Windows 10: I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system

Discus and support I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware to solve the problem; So I was trying to swap hard drives on my laptop, it has a 256GB drive in it now, and I'm trying to upgrade to a 1TB from another laptop, so I used a... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware' started by kevin boyd2, Dec 9, 2024.

  1. I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system


    So I was trying to swap hard drives on my laptop, it has a 256GB drive in it now, and I'm trying to upgrade to a 1TB from another laptop, so I used a 2TB external drive to do the swap with, but in the middle of doing this the internal reader quit, and it won't read properly if going through an external reader for a bootable drive, how can I fix this? If I could get the laptop to boot properly I could probably finish transferring

    :)
     
    kevin boyd2, Dec 9, 2024
    #1
  2. Paolo Mag Win User

    Formatting a dual boot system with windows 10 and ubuntu

    Hi,

    In Windows 10, you can easily format a hard drive or a partition by accessing Computer Management. For us to assist you, we suggest that you follow the steps listed below:

    • Press the Start button.
    • Type Computer Management.
    • On the left side, click on Disk Management under Storage.
    • Locate the drive that you want to format.
    • Once located, right-click on the drive and choose Format.

    If the hard drive has not been formatted with the steps that we have provided above, we recommend that you contact the manufacturer of your hard drive. Some hard drive requires a software that you'll need to use just to format it.

    Let us know how it goes and if you need further assistance, feel free to post back.
     
    Paolo Mag, Dec 9, 2024
    #2
  3. Fernandz Win User
    How To Format A Write Protected Flash Memory ?

    ¿You already tried this one?...

    Run CMD


    1. diskpart
    2. list disk

    Then in the 3º step, put the correct number of disk in the list for the usb flash (if it's listed in disk 3, then you'll have to write select disk 3).

    2. select disk #
    3. clean
    4. create partition primary
    5. select partition 1
    6. active
    7. format fs=fat32
    8. assign
    9. exit

    with that commands you will format the flash drive in fat32, if you have a large drive you can select also "format fs=ntfs" in step 7.

    good luck!
     
    Fernandz, Dec 9, 2024
    #3
  4. I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system

    Format an external Drive.

    Hello Roger,

    Thank you for posting your concern in Microsoft Community and welcome to the Windows 10 Family.

    I would suggest you to follow the below steps to format the drive you are referring to.

    • Right Click on Start menu and select Open Computer Management.

    • In the left pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.

    • Right-click the volume that you want to format, and then click Format.

    • To format the volume with the default settings, in the Format dialog box, click
      OK, and then click OK again.
    Note: You cannot format a disk or partition that is currently in use, including the partition that contains Windows.

    Hope it helps.

    Thank you.
     
    Sayan_Ghosh, Dec 9, 2024
    #4
Thema:

I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system

Loading...
  1. I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system - Similar Threads - formatted too early

  2. I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system: So I was trying to swap hard drives on my laptop, it has a 256GB drive in it now, and I'm trying to upgrade to a 1TB from another laptop, so I used a 2TB external drive to do the swap with, but in the middle of doing this the internal reader quit, and it won't read properly...
  3. I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    I formatted too early on the main drive, and no longer have windows operating system: So I was trying to swap hard drives on my laptop, it has a 256GB drive in it now, and I'm trying to upgrade to a 1TB from another laptop, so I used a 2TB external drive to do the swap with, but in the middle of doing this the internal reader quit, and it won't read properly...
  4. when I format the operating system then what happen

    in Windows 10 Updates and Activation
    when I format the operating system then what happen: when i format the operating system and then what happen? https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/when-i-format-the-operating-system-then-what/64d69c58-3dd3-4d07-a960-aeb927200afa
  5. when I format the operating system then what happen

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    when I format the operating system then what happen: when i format the operating system and then what happen? https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/when-i-format-the-operating-system-then-what/64d69c58-3dd3-4d07-a960-aeb927200afa
  6. when I format the operating system then what happen

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    when I format the operating system then what happen: when i format the operating system and then what happen? https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/when-i-format-the-operating-system-then-what/64d69c58-3dd3-4d07-a960-aeb927200afa
  7. I need help returning to the main operating system

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    I need help returning to the main operating system: Hello,I need help returning back to the main operating system not the virtual disk installed one The choose an operating system menu did not appear on the Windows Recovery Environment. I was dual booting Windows 10 Pro for Workstations using a VHDX, It was unbootable.I tried...
  8. I need help returning to the main operating system

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    I need help returning to the main operating system: Hello,I need help returning back to the main operating system not the virtual disk installed one The choose an operating system menu did not appear on the Windows Recovery Environment. I was dual booting Windows 10 Pro for Workstations using a VHDX, It was unbootable.I tried...
  9. Format windows 10 operating drive C:

    in AntiVirus, Firewalls and System Security
    Format windows 10 operating drive C:: Are there a simple command from the search line in windows 10 to completely format the main C: drive for the windows os? Any informaton very welcome.Thanks....
  10. Formatted Windows drive, format others too?

    in Windows 10 Backup and Restore
    Formatted Windows drive, format others too?: This has been a point of confusion every time I do a clean format; I'm not sure what to do with my extra 1tb WD black drive. Usually I just format it as well, but I'd like to know whether or not this is necessary. I have programs installed on it, such as Unreal Engine, Steam...