- #QUICK FORMAT VS FULL FORMAT FLASH DRIVE WINDOWS 7#
- #QUICK FORMAT VS FULL FORMAT FLASH DRIVE WINDOWS#
You might not be sure if the hard disk is in a good state. With specialized programs someone might try to “undelete” your files – the data is still there, the task of the program is to guess/know which data block belongs to which file.Ģ. If you just do a quick format, then the file data is still on the disk, only the file system structure (file names and information where the files are stored on the disk) are deleted. You might have a disk that you want to destroy or give away. But there are cases where you might want to do a full format.ġ. So normally a quick format is what you want because it is much faster. Accessing each sector on the disk takes much more time than the quick format, which only writes the blocks that contain the file system structure.
#QUICK FORMAT VS FULL FORMAT FLASH DRIVE WINDOWS#
Since Windows Vista, a full format writes zeroes to all data sectors ( see MSKB 941961). When you say full format, then Windows XP also scans all sectors on the disk for bad sectors ( see MSKB 302686). When you format a disk, Windows XP does a high level format and it writes a file system structure to the disk. High-level formatting might include scanning the disk for bad sectors (check if every sector can be read), and it might include writing zeroes to all data sectors on the disk. Empty in this case means that all entries in the File Allocation Table are marked as unused. With good old FAT (File Allocation Table) for example, the system would write a boot sector to the first disk sector and an empty FAT to the following sectors. This means that the operating system is writing a file system structure to the disk. Second, formatting is used for high-level formatting of a hard disk. Normally the user can’t low-level format a hard disk anymore. Nowadays the manufacturers configure the sector size (like 512 bytes or 4096 bytes) and low-level format the disk.
This includes taking the disk and dividing it into small units – the blocks, which can be accessed by the operating system. The term formatting is used for different things.įirst it is used for low-level formatting of a hard disk. SuperUser contributor Werner Henze has the answer for us:
Is there any difference between the two in terms of risk or consistency?Īs the names imply, there is a difference in the amount of time each type of formatting takes, but what else is different between the two? Is one better, or more preferable than, the other? The Answer
#QUICK FORMAT VS FULL FORMAT FLASH DRIVE WINDOWS 7#
What is the difference? I know with Windows 7 & 8 installations it appears to do quick formats by default. I am installing Windows XP on a computer and again I got to the point where it asks you to choose between a quick format and a full format. SuperUser reader Rudolph wants to know what the difference between a quick and a full format is: