Format a drive in Disk Management on XP Format a drive in Disk
Management on XP. Reformatting a drive is a simple process. The
process will erase the data permanently, so any data not backed
up must be recovered prior to attempting prior to doing this.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Following the procedure below will ERASE ALL
DATA on the drive. Prior to following these directions, verify
important data is stored securely on a different storage device.
The top frame lists partition summaries for connected drives.
The bottom frame shows how the disks are physically related to
these partitions. We are interested primarily in the bottom
frame. Look for the disk number to be formatted. It should have
a different icon (a red "do not enter" sign, specifically.)
Right-click that symbol, and choose to "Initialize Disk". A new
window will appear asking for confirmation. Confirm this
decision. If the different symbol or "Initialize disk" never
appears, simply right-click the area to the right of the disk
number, and choose to delete