how to format my hard drive windows vista

Formatting set up the underlying magnetic information so the disk could be used. The term “formatting” goes back to days when hard disks had to be physically prepared before data could be written on them. Unless you know for certain there’s nothing there you need, an image backup is the right way to be prepared when you remember some weeks from now that you forgot to save a specific file. We’re about to erase everything on your hard disk. I can’t stress the importance of Step 1: backing up enough. You can do this either from the backup image we started with in Step 1, or from other sources, depending on how you organize your data. Windows on its own isn’t enough you’ll want to reinstall additional software. We won’t cover that step here, since it varies dramatically depending on what applications you use. This typically means booting from a Windows setup disk and letting the setup program do its thing.

While “reformatting” refers to a specific operation, in this situation, it refers to any technique used to erase or overwrite everything on the hard disk. This saves all current content in case you want it later. Take an image of the existing machine, if possible. Reformatting a machine and reinstalling everything to start over is typically a five-step process.

How to format my hard drive windows vista