Options for formatting external hard drives wd. Methods for formatting external drives in fat32 format. Windows utilities for deleting files

I suggest that before you start changing the file system, look at what file system is currently used on the USB storage device. To do this, go to " My computer"/ "Computer" / "This computer" (respectively in Windows XP, Windows7, Windows8) right-click on the flash drive / external hard drive and select " Properties". In the properties window you will see the file system of the device.

Attention!!!

Formatting/changing the file system is a process that deletes all files and folders on a storage device, so before starting this process, you need to transfer all the data to another media.

Formatting/changing the format of a USB flash drive or external hard drive using the Windows interface.

For this method, you need to insert the USB storage device into the computer/laptop open " My computer"/ "Computer" / "This computer" (respectively in Windows XP, Windows7, Windows8). Right-click on the device that needs to be formatted and select " Format".

In the formatting window, in the line File system select the required file system (NTFS, FAT32, exFAT). The remaining parameters can be left as default. Click " Begin".

A warning window will appear stating that all folders and files from the media will be deleted, click " OK".

After a few seconds, a window will appear indicating that the formatting was successful.

At this point, the procedure for changing the file system of USB devices/formatting can be considered complete.

Formatting/changing the format of a USB flash drive or external hard drive using the Windows command line.

For this method, you need to launch the command line, to do this, click the " Start" or press the keyboard shortcut + and in the program search bar enter CMD, click "Enter".

A command prompt will open. here we have to use the FORMAT command to format the USB device.

FORMAT command syntax:

FORMAT volume
FORMAT volume
FORMAT volume
FORMAT volume
FORMAT volume

volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name.
/FS:filesystem Specifies the file system type (FAT, FAT32, NTFS, or UDF).
/V:label Volume label.
/Q Quick formatting. Overrides the /P option.
/C NTFS only: Sets the default compression mode for all files created on the new volume.
/X Initiates dismounting of the volume as a first action, if necessary. All open handles to the volume will be invalid.
/R:edition UDF only: Formatting in the specified UDF version (1.00, 1.02, 1.50, 2.00, 2.01, 2.50). The default version is 2.01.
/D UDF 2.50 only: Metadata will be duplicated.
/A:size Overrides the default cluster size. In general, it is recommended to use the default cluster sizes. NTFS supports sizes 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64K. FAT supports sizes 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, (128 KB, 256 KB for sector size > 512 bytes). FAT32 supports sizes 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, (128 KB, 256 KB for sector size > 512 bytes). exFAT supports sizes 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB, 32 MB.
The FAT and FAT32 file systems impose the following restrictions on the number of clusters on a volume:
FAT: number of clusters<= 65 526
FAT32: 65,526< число кластеров < 4 177 918
The FORMAT command will abort immediately if a violation of the above restrictions is detected using the specified cluster size.
NTFS compression is not supported for clusters larger than 4096.

/F:size Indicates the size of floppy disks to be formatted (1.44)
/T:tracks The number of tracks on each side of the disc.
/N:sectors Number of sectors on each track.
/P:times Zeroes each sector of the volume the specified number of times. This option has no effect with the /Q option
/S:state Where "state" can be "enable" or "disable"

An external hard drive is a compact device that provides the ability to store copies of data and transfer large amounts of information from one device to another. The advantage of an external HDD is the use of a USB interface, which allows you to conveniently connect the device to any tablet, laptop and PC. Its remaining parameters are similar to a regular computer hard drive.

Despite the advantages of conventional hard drives, the device also has disadvantages. When working with an external HDD, users may have the following problem: the disk cannot be accessed and it needs to be formatted. Let's look at the causes of this problem and how to deal with it.

To organize and store information on any type of storage device (external hard drive, flash drive, hard drive), you need to apply a set of special rules determined by the location and method of storage. This is a specific set of software tools that provides access to information in a convenient form for various applications. The most popular file system now is NTFS. It is also used on external hard drives.

Damaged or missing file system

When viewing information about an external drive to which access is prohibited and if it is necessary to format it, you can see that the NTFS file system has become RAW. This indicates a missing or damaged file system on the disk. Often the data itself remains intact.

Not all users know that in addition to recorded files, there are special file identifiers on the HDD. They contain information about the file type, its size and other attributes. This method of organizing information storage can be compared with a table. There is a key and the data itself, and they can be accessed by using a specific identifier. If the key column disappears, it will be quite difficult to gain access to specific information. This occurs when the disk file system is damaged.

Options for solving the problem when the external hard drive does not open

The easiest way to return the file system to an external drive is to use the standard CHKDSK command type:

The command line is launched (press Windows + R, enter “cmd” in the field that appears and click “Run”).
A console will appear in which to write the command “CHKDSK disk_name: /f”. In disk_name, enter the name of the external drive that has the RAW file system.
This method copes with minor damage to the file system. There is a risk of losing some data.

There are applications that provide file system recovery on disk. The most popular is GetDataBack. The utility recovers all data without loss.

If these two methods do not work, and the external drive still does not open and asks for formatting, then you need to format the hard drive. Quick formatting will not result in data loss. Information in the form of zeros and ones will remain on the disk, but access to it is lost. There are applications that help restore this information. Conventional formatting completely deletes information, but solves the problem with accessing the external hard drive.

Formatting using Windows

The following steps are required:

Connect the external hard drive to your computer and open the My Computer window.
After the system detects the hard drive and it appears in the “My Computer” window, you need to open the context menu of the external drive and select “Format”.
A window will then open showing the disk formatting settings. Here you need to select a file system, specify the disk name and enable the quick format function.

It is better to choose the file system NTFS. FAT has a large number of limitations, and under modern conditions it has become frankly outdated. Using the Quick Format feature will create a clean file system without physically deleting files from the external drive.

If you disable the quick format feature, this process may take several hours. The volume label is optionally set. After setting the required parameters, you need to click on the “Start” button. Then a window opens where a warning is written about deleting all existing data on the disk being formatted. Once the formatting process is complete, the external drive will open again and be available for use.

Formatting via the command line

You can format your external hard drive using the command line. To do this, connect the disk and launch the Windows command line.

Disks are formatted using the FORMAT command. To find all the parameters that this command accepts, just enter "FORMAT /?".

To format an external hard drive, you must execute the FORMAT command with the following parameters:

/Q – enables the quick formatting function.
/V:MyDisk – indicates the name of the disk. You can use any other name instead of MyDisk.
/FS:NTFS – formatting using the NTFS file system.

To format an external hard drive, you can use this summary command: FORMAT X: /FS:NTFS /V:MyDisk /Q. Here the letter X represents the name of the external drive being used. When formatting using the command line, it is important not to mix up the drives.

The process of formatting a disk using the command line does not display any additional warnings, so you need to be careful.

Formatting via Disk Management

Windows OS has a handy tool called Disk Management. Its functions include formatting disks, creating and deleting partitions, as well as performing other operations. To access this tool, you need to open the “Run” menu and enter the command “diskmgmt.msc”.

After opening the window, the following steps are performed to format the external hard drive:

Search for an external hard drive and open its context menu (right mouse button).
Selecting the “Format” item in the context menu.
The user is shown a warning about deleting all data from this disk. To start formatting, click on the “Yes” button.

External hard drives are very convenient and useful devices. If a situation arises when the external hard drive does not open and asks for formatting, then you can solve the problem yourself. Just follow the instructions given above in the article. To prevent incidents of information loss, you can copy important data to other storage media.

Attention!!!

Formatting/changing the file system is a process that deletes all files and folders on a storage device, so before starting this process, you need to transfer all the data to another media.

Formatting/changing the format of a USB flash drive or external hard drive using the Windows interface.

In the formatting window, in the line File system select the required file system (NTFS, FAT32, exFAT). The remaining parameters can be left as default. Click " Begin".

A warning window will appear stating that all folders and files from the media will be deleted, click " OK".

After a few seconds, a window will appear indicating that the formatting was successful.

At this point, the procedure for changing the file system of USB devices/formatting can be considered complete.

Formatting/changing the format of a USB flash drive or external hard drive using the Windows command line.

For this method, you need to launch the command line, to do this, click the " Start" or press the keyboard shortcut + and in the program search bar enter CMD, click "Enter".

A command prompt will open. here we have to use the FORMAT command to format the USB device.

FORMAT command syntax:

FORMAT volume
FORMAT volume
FORMAT volume
FORMAT volume
FORMAT volume

An external hard drive is more vulnerable than a permanent storage device. It is constantly moved from place to place, exposed to environmental influences, risks of falling and incorrect connection. Therefore, it fails noticeably more often. If the next time you connect to a computer, the operating system cannot detect it, this may indicate damage to its file system. Let's look at how to restore external media without formatting.

Causes of problems with a removable disk

The file system is damaged.
The device has encountered a software failure.
The removable hard drive has been exposed to a virus.
The device was not properly disconnected from the computer.
Careless handling of the drive, mechanical damage.

Is it possible to restore a portable hard drive yourself without formatting? In most cases, unless the device was damaged mechanically, the data on it can be recovered. To do this, we will consider 2 methods.

Recovering media using Windows

The external hard drive is checked for errors. To do this, launch the utility, which is included in Windows. To run it, you need to enter the “cmd” command on the command line. After confirming the command, a console appears on the monitor, where the line “chkdsk h: /f” is written, in which “h” is the letter of your removable drive.

If, when trying to scan, the computer displays a message stating that it is impossible to perform a scan at the moment, then you need to agree to the offer to check the selected disk the next time the system is rebooted.

You can choose another way to check the disk for errors, which is more visual and accessible. To do this, follow these steps:

In most cases, after scanning, the hard drive will completely restore its structure without formatting. After the treatment is completed, it will start on its own, and all data will be visible on the monitor.

Recovering an external drive using R-Studio

You can restore external media without formatting. This utility works with all known file systems, recovers information from deleted and damaged partitions, and works with encrypted files.

After starting the program, all drives will be displayed in its window.

All media connected to the computer will be visible on the left side. Media recovery is performed in the following order:

By selecting an external hard drive from this list, you can look at information about this media. It will be displayed in the right window.
When you click on the “Scan” button, the program will scan the selected media and display information in the form of colored clusters.
When you hover over a cluster, all information about it will be displayed on the right side of the window. The duration of the scan depends on the storage capacity. In some cases it can take tens of minutes.
At the end of the check, a window similar to the following will appear:
We need to go to the “EXTRA FOUND FILES” subsection. A list of found files will appear.
Now the found files can be restored. To do this, we need to put tags next to the files that we need.
Press the “RECOVER” button. If you decide to restore all found files, you can immediately use the “RECOVER ALL” button.
After confirming your choice, you need to decide where to save the recovered files.

Since they take up so much space, a decent capacity hard drive is required. If there is a shortage of free space on the media, only part of the information can be restored. The recovery operation begins when such a window appears.

They are not fundamentally different from hard drives that are installed in desktop and laptop computers. Therefore, formatting an external hard drive occurs in the same way as other hard drives. But, since users are interested in this point, in this article we will talk about how to format an external hard drive.

How to format an external hard drive using Windows

Connect your external hard drive to your computer and open the My Computer window. After the external drive is detected by the system and appears in the “My Computer” window, open the context menu of the external drive (right click on the drive) and select “Format”.

After this, a window with disk formatting settings will open in front of you.

How to format an external hard drive via the command line

You can also format your external hard drive via . To do this, connect the drive and launch the Windows command line (Run menu - CMD command).

Formatting disks via the command line is done using the FORMAT command. To find out all the parameters that this command can accept, enter "FORMAT /?".

To format an external hard drive, we need to execute the format command with the following parameters:

/FS:NTFS – formatting using the NTFS file system.
/V:MyDisk – specifying the disk name. Instead of MyDisk, you can use any other disk name.
/Q – enable the quick formatting function.

As a result, the command to format an external hard drive using the command line looks like this:

FORMAT X: /FS:NTFS /V:MyDisk /Q

Where X: is the letter that is assigned to this external drive. When formatting via the command line, it is important not to mix up the drives, otherwise you may format the wrong drive, which can lead to big trouble.

It should also be noted that when formatting a disk via the command line, the system does not display any additional warnings. Therefore you need to be especially careful.

How to format an external hard drive using Disk Management

The Windows operating system has a very convenient tool called Disk Management. With it, you can create and delete partitions, format disks, and perform other operations. To access this tool, open the Run menu and enter the command “diskmgmt.msc”.

After the Disk Management window opens, find your external one and open the context menu (right mouse button).

In the context menu you need to select “Format”. After selecting this context menu item, you will see a warning about deleting all data from this disk.

To start formatting the external hard drive, click on the “Yes” button.