What exactly is formatting and why is it necessary?
Formatting is the method of whipping your hard drive clean of previously installed / stored data. Do not think that the data is completely removed when formatting, because in fact its not. But, we do not need to cover this. When you format, you do lose everything that was previously installed, so if you have important documents, back them up!.
There are various reasons that formatting is necessary. Some may be because your computer is lagging horribly and sound and such just start failing, you have to run all sorts of tools to tweak it and ran diagnostics, but it’s just not cutting it. You want it back to stock performance and everything to work correctly, so you just say screw it and reformat it. Various viruses and worms can wreak havoc and are not able to be rid of unless you format your pc. Sometimes it’s necessary to completely delete the partition and re-create it, then format. As stated previously, there are methods that the more advanced users may do to dig up past data, usually just file names, but that is more then enough to tell what was previously on your hard drive disk.
What is required for formatting?
I will show you some of the tools that you should have when reformatting. This may vary, depending on what file system you have and what operating systems been previously installed.
- Win9X Boot Disk
This is used to boot up your PC into DOS for various formatting operations. The situations call for different measures. Sometimes a boot disk is a must.
- Restore CD
A restore cd comes with your new computers. They have the factory settings, drivers, OS and everything you need for your PC to be put to its factory settings. Some users may have lost this or never got one, so I will cover some optional solutions.
- Windows Operating System ( OS )
You may have bought or even burnt a copy of a windows operating system. This does not mean that your computer will install 100% complete without any problems, this is simply the basic foundation for a newly installed OS. You may be required to supply drivers and such. Read later on about this.
What if I do not have a restore or windows operating system cd?
If you are lacking everything that you need, please do not try to reformat. With that being said, let me tell you what should be done if you are supplied with efficient tools necessary for a reinstall. If you do not have a restore cd, but you have a copy of the Windows OS, then there are various steps you should take for a successful install. First, determine your PC brand, which could be Hewlett Packard, Gateway, E-Machine etc. Once you have figured this out, simply determine the model. I know that Compaq and HP have an auto-detection system to determine the settings for you, if you have this type of machine, others might too just make sure to check there official web site and look for Downloads or Support. With a manufactured pc you should be able to give them a call and request a new restore cd, depending on how old the computer is.
If you can not figure out your model and make try using the msinfo32 (start—> run—> msinfo32) or a utility called Sisoft Sandra Pro to detect your model and make for you. This is also handy if you have a custom built pc which has no restore cds created for it. Use Sisoft to determine all of your hardware settings and the type that’s installed, and then use it on http://www.google.com to search for the drivers you need. You must search for drivers that are designed for the exact operating system you are installing or they will be incompatible! Mainly, with an older computer, if you are installing Windows 95/98/ME then you SHOULD download all drivers ahead of time. If you have Windows XP and are installing it on an older system then the Plug and Play should pickup most of the settings for you, so needing drivers downloaded ahead of time would not be needed. If the drivers are something like video driver then you should download updated ones from the default manufacturer because MS only supplies you with the lowest quality drivers possible.
I have everything I need, what next?
Now, you must determine the operating system that is currently installed. If it is Windows XP then there are more steps that must be taken in order to format successfully from DOS. If you are on Windows 95/98/ME then the steps are a lot less struggling. If you wish to remove the partition completely and reformat it and previously had Win9X then do so, just follow the steps that are required for reformatting an XP system from DOS.
FIRST STEP FOR BOTH XP & 9X:
Determine if your copy of the restore/windows cd is bootable, or your computer is setup to boot from CD at startup. Simply place the CD in the CD-Rom, reboot your computer and see if it tries to read the cd before starting windows. If, instead it reads something like the A: drive first, then you must change the boot-up sequence to CD-Rom first. This method varies by the type of motherboard you have. To enter your BIOS to change the settings use either F1 or Del. These
Formatting is the method of whipping your hard drive clean of previously installed / stored data. Do not think that the data is completely removed when formatting, because in fact its not. But, we do not need to cover this. When you format, you do lose everything that was previously installed, so if you have important documents, back them up!.
There are various reasons that formatting is necessary. Some may be because your computer is lagging horribly and sound and such just start failing, you have to run all sorts of tools to tweak it and ran diagnostics, but it’s just not cutting it. You want it back to stock performance and everything to work correctly, so you just say screw it and reformat it. Various viruses and worms can wreak havoc and are not able to be rid of unless you format your pc. Sometimes it’s necessary to completely delete the partition and re-create it, then format. As stated previously, there are methods that the more advanced users may do to dig up past data, usually just file names, but that is more then enough to tell what was previously on your hard drive disk.
What is required for formatting?
I will show you some of the tools that you should have when reformatting. This may vary, depending on what file system you have and what operating systems been previously installed.
- Win9X Boot Disk
This is used to boot up your PC into DOS for various formatting operations. The situations call for different measures. Sometimes a boot disk is a must.
- Restore CD
A restore cd comes with your new computers. They have the factory settings, drivers, OS and everything you need for your PC to be put to its factory settings. Some users may have lost this or never got one, so I will cover some optional solutions.
- Windows Operating System ( OS )
You may have bought or even burnt a copy of a windows operating system. This does not mean that your computer will install 100% complete without any problems, this is simply the basic foundation for a newly installed OS. You may be required to supply drivers and such. Read later on about this.
What if I do not have a restore or windows operating system cd?
If you are lacking everything that you need, please do not try to reformat. With that being said, let me tell you what should be done if you are supplied with efficient tools necessary for a reinstall. If you do not have a restore cd, but you have a copy of the Windows OS, then there are various steps you should take for a successful install. First, determine your PC brand, which could be Hewlett Packard, Gateway, E-Machine etc. Once you have figured this out, simply determine the model. I know that Compaq and HP have an auto-detection system to determine the settings for you, if you have this type of machine, others might too just make sure to check there official web site and look for Downloads or Support. With a manufactured pc you should be able to give them a call and request a new restore cd, depending on how old the computer is.
If you can not figure out your model and make try using the msinfo32 (start—> run—> msinfo32) or a utility called Sisoft Sandra Pro to detect your model and make for you. This is also handy if you have a custom built pc which has no restore cds created for it. Use Sisoft to determine all of your hardware settings and the type that’s installed, and then use it on http://www.google.com to search for the drivers you need. You must search for drivers that are designed for the exact operating system you are installing or they will be incompatible! Mainly, with an older computer, if you are installing Windows 95/98/ME then you SHOULD download all drivers ahead of time. If you have Windows XP and are installing it on an older system then the Plug and Play should pickup most of the settings for you, so needing drivers downloaded ahead of time would not be needed. If the drivers are something like video driver then you should download updated ones from the default manufacturer because MS only supplies you with the lowest quality drivers possible.
I have everything I need, what next?
Now, you must determine the operating system that is currently installed. If it is Windows XP then there are more steps that must be taken in order to format successfully from DOS. If you are on Windows 95/98/ME then the steps are a lot less struggling. If you wish to remove the partition completely and reformat it and previously had Win9X then do so, just follow the steps that are required for reformatting an XP system from DOS.
FIRST STEP FOR BOTH XP & 9X:
Determine if your copy of the restore/windows cd is bootable, or your computer is setup to boot from CD at startup. Simply place the CD in the CD-Rom, reboot your computer and see if it tries to read the cd before starting windows. If, instead it reads something like the A: drive first, then you must change the boot-up sequence to CD-Rom first. This method varies by the type of motherboard you have. To enter your BIOS to change the settings use either F1 or Del. These
No comments:
Post a Comment