Format a Floppy Disk
What is formatting?
Formatting a floppy disk is a simple process that can perform one of two jobs: preparing a disk for its first use, and erasing all the data on a disk. Most floppy disks come preformatted.
Formatting a disk to erase data
The easiest way to format a floppy disk is using a quick format. There are two ways to do it, through Windows and through DOS. I recommend using DOS, even though it is a bit trickier. It's faster, easier and less likely to freeze if you're using an older version of Windows. Here are the steps in formatting a floppy disk through DOS:
Go to Start->Run, and type "command" in the text box, without the quotes. Press enter or click Run. A black window will appear with a prompt that looks like C:\> or C:\Windows\Desktop>.
Insert the floppy disk into the drive.
Type the following at the command prompt: format A: /q The format command is a native DOS command that formats a floppy disk. A: tells it to format drive A:, and /q tells it to perform a quick format.
Press ENTER when the disk is in the drive.
The computer will perform a quick format, which should take less than fifteen seconds, and then ask for a volume label. Press enter if you don't want to give the disk an internal label.
That's it! You're done.
Formatting a disk to recover errors or to prepare for use
Sometimes you might buy a disk that has not been formatted, a disk that has some bad sectors or want to ensure your data is erased, then the unconditional format is for you. Again, I recommend doing this through DOS.
Go to Start->Run, and type "command" in the text box, without the quotes. Press enter or click Run. A black window will appear with a prompt that looks like C:\> or C:\Windows\Desktop>.
Insert the floppy disk into the drive.
Type the following at the command prompt: format A: /u The format command is a native DOS command that formats a floppy disk. A: tells it to format drive A:, and /u tells it to perform an unconditional format.
Press ENTER when the disk is in the drive.
The computer will perform an unconditional format, which should take about two minutes, and then ask for a volume label. Press enter if you don't want to give the disk an internal label.