How to Format a Hard Drive Without a Floppy Disk for Windows XP?
Formatting a hard drive is a basic operating system task. Formatting a hard drive deletes all data from a logical drive partition while leaving the file system intact. A drive is traditionally formatted using the operating system installation disk, prior to the boot of a Windows XP system. This is not, however, the only method for completing this task.
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Instructions
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Type "compmgmt.msc" (without quotes) into the "Run" dialog box of the Windows Start menu. This launches the Windows disk management tool.
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Select the drive you wish to format. The list of drives is in the center of the disk management program window.
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Right-click the selected drive and select the "Format" heading from the context menu that appears.
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Click the "OK" button that appears in the dialog box asking if you are sure you wish to format the partition. This begins the format process on the selected disk. The formatting process will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
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Tips & Warnings
Formatting removes all data from a drive. Performing a proper system backup is imperative prior to formatting a hard drive.
