To format a dynamic volume
Using the Windows interface
1. | Open Computer Management (Local) |
2. | In the console tree, click Disk Management. Where? Computer Management (Local) > Storage > Disk Management |
3. | Right-click the volume you want to format (or reformat), and then click Format. |
4. | Select the options you want, and then click OK. |
Note
| • | To open Computer Management, click Start, and then click Control Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. |
| • | You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure. |
| • | You cannot format the system or boot volume. |
| • | File compression is supported only on NTFS volumes with cluster sizes 4 KB and smaller. |
| • | If you select the Perform a quick format check box, the files are removed from the disk but the disk is not scanned for bad sectors. Use this option only if this disk has been previously formatted and you are sure the disk is not damaged. |
| • | Only the NTFS file system is available for dynamic volumes in Disk Management. However, you can format dynamic volumes with either the FAT or FAT32 file systems using the format command. |
Using a command line
1. | Open Command Prompt |
2. | Type: format volume [/fs:filesystem] [/v:label] [/q] [/a:unitsize] [/c] |
| Value | Description | ||||||||||||||||
volume | Specifies the mount point, volume name, or drive letter of the drive you want to format. If you do not specify any of the following command-line options, format uses the volume type to determine the default format for the disk. | ||||||||||||||||
/fs:filesystem | Specifies the file system to use FAT, FAT32, or NTFS Floppy disks can use only the FAT file system. | ||||||||||||||||
/v:label | Specifies the volume label. If you omit the /v command-line option or use it without specifying a volume label, format prompts you for the volume label after the formatting is completed. Use the syntax /v: to prevent the prompt for a volume label. If you format more than one disk by using one format command, all of the disks will be given the same volume label. | ||||||||||||||||
/q | Performs a quick format. Deletes the file table and the root directory of a previously formatted volume but does not perform a sector by sector scan for bad areas. You should use the /q command-line option to format only previously formatted volumes that you know are in good condition. | ||||||||||||||||
/a:unitsize | Specifies the cluster size, also known as allocation unit size, to use on FAT, FAT32, or NTFS volumes. Use one of the following values for unitsize. If unitsize is not specified, it will be chosen based on volume size.
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/c | NTFS only. Files created on the new volume will be compressed by default. |
Note
| • | To open command prompt, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt. |
| • | You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure. |
| • | You cannot format the system or boot volume. |
| • | Quick format removes files from the disk but does not scan the disk for bad sectors. Use this option only if this disk has been previously formatted and you are sure the disk is not damaged. |
| • | File compression is supported only on NTFS volumes with cluster sizes 4 KB and smaller. |
| • | For Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and , the cluster size of FAT16 volumes from 2 GB through 4 GB is 64 KB, which can create compatibility issues with some applications. For example, setup programs do not compute free space properly on a volume with 64 KB clusters and cannot run because of a perceived lack of free space. For this reason, either FAT32 or NTFS must be used on volumes larger than 2 GB. Format displays a warning and asks for a confirmation before formatting a volume that has 64 KB clusters using FAT16. |
| • | For more information about format, see Related Topics. |
Related Topics
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