Format Boot Drive

After making the bootable USB hard drive format utility, you can take the following steps to format your hard disk without running Windows. Step 1: Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.

1. Format Boot Drive Windows 10
2. Format Boot Drive
3. Format Boot Drive Windows 10

Position: How Tos - Partition Management - How to Format C Drive in Windows 10/8/7?

Summary

Do you know how to format C drive or the partition where Windows or other operating systems is installed? Windows does not allow users to format C drive when system is running, for formatting C drive removes operating system, installed applications and other data on the partition. In this case, we need to complete the task outside of Windows. In this guide, you can find several ways to format C drive (system partition) in Windows 10/8/7.

DiskGenius - Free disk partition manager to format hard drive, wipe disk, extend C drive, access ext4, etc.

1. After making a Bootable USB drive for installing Operating Systems like Ubuntu via Pen drive using softwares like PowerISO, when you format your pen drive using Windows or Ubuntu it will show about only 2 MB of memory in a 4 GB pen drive. Follow the steps to format the pen drive properly and restore it back to its original condition.
2. Windows Format Tool. As I mentioned before, Windows has its own Flash drive format tool.

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About formatting C drive

Partition formatting

Formatting refers to the process of preparing a new partition or remove existing data on a hard drive or USB storage device. The formatting process can be applied to various storage media such as hard drive, memory sticks, virtual disk, SSD, USB flash drive, external HDD, etc. If the drive contains important data and it is the only copy of your data, you'll face data loss issue once formatting performed to the disk.

A partition should be created and formatted first before you can store data on the device. Formatting is a very important step, which creates file system to get partition ready to store data. As to formatting there are two levels of formatting we can execute:

Quick format: Windows performs quick format by default. As the name suggest the formatting process is very quick. By way of quick formatting, you can change file system type as well as remove data off the entire partition. But the quick formatting does not erase data permanently, and you can run data recovery as long as lost data is not overwritten.

Full format: A full format runs an additional step than quick format. When you run a full format on partition or volume, data will be completely wiped from the partition being formatted and partition is scanned bad sectors. The formatting is very slow and majority of time taken by the process is used to check bad sectors.

Reasons of formatting C drive

C drive is usually system partition on most computers, and formatting C drive gives the chance that computer loses operating system and cannot boot. Why do users still want to format C drive? The reasons for formatting system partition vary from one to another and here are some common reasons:

• Retire computer: When you want to replace your computer with a new one, you might need to format computer to erase data before selling or giving away in the view of data security.
• Upgrade system disk: Windows is installed on an SSD which is running out of free space and you plan to upgrade the disk to a larger one.
• Erase data: It is advised to wipe hard drive before recycling or donating it, as the drive might contain sensitive data.
• Remove virus and malware: Operating system infects virus or malware is dangerous to personal data, as files might be damaged, lost or even leaked to third-party. Formatting C drive can wipe virus or malware safely and safeguard computer.
• System has crashed: Operating system on your computer cannot boot, and formatting C drive and reinstalling system might be ultimate solution.
• Reinstall OS: You need to format system partition before reinstalling it or changing Windows version. In this case, you can format C partition with the system setup installer during reinstalling.

You cannot format this volume

On Windows computer, you can format any partition except system partition in File Explorer or Disk Management when operating system is running. Open File Explorer by double-clicking This PC icon from desktop and right-click C drive and choose Format option. Then you will receive an error message 'Microsoft Windows. You cannot format this volume It contains the version of Windows that you are using. Formatting this volume could cause your computer to stop working. Formatting disk and drives FAQ', as follows:

Windows sets this limitation out of security consideration so that users cannot delete system by mistake. System volume stores booting files like boot.ini, bootmgr, bcd, etc. that are necessary for system booting. Besides, C drive is set as active partition and there is only one active partition on a single disk. This partition cannot be formatted or deleted within Windows.

Though it is not allowed to format C drive in Windows like you format other drives, you can format C drive outside of Windows. Sounds complicated? Actually, it is quite easy to do the task. The following part will discuss several methods to format system partition on Windows 10/8/7.

Method 1: How to format C drive from Windows Setup Disc

Since formatting removes all data on the partition, you should create backup for important files. After formatting C drive, computer won't be able to boot, and you need to considering reinstalling operating system.

Step 1 Insert Windows setup disk and restart computer. Then enter BIOS to change boot sequence to let computer boot from the disc.

Once your computer boot from the disc, you can see the installation interface where you should select language first.

Step 2 When you get to the page that asks 'Where do you want to install Windows?', you can choose system C drive and press Format option.

Once C drive gets formatted, you can either continue to reinstall Windows or exit.

Method 2: Format C drive /system partition via system repair disc

Note: If you do not have a system repair disc, you can follow steps in method 3 to complete formatting task.

Step 1 Boot to system repair disc.

After changing boot sequence in bios and restart computer, after which computer will boot from the system repair disc.

Step 2 Click Command Prompt from System Recovery Options. Then type command format c: /fs:ntfs and press Enter key.

Note: the system is usually assigned drive letter C, but sometimes it might not be identified as drive C in command prompt of some system repair disc. So please make sure you are formatting the correct drive.

Method 3: Format C drive via DiskGenius WinPE edition

DiskGenius Free is disk partition freeware and it is able to make disk partition, recover lost data, back up data, etc. for instance, with this tool you can increase C drive space, format Ext4 partition, partition hard drive, recover RAW drive, recover deleted files, backup system drive, convert GPT/MBR, convert VMDK to VHD, etc. This section shows how to format C drive via DiskGenius WinPE Edition.

Step 1 Create bootable disk for DiskGenius WinPE edition.

Connect a USB drive to your computer and launch DiskGenius, and you can view the USB disk in the software. Select the USB flash drive and click Tools menu to select Create WinPE bootable USB drive of DiskGenius, as picture below:

Click OK button from the pop-up window and wait for a couple of seconds to create the bootable disk. https://elements-torrent.mystrikingly.com/blog/longest-hidden-object-game.

Step 2 Restart the computer for which you want to format C drive and enter BIOS to change boot order, so that this computer will boot from the USB device.

If you do not know how to enter BIOS or change boot sequence, you can seek help from the motherboard tech support. Save changes and restart computer. Then your computer boots from the bootable disk and DiskGenius will be launched automatically.

Step 3 In the DiskGenius WinPE version, select C drive (system partition) to be formatted and click Format button from toolbar.

Set file system type, cluster size, volume label, etc. and click Format button. Then DiskGenius will formats the partition quickly.

Formatted partition data recovery

Recovering lost files from formatted partition is an easy task as long as you use effective hard drive partition recovery software. DiskGenius is capable of recovering data from formatted volume or USB drives. The optimized scanning mechanism is designed to quickly and accurately search for lost files sector by sector. Apart from recovering formatted partition, it is also able to recover files from RAW and inaccessible volume as well as deleted partitions. Different file systems are supported including NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, Ext2, Ext3 and Ext4. The unregistered edition can scan formatted drive and preview lost data, so that you can make sure whether files can be recovered correctly prior to purchasing the licensed edition.

If you want to recover formatted C drive, you may need to perform the recovery process outside of Windows. On one hand, once system partition gets formatted, computer won't boot to Windows anymore. On the other hand, even if system works well, it is not secure to recover lost data from system drive when Windows is running. That's because Windows may generate writing action at any time, and damage lost data. DiskGenius supports creating WinPE based bootable disk, and you can perform C drive data recovery with DiskGenius WinPE edition.

Step 1 Launch DiskGenius and locate the partition to be recovered. Right-click on the partition you want to recover data and choose Recover Lost Files, as follows:

Step 2 Select Complete Recovery and click Start button to search for lost data from selected drive.

If you remember the file system type of the partition before it got formatted, then click Advanced Options button to select file system. 'Search For Known File Types' option should be selected if lost files are partly overwritten.

Step 3 Preview files.

File preview can be done during or after scanning. Double-click a file and you can open it in preview window. The following screenshot shows the previewing of a JPG file. By way of previewing files, you can find out what you need to recover and whether they can be recovered correctly.

Step 4 Copy and save files you want to recover. Select desired files and folders and right-click on them to choose Copy To.

Conclusion

We've talked about several ways to format C drive for Windows 7/8/10 PCs, through which you can format system partition even though you do not have a system installation disc. Besides, we also introduce how to do formatted partition recovery, which helps to retrieve lost data from formatted drives. DiskGenius is a versatile tool that can help you format partition, wipe hard drive, resize partition, extend C drive, recover lost data, etc. Should you have any question or need any help regarding formatting C drive or using the program, please feel free to contact our technical support team.

DiskGenius - Full-fledged tool to manage partition, recover lost data, image disk & partition, wipe disk, etc.

ô Free Download

Dec 03, 2020 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions

Disk formatting is done as a preparation for the use of any operating system. It's a common process done by many PC users. There are many ways you can do this task so if one method fails, you can opt to use another. In this article, we'll show you how to format Drive C using your Windows computer.

Why Do You Need To Format C Drive?

The formatting of drive usually uses three processes. This includes low-level and high-level formatting and partitioning. If you're wondering why you even need to perform a format of Drive C, we'll explain it. Typically a drive format is done, in a way, to refresh the drive. This deletes all the data in the hard drive (but not completely, you'll find out why in the solutions below).

How to Format C Drive in Windows 10

As promised, here are 5 ways you can Format C Drive in Windows 10.

Solution 1 - Use Windows Setup or External Storage Media to Format C

This method is the most convenient way to perform the format of Drive C. This doesn't require any new install of Windows so you won't need any Windows copy. Take note that the installation of Windows will automatically format your drive. In this case, you don't need to format Drive C anymore before installation. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to perform this.

1. Boot using the Windows Setup Disc. Just place the CD in the optical hard drive and just follow the instructions.
2. Once the Windows installs, you will see the screen. Select the language you want to use and select Next.
3. Click Install Now and wait until it finishes. This process isn't installing the Windows OS (you already have it installed).
4. Accept the terms and conditions and select Next.
5. Go to the Custom (advanced) option.
6. Now, a prompt will ask you the location for the Windows installation. You will see a list of all the existing drives. Click on Drive options (advanced).
7. Select Format among the options.
8. Now, Windows will start the process of formatting your drive.

Solution 2 - Use System Repair Disc to Format C

Making System Repair Disc is one of your best options to format Drive C. It's an excellent way if you don't own any installation media of your OS but have a copy of Windows 7, 8, or 10. You can create your disc and use it to boot then format drive C. Follow the instructions on how you can do this:

1. Firstly, you have created a System Repair Disc. Do this by following these steps:

   a. Press the Start button then go to All Programs. Select Maintenance Antivirus macbook air gratuit.

   b.Select Create a System Repair Disc and pick the location where you want to burn this. Place the CD in the optical drive before doing this or during this step.

   c.Just follow the instructions in the process to continue.

2. After making the disc, use it to boot. Just insert the disc in the optical drive and restart your PC. You will be shown a prompt telling you to press any key so you can boot from the CD.
3. Wait for the installation to complete. Choose your preferred language and continue.
4. You will be redirected to System Recovery. Select Use recovery tools… option and proceed.

5. Go to Command Prompt. Enter the following command:

   format c: /fs:NTFS

   NOTE: In this command, we're formatting the drive to NTFS. You can choose a different format type.

6. You will be asked to provide the volume level. Enter the label.
7. Proceed to the format by typing in Y and hit Enter.
8. Once the format is finished, enter in the Volume Label.

Solution 3 - Use Recovery Console

Recovery Console is a built-in feature in most Windows OS that allows users to fix system issues. It makes use of commands to solve the errors. You can use this using the Windows XP Setup CD and are also using Windows XP or at least have it installed on your PC. This may be the most ideal method if you're not running the newer editions of Windows.

Solution 4 - Use a Diagnostic and Repair Utility

There are plenty of diagnostic and repair utilities you can make use of. These are usually made by PC users and other companies. You may use this step if you can't get hold of new versions of Windows to make your repair discs.

Solution 5 - Use a Data Destruction Program to Delete the Drive's Data

Simply select all your files in a drive and permanently deleting them might not work. Using a data destruction program ensures you're wiping your drive of all the data it contains. This leaves you with a good-as-new drive. It may also be seen as a factory reset.

Formatting any of your PC's drives shouldn't be too tedious. It's an essential process you will do if you own a PC. With all of the solutions above, you'll surely find an effective method to format Drive C.

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Data from Formatted Hard Drive

What's Wrong with Drive

Recover Your Drive

Fix Your Drive

Format/Wipe Drive

Know Your Drive

Position: How Tos - Partition Management - How to Format C Drive in Windows 10/8/7?

Summary

Do you know how to format C drive or the partition where Windows or other operating systems is installed? Windows does not allow users to format C drive when system is running, for formatting C drive removes operating system, installed applications and other data on the partition. In this case, we need to complete the task outside of Windows. In this guide, you can find several ways to format C drive (system partition) in Windows 10/8/7.

DiskGenius - Free disk partition manager to format hard drive, wipe disk, extend C drive, access ext4, etc.

ô Free Download

Quick Navigation::

About formatting C drive

Partition formatting

Formatting refers to the process of preparing a new partition or remove existing data on a hard drive or USB storage device. The formatting process can be applied to various storage media such as hard drive, memory sticks, virtual disk, SSD, USB flash drive, external HDD, etc. If the drive contains important data and it is the only copy of your data, you'll face data loss issue once formatting performed to the disk.

A partition should be created and formatted first before you can store data on the device. Formatting is a very important step, which creates file system to get partition ready to store data. As to formatting there are two levels of formatting we can execute:

Quick format: Windows performs quick format by default. As the name suggest the formatting process is very quick. By way of quick formatting, you can change file system type as well as remove data off the entire partition. But the quick formatting does not erase data permanently, and you can run data recovery as long as lost data is not overwritten.

Full format: A full format runs an additional step than quick format. When you run a full format on partition or volume, data will be completely wiped from the partition being formatted and partition is scanned bad sectors. The formatting is very slow and majority of time taken by the process is used to check bad sectors.

Reasons of formatting C drive

C drive is usually system partition on most computers, and formatting C drive gives the chance that computer loses operating system and cannot boot. Why do users still want to format C drive? The reasons for formatting system partition vary from one to another and here are some common reasons:

• Retire computer: When you want to replace your computer with a new one, you might need to format computer to erase data before selling or giving away in the view of data security.
• Upgrade system disk: Windows is installed on an SSD which is running out of free space and you plan to upgrade the disk to a larger one.
• Erase data: It is advised to wipe hard drive before recycling or donating it, as the drive might contain sensitive data.
• Remove virus and malware: Operating system infects virus or malware is dangerous to personal data, as files might be damaged, lost or even leaked to third-party. Formatting C drive can wipe virus or malware safely and safeguard computer.
• System has crashed: Operating system on your computer cannot boot, and formatting C drive and reinstalling system might be ultimate solution.
• Reinstall OS: You need to format system partition before reinstalling it or changing Windows version. In this case, you can format C partition with the system setup installer during reinstalling.

You cannot format this volume

On Windows computer, you can format any partition except system partition in File Explorer or Disk Management when operating system is running. Open File Explorer by double-clicking This PC icon from desktop and right-click C drive and choose Format option. Then you will receive an error message 'Microsoft Windows. You cannot format this volume It contains the version of Windows that you are using. Formatting this volume could cause your computer to stop working. Formatting disk and drives FAQ', as follows:

Windows sets this limitation out of security consideration so that users cannot delete system by mistake. System volume stores booting files like boot.ini, bootmgr, bcd, etc. that are necessary for system booting. Besides, C drive is set as active partition and there is only one active partition on a single disk. This partition cannot be formatted or deleted within Windows.

Though it is not allowed to format C drive in Windows like you format other drives, you can format C drive outside of Windows. Adobe premiere pro cs6 linux. Sounds complicated? Actually, it is quite easy to do the task. The following part will discuss several methods to format system partition on Windows 10/8/7.

Method 1: How to format C drive from Windows Setup Disc

Since formatting removes all data on the partition, you should create backup for important files. After formatting C drive, computer won't be able to boot, and you need to considering reinstalling operating system.

Step 1 Insert Windows setup disk and restart computer. Then enter BIOS to change boot sequence to let computer boot from the disc.

Once your computer boot from the disc, you can see the installation interface where you should select language first.

Step 2 When you get to the page that asks 'Where do you want to install Windows?', you can choose system C drive and press Format option.

Once C drive gets formatted, you can either continue to reinstall Windows or exit.

Method 2: Format C drive /system partition via system repair disc

Note: If you do not have a system repair disc, you can follow steps in method 3 to complete formatting task.

Step 1 Boot to system repair disc.

After changing boot sequence in bios and restart computer, after which computer will boot from the system repair disc.

Step 2 Click Command Prompt from System Recovery Options. Then type command format c: /fs:ntfs and press Enter key.

Format Boot Drive Windows 10

Note: the system is usually assigned drive letter C, but sometimes it might not be identified as drive C in command prompt of some system repair disc. So please make sure you are formatting the correct drive.

Method 3: Format C drive via DiskGenius WinPE edition

DiskGenius Free is disk partition freeware and it is able to make disk partition, recover lost data, back up data, etc. for instance, with this tool you can increase C drive space, format Ext4 partition, partition hard drive, recover RAW drive, recover deleted files, backup system drive, convert GPT/MBR, convert VMDK to VHD, etc. This section shows how to format C drive via DiskGenius WinPE Edition.

Step 1 Create bootable disk for DiskGenius WinPE edition.

Connect a USB drive to your computer and launch DiskGenius, and you can view the USB disk in the software. Vray 2017. Select the USB flash drive and click Tools menu to select Create WinPE bootable USB drive of DiskGenius, as picture below:

Click OK button from the pop-up window and wait for a couple of seconds to create the bootable disk.

Step 2 What is audacity for windows. Restart the computer for which you want to format C drive and enter BIOS to change boot order, so that this computer will boot from the USB device.

If you do not know how to enter BIOS or change boot sequence, you can seek help from the motherboard tech support. Save changes and restart computer. Then your computer boots from the bootable disk and DiskGenius will be launched automatically.

Anytrans to ios. Step 3 In the DiskGenius WinPE version, select C drive (system partition) to be formatted and click Format button from toolbar.

Set file system type, cluster size, volume label, etc. and click Format button. Disk utility won t let me erase external hard drive. Then DiskGenius will formats the partition quickly.

Format Boot Drive

Formatted partition data recovery

Recovering lost files from formatted partition is an easy task as long as you use effective hard drive partition recovery software. DiskGenius is capable of recovering data from formatted volume or USB drives. The optimized scanning mechanism is designed to quickly and accurately search for lost files sector by sector. Apart from recovering formatted partition, it is also able to recover files from RAW and inaccessible volume as well as deleted partitions. Different file systems are supported including NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, Ext2, Ext3 and Ext4. The unregistered edition can scan formatted drive and preview lost data, so that you can make sure whether files can be recovered correctly prior to purchasing the licensed edition.

If you want to recover formatted C drive, you may need to perform the recovery process outside of Windows. On one hand, once system partition gets formatted, computer won't boot to Windows anymore. On the other hand, even if system works well, it is not secure to recover lost data from system drive when Windows is running. That's because Windows may generate writing action at any time, and damage lost data. DiskGenius supports creating WinPE based bootable disk, and you can perform C drive data recovery with DiskGenius WinPE edition.

Step 1 Launch DiskGenius and locate the partition to be recovered. Right-click on the partition you want to recover data and choose Recover Lost Files, as follows:

Step 2 Select Complete Recovery and click Start button to search for lost data from selected drive.

If you remember the file system type of the partition before it got formatted, then click Advanced Options button to select file system. 'Search For Known File Types' option should be selected if lost files are partly overwritten.

Step 3 Preview files.

Format Boot Drive Windows 10

File preview can be done during or after scanning. Double-click a file and you can open it in preview window. The following screenshot shows the previewing of a JPG file. By way of previewing files, you can find out what you need to recover and whether they can be recovered correctly.

Step 4 Copy and save files you want to recover. Select desired files and folders and right-click on them to choose Copy To.

Conclusion

We've talked about several ways to format C drive for Windows 7/8/10 PCs, through which you can format system partition even though you do not have a system installation disc. Besides, we also introduce how to do formatted partition recovery, which helps to retrieve lost data from formatted drives. DiskGenius is a versatile tool that can help you format partition, wipe hard drive, resize partition, extend C drive, recover lost data, etc. Should you have any question or need any help regarding formatting C drive or using the program, please feel free to contact our technical support team.

DiskGenius - Full-fledged tool to manage partition, recover lost data, image disk & partition, wipe disk, etc.

ô Free Download