Solid-state drives are very efficient in storing data, and many prefer an SSD over hard drives to store sensitive information. There may be many situations where you want to format or re-format your SSD to make it new. Formatting is the process of cleaning the drive to restore it to its initial state. This is a very important step if you have plans to sell or give away your SSD.
Earlier, computers worked with Disk Operating System or DOS that runs from a disk drive. The peculiar thing is that a DOS does not have a graphical user interface, so the communication must always use text. The text-based interface allows users to type commands in the command line for whatever action they want to perform.
Formatting SSD from DOS or formatting SSD without windows would mean you cannot use your mouse to select a disk or click on icons. Instead, you have to open a command prompt as an Administrator and type in commands.
How to format SSD without windows?
Formatting SSD from a command prompt
Follow the instructions to format your SSD using the command prompt successfully.
- Open the command prompt as an Administrator and type ‘diskpart’
- Now type ‘list disk’ to view all your disks listed
- To confirm the letter assigned to the disk, you can type ‘list volume’
- Once you know the number assigned to the disk, type ‘select disk [disk number]’. Now you will get a message: disk [disk number] is now the selected disk
- Now, type ‘clean’ and press enter
- Type ‘create partition primary‘ and press enter
- The last command is ‘format fs=ntfs quick’
Now you will get the message ‘100 percent completed’ to indicate that the SSD is successfully formatted.
Taking a backup of all your data is recommended before you try to format your SSD. Deleting all the content of the drive is what formatting does. Even though you may find ways to recover data, keeping a copy of everything is safe before attempting to format.
Formatting SSD using Microsoft Windows
You can follow this method if you do not want to format from DOS. The steps for the same are given below.
- Click on Start to select the Control Panel and then System and Security
- Now select Administrative Tools and then Computer Management
- Select Disk Management and right-click on the disk that is to be formatted. Select the Format option
- Now a dialog box will appear where you have to select the File System and type in the Allocation Unit Size. Check the checkbox ‘Perform a quick format’ so the computer does not perform a full format.
- Click OK for the format operation to be completed
Formatting an SSD using a command prompt is very simple. With a few steps, you can successfully do the formatting, given the commands are accurate. Remember to save all the data stored in the drive before formatting to avoid any loss of important data.
How do I use Diskpart without Windows?
Follow these steps to get to diskpart without an official Windows 10 disk:
- Restart the computer.
- Quickly press Shift and F8.
- Choose Troubleshoot when it asks you to pick an option.
- Choose “Command Prompt.”
- Type Diskpart.
- Press Enter.
How do I force an SSD to format?
- Click “Start” or “Windows,” then select “Control Panel” > “System and Security.”
- Choose Administrative Tools, then Computer Management and Disk management.
- Right-click on the disk you want to format and choose Format
- In the next window, choose the File System, which is usually NTFS. Enter the Allocation Unit Size, which is usually 4096, and check to Perform a quick format
- Click OK button