Windows 10: what is the best and safest way to format a storage drive

I have my OS on an SSD and then I have 3 2 TB hard drives that I use to have a triple redundancy backup. I have one drive I save everything to and then I use a program called GoodSync to back up that main drive to two other drives. It is a bit overkill but I know I will have to have 3 drives fail at the same time to lose everything so it works for me.

Windows 10 is seeing my drives incorrectly when I select all folder in each of the 2 backup drives it says 442 GB of used space my main one says the same, however when I right click the drive letter and select properties it says the 2 backup drives have 875 GB of used space and 829 GB of used space.

I verified that the folders all have the same things in them as they should because they are clones of the main drive.

I need to format the 2 backup drives and then use GoodSync to copy the data to each drive so Windows 10 reads my drives properly.

What is the easiest and best way to format the storage drives so I can start off with "empty drives" I know they won't be "empty" but you get what I mean?

Thanks in advance

:)

 

What is the best way to encrypt and sync a text file with DropBox?

THen the phone will wait until the next time it has a connection.

 

What is the best way to encrypt and sync a text file with DropBox?

I'm trying Vault right now. It's less expensive than eWallet Go! and has a way to sync to my PC. I don't have the desktop part yet, so I don't know how well it works yet.



eWallet Go! sounds like the right solution. I don't really need to edit the file on my PC. I'm used to entering all this information on my phone and in most cases it's the only device available to me when I acquire the information. So I just need to have
it encrypted and saved to DropBox. I also need to be able to add or edit and then save locally on the phone when I cannot get a connection and then be able to sync once I can get the connection. I don't see specifically that eWallet Go! does that but it sounds
to me like that that is how it works.



I'll see how Vault works, but I'll be a little more willing to take a chance on eWallet Go! with your recommendation if Vault doesn't work or I decide that I really want it on DropBox. Having it on my PC means that there is only one place that I can sync
(or I have to have it on my work and home PC and deal with keeping those files in sync). So I might try eWallet Go! anyway.

 

Hi Eaglepi.

If you right click on the drive you will get the option to format. Now the question then becomes do you do a "Quick" format or full.

A quick will take minutes, a 2TB several hours. I just did a low level format (Full) on a 4TB in USB external enclosure which took two days.

You could also enter Disk Management and delete the partitions on the drives, create new and then format, quick or full.

While your premise of having three drives will protect you from physical drive failures it will not protect you from Ransomware and other data damaging routines (viruses) if they are all connected and online when in use. To be really protected you should have an offline device that is not stored right beside your main computer. (Fire, theft, water damage).

Ken

 

Thanks for your reply Ken,

I am well aware of the risk of Ransomware and other data damaging routines (viruses) and scan my system regularly. My goal is to correct the wrong info windows is giving me about my drives, the only way I thought of was to format the 2 storage drives and then use GoodSync to copy files from the main storage drive to the 2 backup drives.

Quick vs full, pros and cons for each ????

 

I was reading about formatting hard drives and I read that low-level formatting can damage or reduce the life of a hard drive. So I am not sure what I should do, is low-level formatting different that full and quick formatting?

I just installed Windows 10 Full version from Microsoft Store on a 480GB SSD with the SDD drive connected to my system with no other drives connected. Once Windows was installed I connected my storage drives. I can access all drives without any problems, my only problems are Windows is giving me conflicting info about the disks depending on how I access the properties, See the following screen shots and see how when I select all folders in each drive I get one result and then when I right-click on the drive letter and select properties I get another result ???

 

Hey Eaglepi,
Grab WizTree (Portable Zip) and see what it says, just for a sanity check *Smile
Antibody Software - WizTree finds the files and folders using the most disk space on your hard drive

 

Thanks for the link !!

I now see my problem in my main drive D the _gsdata_ folder is 1.65 GB in drive E 434.9 GB and F 386.2 GB are the _gsdata_ folders needed in E and F drives??? that is where the double space is being used.











I guess I should have blurred the folder names.....lol OK so you know I do my taxes, use Outlook and own a 2015 2015 Yamaha Vmax, no harm done.

 

The _gsdata_ folder is part of that GoodSync program. I'm not familiar with that program, so can't comment *Sad

 

GoodSync Frequently Asked Questions

 

Thanks for the link, I found it also and I submitted a support ticket to GoodSync to see if it is needed or not. I don't see why it is or if it is it should be the same size as that folder in my main storage drive D which the other 2 are copies of.

Thanks again for the link !!

 

Lots of great answers, power of the forum. Yes I think of low level and full interchangeably.

I also do a low level when drive is brand new just to be sure surface is whole.


Ken

 

I found my problem thanks to Bree's reply, after contacting GoodSync I found that in the 2 backup drives there was a saved folder in the _gsdata_ folder that GoodSync creates to have their own "Recycle Bin" in case you ever lose files you can reclaim them from the _gsdata_/Saved folder. both drives had that saved which had duplicate files which made the 2 backup drives double the size of the main drive.

They told me that the _gsdata_ folder was required for GoodSync to work properly, however, I could delete the "saved" folder if I didn't feel I needed the safety of having those files backed up.

I see the benefit if someone had one backup drive but I have (3) 2 TB storage drives one is my main storage drive and I use GoodSync to copy that drive to 2 other hard drives so I would have to have 3 drives fail to lose all my data which would be rare. I understand the risk of Ransomware and other data damaging routines (viruses) but as stated above I check my system and storage drive monthly and I am very careful what I open or download. I also feel I have a good Antivirus software that is kept up to date.

I deleted the saved folders in the 2 backup drives and now all my drives have the same used space and free space, problem solved with the help of Bree and GoodSync confirming the issue. I have been using GoodSync for 7 years and just bought the new version 10, it is a great program that does a lot more than what I need but it does what I need well, especially now that We figured out this problem.

Now I don't have to format any drives *Smile

Thanks for everyones replies you guys always have the answers and that is why I come here.

 

1) Open Disk Management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of Windows.

2) With Disk Management now open, locate the drive you want to format from the list at the top.

3) Once located, right-click or tap-and-hold on the drive and choose Format.... A "Format [drive letter]:" window should appear.

4) In the Volume label: textbox, either give a name to the drive or leave the name as is. If this is a new drive, Windows will assign the volume label New Volume.I recommend giving a name to the drive so it's easier to identify in the future. For example, if you're planning on using this drive to store movies, name the volume Movies.

5) For File system: choose NTFS unless you have a specific need to choose another file system.NTFS is always the best file system option to use in Windows unless you have a specific need to choose FAT32. Other FAT file systems are only available as options on drives 2 GB and smaller.

6) Set the Allocation unit size: set to Default unless there's a specific need to customize it. There are very few reasons to change this.

7) In Windows 10, 8, and 7, the Perform a quick format option is checked by default but I recommend unchecking the box so a "full" format is done.Yes, a quick format will format the hard drive considerably faster than a standard format, but the benefits usually outweigh the short-term cost (your time) of the full format.Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista: In a standard format, each sector on the hard drive is checked for errors (great for new and older drives) and a one-pass write-zero is also performed (great for previously used drives). A quick format skips the bad sector search and basic data sanitization.Windows XP: In a standard format, each sector is checked for errors. The quick format skips this check. Automatic data wiping during the format process isn't available in Windows XP.

8) The Enable file and folder compression option is unchecked by default and I recommend keeping it that way.

9) Tap or click OK at the bottom of the window.

10) Tap or click OK to the "Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. Back up any data you want to to keep before formatting. Do you want to continue?" message.

11) The hard drive format will begin. You can keep track of the drive format by watching the Formatting: xx% progress in the Status field.

12) The format is complete when the Status changes to Healthy, which will happen a few seconds after the format counter reaches 100%

13) That's it! You've just formatted or reformatted, your hard drive and you can now use the drive to store files, install programs, backup data... whatever you want.

 

Thanks, I will keep this for future use, you may not have read my last post I no longer need to format.