer.
There are two levels of format for a hard disk drive. A low level format that defines where the tracks and sectors are located on the disk(s) in the disk drive.
Disk drives, SSDs and pen drives have a higher level of format, although SSDs and pen drives do not have the low level format. The high level format sets up the actual file system on the drive. Depending on the operating system and the type of drive, the filesystem may be created with a root folder or directory and nothing else or it may have some extra folders in the root folder such as “System Volume Information” and “Recycle Bin” folders.
The format operation may offer a full format or a quick format, and it may offer a surface scan. A quick format simply recreates the file system structure but does not do anything to parts of the storage that is not part of that structure. A full format normally writes zeros over the storage that is not part of the actual structure and is reserved for data and additional folders. A surface scan can be carried out either on its own or as part of a format. This looks for bad sectors and assigns an alternative sector from a list of reserved sectors.
It is so simple but do it on your own risk because you may lost the whole data in your hard drive. And you must have the drivers for pc
You are using laptop so first you must have the windows *64-bit version because some laptop have the disk format GPT that only allowes you to install 64 bit they wont work for 32bit.if you want to install 32 bit you need to format all drives means you lose all data present in local disk c,d,e,f.If you want to install the 32-bit i give instructions at the end.
first you take the files you need from local disk(c). To get new os you just need to format local disk(c) . For formatting you must have the os cd or os in pendrive. Insert cd(or) DVD in the dvd drive (or) plug in pendrive and restart your system and click f8 or delete button you see a menu goto boot menu and set your DVD drive as boot device 1,if your using pendrive then select pendrive. now save and exit from menu. Now your system will restart and you see a line "boot from cd or dvd..." before the line gets invisible press enter,if it is invisible then restart pc and retry to press enter before it hide. Now the files are loading please wait until the a pop up menu appears.During installation your pc restart automatically dont press any key at booting.
1)now press start installation and select language
2)now you see a menu where your drives appears, now leftclick on local disk(C) and now press load options now press format.
3)your disk is formated and now left click on local disk c press next at bottom it will take sometime wait,please wait until the whole installation finish.
4)now you need to select date,time pres next and require to enter product key and press next,now select update settings if you have internet then press first option to install updates or else third option and press next. Now all is done your pc will start with new os..
for 32bit installers
procedure is same but there is some change.before the procedure step 1 you Just need to do is press shift +f10 keys at a time.now you can see dos popup menu. Now type "diskpart" and press enter. and now type "select disk partition 0"and press enter.now type "clean"(remember if you type clean and press enter you lost all the data in your hard drive )enter and now press start installation and you need to create disks click on create option below if it is not visible press load more options then you can seen it.type the first drive space according to your need and press enter create 1 to 4 or more as your wish. now select first disk that is local disk c and follow the installation steps from 3 and continue
Assuming you have Windows 10-
This is literally the easiest way-
Press <Windows Key> + I
Then go to Update and Security > Recovery
Under Reset this PC option select Get started
Now you will have two options, select Remove Everything
Now you will have two options again stating-
Reset the Windows Drive that is the C Drive- Choose this options if you want to format only the C Drive and completely reinstall Windows, its useful if you have any irremovable virus in your laptop. Make a backup of your personal files in the C Drive if you have any.
Reset whole system- Choose this if you want to delete everything from your laptop.
Next it will ask you after sometime to either Quick format or Full format. Choose Full format only if you are going to sell your laptop, else don’t.
Done
You can only format the other local drive if you don't want to delete/format your windows.
How to
- Go to my computer
- By right click, go to manage
- Go to the Disk Management Under the Storage option
- Here you can see all your local drive
- From here you can delete/create/shrink the partion.
If you want the old state of windows, when you bought your laptop or any other stable state. You can do in two ways
- Using recovery Disk or through recovery partition present in your hard drive ( Lenevo provide the One key recovery button to restore your system to old state. This method will erase your all personal data).
- By creating restore point. Through this you can restore to your favourite restore point. This option will delete your personal data after the date of restore point created.
Why anyone wants to format their laptops.
Can possibly two major reasons
- Because of viruses/malware attack
- You want to install the different OS
Viruses/ malware attack
If you want to format because of this reason, then there is no option to get rid of the viruses without complete formatting or You can use a good antivirus, which can help you to repair the files to a possible limit.
