

How to Format C Drive with Windows Installation Media This limitation is set considering this situation that users cannot delete their operating system by mistake. Formatting this volume could cause your computer to stop working”.Īctually, you cannot format C drive like other drives in Windows. It contains the version of Windows that you are using. However, when you try to format C drive with either File Explorer or Disk Management, you will always receive the error message “ You cannot format this volume.

Erase data: as there might be personal data in your hard drive, you need to erase these data before recycling or donating it.In this case, you can format C drive with the system setup installer during reinstalling process.
#Cannot format disk windows 10 install
Reinstall operating system: when your system crashes and you cannot boot your computer, or you want to install a new OS, you can format C drive and reinstall system.You can format C drive to remove virus and protect your computer. Remove virus and malware: it could be dangerous if your operating system is attacked by virus or malware, because your files might be damaged, lost or even leaked to third parties.Why do users still want to format C drive? There are some common reasons for formatting C drive: You need pay attention to that you will lose all the data in the partition you formatted.Ĭ drive is usually the system partition on a computer, and you will lose the operating system and cannot boot your computer if you format C drive. In this process, file system will be created to get partition ready to store new data.

I had to clean both.In addition to allowing greater organization for the files used by the user and increasing protection against virus attacks, partitioning the hard disk also has the advantage of facilitating the machine's formatting process.Įspecially when there is a division of the hard disk that aims to store only the operating system, there is no need to reinstall Windows every time a format is needed - just select only the problematic partitions to improve the machine's performance in a few minutes.įormatting refers to the process of preparing a new partition or remove existing data on a hard drive or USB storage devices.

Question Just reinstalled Windows after blue screen of death. Question Installing A SATA SSD For Games/storage, is it a bad idea to set a split page file on your two SSDs/Is There Any Specific Route To Take To Format? Could I use the command prompt from repair to do this? I can't boot to windows but I can do repair. Let us know how this works out (or not!). The latter is probably the best course of action. If the cleaning operation is successful a message will appear that "DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk."Īll the disk space now will be "Unallocated".Īt this point you can create a partition, or exit Diskpart and access Disk Management to initialize, partition, and format the disk. It will take some time to complete the cleaning process. This command will erase all partitions of the disk. Select disk X (your secondary HDD probably either disk 1 or disk 2, whichever is the desired disk.)ĭON'T MAKE ANY MISTAKES HERE - MAKE SURE YOU'VE SELECTED THE DESIRED DISK You'll be running these commands from C:\WINDOWS\system32 The secondary disk should be connected to one of the following SATA connectors.Īssuming you're running Win 8.1 (ALWAYS indicate your OS when you pose a problem or issue), access the Command Prompt (Admin) - more commonly known as an Elevated Command Prompt - from the window-style icon on the bottom left of your Desktop. In case they're not so connected ensure that your SSD is connected to the first motherboard's SATA connector - either SATA0 or SATA1. I assume that you've booted to your SSD without any problem and the HDD is connected as a secondary drive in the system. Might be worthwhile to try this technique.
