To reformat a computer, a boot disk is needed. For Windows®, press F12 during startup, while Mac OS® users can use Disk Utility. Using the original installation disc is the most typical way to reformat a computer running Windows®. For Mac OS®, open Disk Utility, choose a disk, and click “Erase.” Reinstalling an operating system can take several hours, so it’s best to devote a full day to the process.
There are several ways to reformat a computer, mainly depending on the operating system and the accuracy of the rewrite. In most cases, regardless of system, a boot disk is needed to reformat a computer. For Windows®, a user must press the F12 key during startup, while Mac OS® users can use Disk Utility. It is generally recommended to spend several hours reformatting a computer and reinstalling an operating system.
Using the original installation disc is the most typical way to reformat a computer running one version of Windows®. The computer must be restarted once the disc is inserted into the drive. Pressing the F12 key prevents the computer from starting normally and allows the user to tell the computer to boot from the installation disc instead of the hard drive. After the disk is selected as the boot device, the computer boots up and allows the user to reformat it.
After starting the computer from a Windows® installation disc, the user is presented with a list of partitions. Most Windows® computers have one or two partitions; if your computer has two partitions, often one is much larger than the other. In this case, the small partition is usually a recovery or backup partition. You just need to focus on the big partition when reformatting. The process is started using the arrow and enter keys after identifying the correct partition to reformat.
Computers running Mac OS® can be reformatted by opening Disk Utility, choosing a disk, and clicking “Erase.” To reformat the startup disk, the computer must start with the installation disk. As with Windows® computers, you should back up any important data before proceeding. Unless the disk is being used for something special, the default reformat settings will usually work best.
Sometimes there are two options for reformatting a Mac OS® computer: high and low. A high-level reformat is quick, usually less than a couple of minutes, and designed for troubleshooting. A low-level reformat can take much longer, but it also erases all data instead of rewriting data when space becomes limited.
Reinstalling an operating system can take several hours. It can also take a long time to install important updates and favorite applications. If possible, it’s best to devote a full day to making sure your computer is back up and running when needed.
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