1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:06,000 There's nothing like starting off with a clean slate. Whether it's a new car 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:10,559 right off the lot, fresh sheets in your hotel room bed, or a pardon from the 3 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:14,719 state governor for your 14th speeding ticket. But your driving record isn't 4 00:00:12,559 --> 00:00:19,119 the only thing that could use a fresh scrubbing. Reformatting the storage 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:23,840 drive in your computer or mobile device could make your life easier as well. But 6 00:00:21,439 --> 00:00:27,119 what exactly is formatting? Well, just like a database is kind of useless 7 00:00:25,519 --> 00:00:31,359 unless it has some sort of system for organizing all of your data, a disc 8 00:00:29,279 --> 00:00:35,040 isn't very useful unless it has a file system where it can tell your computer 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:40,239 where everything is physically located on the drive. When you format your hard 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:44,480 drive, SSD, USB stick, or whatever else, the disc is first partitioned, meaning 11 00:00:42,079 --> 00:00:48,960 that the disc is given a beginning and an end to mark the areas where the 12 00:00:46,559 --> 00:00:53,680 operating system can access it. Then a file system is placed onto the disc to 13 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:59,120 allow it to organize its contents. Usually NTFS for Windows drive or FAT32 14 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:03,120 or XFAT for a removable flash drive. But formatting does more than just prepare a 15 00:01:01,199 --> 00:01:06,960 disc for use. If there was anything on the disc before formatting, it gets 16 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:11,280 erased during the formatting process. Because formatting involves erasing the 17 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:14,560 tables that give locations to all of the files on the disc, meaning your 18 00:01:12,799 --> 00:01:18,640 operating system will see all the previous data as free space that can be 19 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:21,920 overwritten. And although this is obviously a problem for people who want 20 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:25,840 to reformat a disc because it isn't working properly, but would also like to 21 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:29,759 keep the data, it also means that reformatting is a great way to 22 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:33,680 completely nuke a drive really quickly. Often times, this is done when a 23 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:37,920 computer is infected by particularly determined malware, which is difficult 24 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:42,320 to remove with anti-malware applications and can leave lasting damage to crucial 25 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:46,479 operating system files, even if you do manage to get rid of it. By formatting 26 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:51,360 an infected drive, you nullify its ability to execute any malicious code. 27 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:55,200 And since formatting erases the boot sector that tells your PC to load up 28 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:59,360 your operating system, it's also a great way to defeat the more exotic viruses 29 00:01:57,119 --> 00:02:03,600 that infect the boot sector directly, which can give you a truckload of 30 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:08,000 problems. Formatting is also a good way to remove pre-installed software from a 31 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:12,640 computer you bought off the shelf. often referred to as bloatware since it tends 32 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:17,120 to hog up system resources and often provide questionable at best utility. 33 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:22,000 Bloatware can be difficult to remove completely. So many people who purchase 34 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:25,680 pre-built PCs, especially laptops, like to format the included drive right out 35 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:29,120 of the box and do a clean operating system install. And if you're suffering 36 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:33,120 from Windows bloating, where Windows just kind of piles up background 37 00:02:30,959 --> 00:02:38,319 processes and registry errors over time, formatting can serve a useful method for 38 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:41,680 spring cleaning. Do keep in mind however that formatting does have some 39 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:46,800 limitations. Doing it to permanently erase data beyond recovery is just a bad 40 00:02:44,879 --> 00:02:50,239 idea as formatting doesn't obliterate this data. It just marks it as free 41 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:54,160 space and it can be overwritten later on and can still be recovered by using 42 00:02:52,319 --> 00:02:58,800 third-party software. There's a bunch of them out there. So using an overwrite 43 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:02,959 utility such as DBAN or Derek's boot is just a much better idea. Formatting also 44 00:03:01,519 --> 00:03:07,280 won't help you if the problem you're having lies within your PC somewhere 45 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:11,840 else, such as in the case of a super corrupted BIOS or a terrible virus that 46 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:16,640 gets into your freaking firmware. And while fir formatting can give you a 47 00:03:14,319 --> 00:03:21,760 clean slate to work off of, it doesn't make your drive like new. Though a full 48 00:03:19,519 --> 00:03:25,360 format in Windows can check your drive for bad sectors to at least tell you 49 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:29,360 whether or not you might need a whole new disc drive to solve your problems. 50 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:33,040 But formatting, like we said earlier, remains a very valuable tool if you're 51 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:37,360 drowning in malware or bloatware or whatever. 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