Formatting is very effective for clearing all the stuff off a disk drive or when setting up a fresh copy of Windows.
Formatting a computer disk drive really is easy and can facilitate clear away viruses, computer memory issues and other hard-to-resolve problems.
Previously, formatting a disk drive needed idea of MS DOS, FDISK, and drive partitioning.
During the time you format a computer hard drive you seem to lose anything that is on the drive.
Hence, it is very crucial for you to back up whatever you will probably want later.
In addition, if you are planning to be formatting and setting up XP you need to ensure you have got the disks for any application programs or 3rd party computer hardware you use since you might need to re-install your software applications and drivers after re-installing Windows.
Reinstalling an OS is NOT a simple task.
There could possibly be various occasions where several things can go wrong that can impact the way your computer functions FOREVER.
Further, this is not a task one can possibly finish in a few hours.
There could possibly be plenty of methods to restore PC troubles before reinstalling Windows; a fresh set up is only a proper last resort.
You can format your drive through Disk Management in the Computer Management Console in Windows XP.
Plug your drive into a spare USB port on your PC or laptop computer and pursue the following steps to get to Disk Management.

• Right click on your My Computer icon on your desktop and select Manage, or go to Start -- Settings -- Control Panel -- Administrative Tools -- Computer Management.
  
• In the Computer Management Console, right Click on the new drive and select format.
  
• Click "Yes" if you are certain you have decided to format.
  
• Select a File System (NTFS is ideal most instances) and give the new volume a name if you prefer.
  You could also like to call it something such as "Portable Drive," or "Removable Drive.
  " If not, just take the default options and click "OK.
  "
• You are provided with one last warning that you are about to format your drive and wipe out all information.
  Click OK to continue.
  

When you see the procedure has reached 100 %, you are completed and you're new hard drive is actually able to use.
Soon after the drive is formatted, you are able save data files, folders and application programs and transfer this data to any other Windows PC.
Make sure you install the rest of the application programs that you run in your personal computer.
Once you are done, copy the backed up data to the fresh hard drive.