Drive formatting


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Berton

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Seen on MSN News [Microsoft Start] this morning about formatting of drives:
 

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I'm able to format 60 GB drive using format /fs:fat32 H: command for long time, i even have video explaining how to defeat 32 GB limit using Command Prompt but if /q switch is used with Format command the limitation reveal itself.

In this guide, i will show you how to format USB drives larger than 32GB with FAT32 on Windows operating systems.

 

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Right, exactly. You can do this on the command line and in PowerShell today.

If anyone's interested, Dave Plummer, who made the format dialog in the Windows GUI, explains why it is the way it is.

 

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@pseymour Dave's YouTube channel is fun to follow. Dave wrote a lot windows code back in the day. He wrote Task Manager and even today it's largely still the same code he wrote decades ago.
 

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TechnoMage2021 said:
So, why are we formatting a hard drive?
Click to expand...
Because every drive, whether HDD or SSD, has to be initialized to be usable, have a primary partition created then formatted. The install routine of an Operating System usually handles all that on a new/clean drive and also creates more than one partition on the drive.
 

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System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz12GB
    OS
    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe M.2

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz16GBOnboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA a...
    Operating System
    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
I love Dave's YouTube channel. Its always nice to hear the why's from the people who actually did it, versus the speculation from those who think everything is a conspiracy.
 

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Berton said:
Because every drive, whether HDD or SSD, has to be initialized to be usable, have a primary partition created then formatted. The install routine of an Operating System usually handles all that on a new/clean drive and also creates more than one partition on the drive.
Click to expand...

Some do come preformatted but lots of people, including me, often change the type.
 

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MSI
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