Formatting a disk isn't as common as it used to be as most of the disks you buy these days already come preformatted but for those of you who have got your hands on some unformatted disks or you wish reformat some of old disks you found lying around then these are the simple steps you need to take.

NOTE: Formatting a disk DESTROYS any and all data that's on the disk!!


Insert the disk in your A drive
Double click My Computer
Right click the A Drive icon
Select Format from the menu
The Format - 3½ Floppy (A:) box will appear
You now have the option of selecting either Quick Format which will remove all the files OR Full which will remove all the files AND scan the disk for any errors (Recommended). The next option you have is giving the disk a Label so that you can quickly identify it later. Make sure there is a check mark beside Display Summary When Finished as this will let you know how much space you have and if there is any bad sectors on it. Once you've selected the options then hit the Start button.

When formatting is complete a Format Results box will appear. Have a quick read of it to check the available space and make sure no bad sectors have been detected... if everything looks ok your done!

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