![]() Now your drive is formatted, and everything is gone. ( That’s the only sign that the formatting is complete.) Your mouse will show a busy sign during the formatting process, and will turn back into an arrow once it’s complete. If you want to format this partition, any data stored on it will be lost.” Click OK if you know you want to proceed. Select the Primary drive and click Next.Ĭlick Format and you’ll see a warning that this drive “ might contain important files or applications from your computer manufacturer. Choose where you want to install Windows. When prompted with a choice of Types of Installation, choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) for Windows 10 or Custom (advanced) and then Drive options (advanced) for Windows 7. Note that Windows is not actually being installed, so don’t worry if you don’t have a product key (if prompted, select the box for no product key).įollow the next steps to choose your desired version of Windows and accept the terms. Select your desired language and time, and click Next.Ĭlick Install now and wait while Windows completes the setup procedures. ![]() Do so - you may see a message that says Windows is loading files. If not, you’ll see a message that says Press any key to boot. The Windows startup app should launch automatically. Insert the Windows 10 or Windows 7 startup DVD or make sure your bootable USB drive is plugged in. Here’s how to format your primary hard drive on Windows 10 or 7: Now that you have either the startup DVD or the USB, you’re ready to format your drive. Windows 7: Download the Windows 7 OS and then the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool here.įor either Windows 10 or 7, follow the instructions to create the bootable USB drive. Windows 10: Download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool here. ![]() Make sure you have an external USB (also called a thumb drive or flash drive) ready. If not, you’ll need to create a bootable Windows USB drive. If you have a Windows 10 or Windows 7 startup DVD, you can skip the next paragraph. Note that this process will delete the OS and all files, but it won’t permanently erase them. That means your primary drive won’t be in use, so we’re able to work on it. To get around that, we’ll run Windows from an installation DVD or a USB drive. You can’t format the primary drive while it’s running, for the same reason that you can’t repair a car engine while driving. Your C drive (C:) is your primary drive where the operating system (OS) is located. How to format a primary drive (C:) on Windows But it’s a little different if you’re formatting the primary drive, a secondary internal drive, or an external hard drive. Keep in mind that the latter two options take longer to complete, because they are performing the same overwrite task either 3 times or 7 times.Formatting a hard drive on Windows is largely the same whether you’re using Windows 10 or 7. Most Secure – The most secure option that also takes the longest, this writes data over the free space a total of 7 times.Ĭhoose whichever option is most appropriate for your needs, but it's generally recommended to use the "secure" or "most secure" option if you intend on transferring ownership of a hard drive, or if you suspect a hard drive that once contained important data has the chance of being stolen or misused.Secure (middle option) – A triple pass erasure, this writes zeros over the unused space three times.Fastest – The quickest option, this does a single pass write of a bunch of zeros over the unused portion of the hard drive.The three Erase Free Space options are as follows:.Select the desired level of erasure and choose "Erase Free Space" to begin the process of overwriting the free space on the hard drive.Choose the "Erase" tab, then choose the "Erase Free Space" option.Connect the hard drive if it's an external disk, and then select the hard drive from the left side menu.Launch Disk Utility, found within /Applications/Utilities/ or through Launchpad.Erasing Free Space on Hard Drives in Mac OS X This option is not available for flash-memory based SSD models (like those bundled within the MacBook Air, Retina MacBook Pro) because those drives use the TRIM function to quickly remove and recover blocks instead, which has the side effect of automatically preventing file recovery fairly quickly – often within 10 minutes of emptying the Trash. This only works on traditional hard drives of the spinning platter variety, which is typical for MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac models, and is the case with most external hard drives used for backups. The Mac OS X Disk Utility app provides an ability to erase free space on traditional hard drives, which overwrites vacant disk space on the drive to prevent any potential recovery of deleted files (that is, files that have been removed traditionally, rather than through secure methods).
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