24-04-2011, 12:06 PM
How to format a hard drive partition in Windows 7
On most of my systems I have atleast 2 partitions, one for the operating system, and one for data.
You can now format, create and delete partitions within Windows 7 using Disk Management. This is my new install of Windows 7 Pro, on a 320GB hard drive, 50GB for the OS and 250GB for data.
Warning: Large images, they'll be scaled accordingly.
Steps
1) Start > Right click "Computer" > Manage
![[Image: formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-01.png]](http://www.markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-01.png)
2) On the left hand side, go down to "Disk Management"
Select the disk that you want to format, right click it and select "Format..."
![[Image: formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-02.png]](http://www.markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-02.png)
3) A window will pop up, fill out the information, I always untick "Perform a quick format".
![[Image: formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-03.png]](http://www.markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-03.png)
It'll warn you that formatting will erase all of the data on that volume, click OK.
![[Image: formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-04.png]](http://www.markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-04.png)
4) It'll then start formatting the partition, the bigger in size, the longer it will take.
![[Image: formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-05.png]](http://www.markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-05.png)
5) After about an hour or so, It'll be complete, and will look similar to below.
![[Image: formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-06.png]](http://www.markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-06.png)
6) Here's what it looks like in "My Computer" before it was formatted.
![[Image: formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-07.png]](http://www.markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-07.png)
7) And here's what it looks like in "My Computer" after it was formatted.
![[Image: formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-08.png]](http://www.markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7/formatting-a-partition-in-windows-7-08.png)
You can then start copying your files back, or start filling it up with new files!
On most of my systems I have atleast 2 partitions, one for the operating system, and one for data.
You can now format, create and delete partitions within Windows 7 using Disk Management. This is my new install of Windows 7 Pro, on a 320GB hard drive, 50GB for the OS and 250GB for data.
Warning: Large images, they'll be scaled accordingly.
Steps
1) Start > Right click "Computer" > Manage
2) On the left hand side, go down to "Disk Management"
Select the disk that you want to format, right click it and select "Format..."
3) A window will pop up, fill out the information, I always untick "Perform a quick format".
It'll warn you that formatting will erase all of the data on that volume, click OK.
4) It'll then start formatting the partition, the bigger in size, the longer it will take.
5) After about an hour or so, It'll be complete, and will look similar to below.
6) Here's what it looks like in "My Computer" before it was formatted.
7) And here's what it looks like in "My Computer" after it was formatted.
You can then start copying your files back, or start filling it up with new files!