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I want to format my PC but I am curious to know if there is any difference between DOS formatting, Windows (while installing) formatting or quick format..
Could someone give me an answer please..


Thank you,

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A few concise, up-to-date points to build on 's question and 's good advice.

For a plain reinstall on a spinning hard disk, use the Windows installer format option (the one you get during setup) and avoid the "quick" option if you want to verify the drive surface before putting data back. For legacy needs (very old DOS tools, tiny flash drives), the old DOS-format route is only appropriate when you specifically need an old FAT-style volume. For historical behavior and how the Windows format command evolved, see the writeup on the format command (covers different Windows versions) Format (command).

If the drive contains sensitive data or you plan to dispose of it, formatting alone is not a guaranteed sanitization method. For mechanical HDDs use dedicated wiping tools; for SSDs, use the drive vendor's secure-erase utility or the ATA Secure Erase feature — simple overwrites or some wipe tools may not clear every physical block on an SSD because of wear-leveling. NIST SP 800-88 has industry guidance on proper sanitization NIST SP 800-88r1 and the ATA Secure Erase page explains the standard method for ATA devices ATA Secure Erase. Note that popular HDD tools like DBAN are not appropriate for modern SSD sanitization DBAN.

Practical checklist:

  • Back up everything first.
  • Reinstalling to an HDD: use the Windows setup format and do a full/non-quick format.
  • Reinstalling to an SSD: quick format is fine for the filesystem, but use vendor tools/ATA Secure Erase if you need full sanitization.
  • For cross-platform use or Linux access, modern Linux write support is provided by ntfs-3g if you need NTFS NTFS-3G.

Always double-check which device you are erasing before confirming any destructive operation.

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

As far as I am aware, there isn't any functional difference to the end user.

Quick Formatting simply clears the file table. Doesn't zero out any data. I am not positive if the other types of format zero out the data or not. If you had to securely delete something, you would want a program that goes out and flips the bits in the filespace to a random pattern to zap the data.

In normal file systems, when you delete a file, you merely remove it from the "table of contents" so that the OS no longer knows where it is. Thus, the space will be used some time in the future, when the OS needs it.

Now, there are Differences in how each of the systems above PARTITION a hard disk.

DOS will use FAT16, or sometimes FAT. Windows, depending on the version, may have FAT32 or NTFS. These partition schemes affect the security of the volume, along with how many files and how large the volume may be. DOS is unable to see NTFS filesystems unless special software is used. Linux has a hard time working with NTFS for writing to the volume, although there are work-arounds being developed.

Christian

Member Avatar for UNE

.... and what about the format after prassing F8 when u install windows form beginning will that do the same thing .. lets say that now i have NTFS system file and i wanna format my PC which format option out of the three should i use....

DOS
Format after press F8
or
Quick Format after F8

thank you

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

I would do the complete format. I occasionally use quick format for floppy disks, but for hard disks, I would rather take the time to see if there are any dead sectors on the disk before we start putting file system information on it.

Take the time at setup to do it properly, before you get too involved with the rest of the OS, and then have to start hunting down bugs.

Christian

Member Avatar for UNE

Got it.. thanx

Christian
appreciated Man

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