How long does format take?

RickApple · 01 Jul 2021

I have a corrupt C: partition with around 180 GB size. I'm about to format this partition to install a new windows 10 from installation media. How long does this take?

rqt · 01 Jul 2021

Format time varies with the type of drive & the type of format - I would expect a quick format on a 180GB SSD partition would take seconds but a full format on a HDD could run into hours.

RickApple · 01 Jul 2021

I believe the HDD is cut into C: and D: and I want to format the C: only and reinstall windows.
How do I send picture?

Berton · 01 Jul 2021

RickApple said:

I believe the HDD is cut into C: and D: and I want to format the C: only and reinstall windows.
How do I send picture?

With Disk Management open I use Snip and Sketch's Windows key plus Shift plus S to Select the area to grab, save it then Attach to a posting.

A note, you'd be formatting only that partition, not the whole drive. There usually is one to three small partitions on a Windows drive that won't allow reformatting, need other procedures/processes. Of major significance Windows will not format the drive or partition it is installed on, won't kill itself.

RickApple · 01 Jul 2021

I'm on phone rn. Can I send external link of some kind?

zbook · 01 Jul 2021

Windows does it for you when you install from an iso.

Also you can clean any drive too using the iso > diskpart > clean

See this tutorial:
Erase Disk using Diskpart Clean Command in Windows 10

Code:

The clean command will only mark the data on the disk as deleted, and will not zero (secure erase) 
the disk like the clean all command below.

Code:

The clean all command performs the same action as the clean command above, but includes to 
specify that each and every sector on the disk is zeroed (secure erase), which completely deletes 
all data contained on the disk. 
This will make the data on the disk unrecoverable. 
It will take about an hour per 320 GB to finish running the "clean all" command on a disk.

RickApple · 01 Jul 2021

Will installation media still do?

zbook · 01 Jul 2021

If you want to format:
Format Disk or Drive in Windows 10

For a corrupt partition:

a) what was the error message / code?
b) Had you tested the drive?

RickApple · 01 Jul 2021

It's 0xc0000225 with corrupt file path windows/system32/config/system.
What do you mean by "test your drive"?

NavyLCDR · 01 Jul 2021

@RickApple,

If you want to do a clean install of Windows 10, you don't need to format any partitions. Boot from the Windows 10 USB flash drive. Go through and select Custom Install Option (after keyboard and language, etc.). The next window after selecting custom install option will look like this:

Highlight each partition that is NOT the data partition that you want to keep, one at a time and delete it. You should be left with one big unallocated space and the data partition you want to keep. Then click on the unallocated space and click next. Windows 10 setup will create what it needs to in the unallocated space that you selected.