How to format hard drive properly?

Hello all,

I’m sure this question has been asked so many time before, but I have a minor additional question.

I currently have Dell XPS with Vista. I would like to format my drive and install Windows 7. Here are my questions.

Could you please let me know in simple but specific words how to do that properly so there is no confusion between Vista and 7 on my laptop.

I am planning to keep my laptop, so do I need to overwrite the files to achieve this clean installation, and if YES, then how do I do that.

I think I have some virus or some other crap on my PC (It runs SLOW!!!!!). Will formatting help me to delete that? Virus program hasn’t been helpful so far. I have Kaspersky.

Thanks!

 

You need to overwrite the data on the disk to do a clean install... that's kind of the definition of a clean install.

Boot from your Windows 7 disk and within a couple selection screens, there should be the option to delete the existing partitions on your main disk and format it.

 

Thanks Wolf! What is the best way to overwrite the data? What program should i use!

 

By definition formatting the drive implicates overwriting/erasing the old data...

 

I thought that formatting doesn't remove the data from the drive, only this other process "overwriting" can do it. I am wrong?

 

It depends on how you format the drive. If you were selling the machine and wanted to remove all of your data, you'd probably want to do a couple full formats over the drive or use a dedicated wiper.

In this case, since you're just doing a reinstall, you can just do a light format via the Windows installer and it will effectively give you the same thing. The data isn't technically erased, but the OS will the drive as a blank slate, which is all you need.

 

Ok, that makes sense.
Will this help me with the issue of my computer running slow? I’ve done all the basic things I know: deleted temp. files, cookies, defrag, unchecked all the start up programs (even though some of them keep checking themselves in, suckers), ran Kaspersky, but it didn’t find anything. Occasionally I get this pop up message that there is behavior that looks like key logger or smth like that, but Kaspersky can’t do anything about it.

 

Urgh, I don't think I'm making myself clear here.

The "fast" format and the "slow" format do the same thing. One just "scrubs" a little deeper than the other (I don't actually know the technical details of either process). Formatting your drive - "slow" or "fast" - won't solve any of your software problems because they will wipe the drive. You will have to re-install the OS in both cases.

... which is what I thought you wanted to do in the first place?

 

OP what Wolf said is correct but if you wanted to take it to the next level you can zero out the drive which basically writes "0" in each track and sector of your hard drive.

Basically when you do a format via the OS disc you essentially tear out the table of contents of the HDD and just overwrite data on the drive. That's why there are programs to capture data off an existing HDD. You can still pull data off a zeroed out HDD but it's more difficult to do so unless if your the FBI or CIA then they have tools the average person doesn't have access to.

 

You're explaining everything clear, it's me who doesn't know enough.
I understand that once I wipe it, I will have to install the OS and that is what I wanted to do for 2 reasons: I want Windows 7 instead of vista and I’m hoping that it will solve the problem of slow speed.

I guess I got confused because I thought that if I don’t do “overwrite”, the data technically will still be there. So the if I have a virus, it also still will be there. So I thought that it might not help me with one of my reasons why I wanted to format in the first place…

 

Technically what a format does is wipe the MFT which is basically the harddrives table of contents. Even if you have a previous virus on your drive it does no good because it doesn't have the previous MFT to link it to. Here's Microsoft's explanation of what a quick and regular format does:

Differences between a Quick format and a regular format during a "clean" installation of Windows XP

 

Great, than it should do it. Thanks so much!