What Is the Format Command for Formatting the Hard Drive in Ubuntu 8.0?

You can format a hard drive in Ubuntu 8.0 from the command line or using the GParted program.

Ubuntu offers two ways to format a hard drive. The easiest way is to use the GNOME Partition Editor (otherwise known as GParted). You can also format the drive by using the fdisk command from the command line in the Terminal program.

GNOME Partition Editor

You can find the GNOME Partition Editor in the System/Administration menu. Select the drive you want to format from the drop-down list at the top right of the main window. You will be given a choice of file systems for the newly formatted disk. Ubuntu usually uses ext3, but if you want the disk to be readable by other operating systems (like Windows or OS X), choose a system like FAT32. Then click "Apply" and the disk will be formatted.

Fdisk

Open the Terminal from Applications/Accessories. In the Terminal, type the following commands:

fdisk -l (to list the available hard drives)

cfdisk /dev/hdb1 (to partition the hdb1 drive)

mkfs.ext3 /dev/hdb1 (to format the hdb1 drive as an ext3 drive)

mkdir /media/harddrive2 (to create a directory for the newly formatted drive)

Mount -t ext3 /dev/hdb1 /media/harddrive2 (to mount the newly formatted drive)

Considerations

Formatting a hard drive erases all the data on that drive. Be sure to back up any important files before formatting.

References

• Ubuntu: fdisk command
• Ubuntu: Gnome Partition Editor

Resources

• Ubuntu: Disks and Partitions