Is it possible to format a CD disk? How to format a hard drive in various ways. Creating a new volume

How to format a disk? This question is often asked by users who have just purchased a new one. After connecting, a new, unformatted one HDD begins to appear in the system. However, it cannot be opened and cannot be worked with.

In order to bring such a disk into working condition, it is necessary to at least format it. In addition, if necessary, you can perform it on logical partitions; we have already talked about this in one of the previous articles.

Formatting a disk is preparation for writing files. Formatting records the necessary logical information to store data and boot the operating system (if necessary).

Format the disk using standard Windows utilities

Using the Windows operating system, you can format a new disk in several ways. The easiest way is to format it through “My Computer”.

• Open My Computer
• Find the required drive
• Right-click and select “Format”

After this, the disk formatting window will open, here you can specify the volume label, select fast or full formatting, and specify other formatting options if available.

After clicking on the “Start” button, the disk will be formatted. You can use any other removable drive in a similar way.

Another method to format the disk is formatting through Disk Management. In order to launch this program built into the operating system, you need to follow the path: Start - Control Panel - System - Administration - Computer Management - Disk Management.

Here you also need to select the disk to format, right-click and select “Format”. You will then be given the option to specify formatting options.

Another way to format a disk is formatting via . To launch the console, click the “Start” button and enter CMD in the search bar.

Formatting disks via the console is done using FORMAT commands in order to find out what parameters we can pass to this command, we need to enter FORMAT /?. As you can see, after this we will receive detailed help on the FORMAT command. The command to format a disk might look like this: FORMAT D: /FS:NTFS /V:DATA /Q. In this case, drive D: will be formatted as a file NTFS system, the DATA label is assigned to it, and the formatting itself will be performed in “Fast” mode.

If you need to format the C: drive, most likely you are planning to reinstall the operating system. The most in a simple way to do this will be to use the installer's capabilities. Here you need to select drive C: and click on the text link “Format”

In some cases, when a user tries to format their flash drives, the system displays the error “Windows cannot complete formatting.”

Sometimes this happens when working with HDDs, DVD RWs and other drives, but most often Micro SDs are affected by this problem.

Why does Windows write this text?

This happens because the OS for some reason cannot perform formatting on its own, or the reason is a malfunction of the SD card or hard drive itself.

It is also possible that the memory card was previously used on a different operating system (Linux, Mac OS, etc.) and the file system is incomprehensible to Windows.

The inability to work with the file system is the most common cause of this error.

This error looks like the one shown in the figure.

But what to do when the system produces such an error? There are several ways.

The simplest of them is performed using standard Windows tools and is available for both Windows 7 and Windows 10, and even for the good old Windows XP.

Solving the problem using the system

Step-by-step instructions on how to remove this error when formatting a removable disk it looks like this:

• Press the combination of Win + R buttons on the keyboard. This opens the Run dialog box. The image shows which keys need to be pressed on the keyboard and the window that should appear after this (circled in green).

• In this window you need to enter the following: diskmgmt.msc and press Enter on the keyboard. Thus, we opened the Disk Management program.
• In the window that appears, you need to find the designation of the memory card. You can recognize removable media by the corresponding “Removable device” inscription at the bottom of the program and by the image of the memory card, which differs from other media at the top.

• In one of the places indicated by green frames in the photo above, you need to click the right mouse button. As a result, you can see the drop-down menu shown in the figure.

• In this menu you need to click on the inscription “Format...”. Then the flash drive will be formatted using a slightly different algorithm than in other cases.

Clarification! Perhaps the problem is that the media is simply not allocated. Then the inscription “Delete volume” (highlighted with a yellow frame in Figure No. 4) will be active, not dim, that is, you can click on it. Try this. After this, you will need to create a new volume.

Creating a new volume

To create a new volume on unallocated media, you need to right-click on it and select “Create a simple volume...” from the drop-down menu.

After this, the “Simple Volume Creation Wizard” will open, in which you should not change any parameters - we leave everything as standard and just click the “Next” button several times.

After this, in the Disk Management program, “Fixed” will be written opposite the flash drive, as shown in Figure 6.

After this, you can again try to format the flash drive using standard means - through “My Computer” by right-clicking on the desired media and selecting “Format...”.

Disabling a foreign process in the system

It is possible that some extraneous process in the system is preventing the formatting of the flash drive.

To exclude this option, you must do the following:

• Restart the computer in safe mode. To do this, open the “Start” menu, then click on the button circled in green in the image and select “Restart” (this is for Windows 7).
  The computer will turn off and immediately turn on again. So, immediately after shutting down, you should press the F8 button and wait for it to load.

• After this you should run command line on behalf of the administrator. There are many different ways to perform this action.
  The simplest of them is to hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and right-click on any free space on the desktop. In the menu that appears, select “Open command window.”

• In the window that appears, you need to write the following: format [drive letter]:. To find out the drive letter, you need to go into my computer and look at what is written next to the drive, as shown in the picture (indicated by arrows).
  In our case, this is the letter “e”, so in the command menu we write “format e:”, as shown in the photo below (circled in blue) and press the Enter key.

If this does not help, you will have to use outside help, that is, third-party recovery programs.

Disk recovery programs

One such program is D-Soft Flash Doctor. It is very easy to download it on the Internet. The program window looks as shown in the figure.

In this window you need to select our media. You can recognize it by its letter (in our case it is “e”).

To do this, you just need to click on the symbol of the flash drive at the top of the program (highlighted in orange in the photo above).

After this, you can select the “Recover media” option (indicated by a red frame). Recovery will occur, after which you can try to format the disk again.

You can also select the “Scan for errors” option.

Then the scanning will begin and the user will have the opportunity to find out what is wrong with his media.

If the flash drive not only does not format, but also shows that the volume is 0 MB, EzRecover helps a lot. By the way, you can also find out the size of the flash drive in “My Computer”.

In the figure, red lines highlight the places where the storage capacity is shown.

In our case, it shows 5.18 GB, but if it shows 0 MB, feel free to download EzRecover.

EzRecover automatically finds removable media, you don’t even have to specify anything here.

After opening the program, the user only has to press the “RECOVER” button and wait a little.

There are many more programs on the Internet for recovering flash drives, you can try others. If none of these options produces results, the only thing left to do is throw away the flash drive.

The video below clearly shows how to format a disk using standard Windows tools.

Flash drive cannot be formatted, repair using Windows

Solving the problem - Windows cannot complete formatting

CD-RW is a digital rewritable storage medium used for recording and storing various data. When the appropriate equipment is installed, software and drivers, formatting and burning (burning) CD-RW is carried out by performing several basic steps. Difficulties with formatting or CD-RW recording, can arise for various reasons. The most common are the obsolescence of the optical drive, incompatibility of the drive and disks, problems with the firmware or drivers. To write data to CD-RW in Windows XP, you will need additional software. This article will tell you how to troubleshoot problems when trying to write data to a CD-RW.

Steps

Method 1 of 4: Windows Vista/Windows 7

Click "Show Formatting Options" and select the "Live File System" option or the "Master" option.

Select the "Live File System" option if you want to be able to overwrite the data on the disk at any time.

Select the "Master" option if you want to prevent data on the disk from being overwritten.

Method 2 of 4: Mac OS X

Insert the CD-RW into the optical drive. The Burn Disc window will open.

Enter the disk name in the appropriate field. Formatting options will appear in a pop-up window.

Select a formatting option and click Prepare. The disk will be formatted and you can drag files/folders onto it (to burn them).

Method 3 of 4: Update the optical drive driver from the manufacturer's website

Download and install latest version optical drive driver.

• Go to the drive manufacturer's website. Find your drive model on it. Device drivers can be downloaded from the Downloads and Support section.

Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer to download and install the driver. After updating the driver, try formatting the CD-RW again.

Method 4 of 4: Update the optical drive driver in Windows

Take advantage of the special Windows function to update drivers. This may resolve disk formatting issues.

• Click “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Device Manager”.

Find the CD/DVD drive in the list of devices. Double click on it and enter your username and password (if prompted).

In the window that opens, go to the “Driver” tab and click “Update” (in the lower left corner of the dialog box).

Follow the onscreen instructions to update the driver. After updating the driver, try formatting the CD-RW again.

• Windows XP does not have a feature for formatting CD-RWs, so you will need additional program. Very often, such programs are pre-installed on the computer or they can be purchased/downloaded on the Internet (to do this, enter “CD/DVD burning program” in a search engine).
• CDs manufactured before 1997 may not be compatible with modern optical drives. Modern drives are marked with the word “multi-recorder” on their front panel.

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DVD - RW discs

Format DVD disk – this option is available only in Windows 7. In Windows XP you will be prompted to “erase CD-RW”, which is similar in principle, but not the same thing. Just keep in mind that format You can only use DVD-RW discs; attempting to format a DVD-R disc will damage the disc.

When formatting DVD disc The disk is partitioned into sectors for convenience write-read disc, which is unacceptable for DVD-R discs. Writing to 1 bit will ruin the entire disc and it will be perceived as written. It is not possible to delete information from DVD-R discs.

Need to know that DVD-R disc initially already formatted.

The easiest way to format a DVD disc. To do this, insert the disc into the drive and wait for it to load. Open My Computer. Right-click on the DVD disc,


Select “Format” from the menu that appears. Next will be the formatting settings

warning about deleting all data

Another way to erase DVD disk, use some program, for example Nero, Image Burn, etc.

When erasing a DVD disc using Nero, you need to running program Select “DVD” from the drop-down list. A little lower, among the icons, select the window with a plus - “Add-ons”, then select “Clean DVD”. The “Erase rewritable disk” window will open and there are two actions to choose from: “Quickly erase RW disk” and “Completely erasing rewritable disk”. It is better to choose full erase. Click “Erase”. The sedum lasts about a minute.

Before you burn files to a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc, you must prepare the disc using a process called formatting.

There are several ways to format a disk. The choice of format is determined by what computers and devices will read the disc.

1. Insert a recordable or rewritable disc into your CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc burner.
2. In the dialog box that appears Autostart click Burn files to disk using Explorer.
3. Enter the drive name in the field Disc name.
4. Choose one from formatting options:
   • Like a USB flash memory: The drive uses the Live File System format.
   • Using a CD/DVD player: The disc uses the ISO file system format.
5. To prepare the disk, click Next.

Now you can write files to disk using any chosen method.

For more information about burning a CD or DVD, see Burn a CD or DVD in File Explorer.

Choosing the Correct Formatting Option

To format a CD or DVD, you can select the format file system Live File System or ISO file system format. The following information will help you select the formatting option you want.

Discs Live File System:

• Allows you to copy files directly to disk by dragging and dropping.
• Convenient if you need to keep a disc in a recorder and from time to time copy several files at a time.
• Fast because recording does not take as long as ISO discs. Each file is written to disk by dragging it into a folder on the disk.
• Allows you to save new file directly to disk.
• Allows you to update or delete individual files.
• Allows you to format the disc again when using rewritable discs such as CD-RW, DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM.
• They may need to be closed before using them on other computers.
• Compatible with Windows XP and later only Windows versions.

Discs in ISO file system format:

• Allow you to drag and drop files onto disk and burn all files at once.
• Convenient if you need to write down a large number of files.
• Compatible with older or current versions of Windows, with operating systems, other than Windows, as well as with electronic devices, for example with CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc players.
• Recording may require a lot of free hard disk space (twice the capacity of the disc being recorded).

Selecting the correct disc type for recording

There are many types of recordable discs, but all discs can be formatted the same way. For more information about formatting disks, see the table.

Disk type	Can be formatted
CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-R DL or DVD+R DL	Just one time. You cannot delete files from this type of disk.
CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW or DVD-RAM	Many times. If the drive has been formatted at least once, you can quickly erase, format, and write files on it again. For more information about erasing files from a disk, see Erasing files from CDs or DVDs.