How to Partition, Format, or Wipe a Hard Drive Without an Operating System

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Linda 

Written by

Linda 

Last updated on April 22, 2024

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In Windows OS, you can easily format, partition, or wipe a partition. But what if there is no operating system or the system fails to boot? This issue can be resolved with the help of the Partition Master tool. You can rely on Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment) to boot your computer and then format the hard drive in BIOS or wipe hard drive from BIOS in Windows 10. Download the software for free and follow the general process outlined below:

• Create bootable media, which can be an ISO file, a USB flash drive, or a CD/DVD disc
• Boot a non-operating system computer from the bootable drive
• Format, partition, or erase a hard drive for regular use

Create a bootable drive to start your computer in WinPE without an operating system

Are you looking for a bootable partition manager to create a bootable drive? You need a bootable drive when your operating system fails to work and boot up normally. Besides, the newly bought computer might not have an operating system installed. So, what is the best bootable partition manager that can help you easily format, partition, and erase hard drives without an OS?

Tool Partition Master boasts a standout feature called WinPE bootable disk. With it, you can create bootable media, including ISO files, USB flash drives, and CDs/DVDs. The bootable drive can load and run the partition management software under a system. Then, you can partition, format, and wipe hard disks without an operating system.

Please follow these steps to create a bootable drive:

• Find a computer you can use.
• You will need to download and install the Partition Master tool to complete the basic steps for creating a bootable drive.

Step 1. To create a bootable tool disk, you need a media such as a USB drive, flash drive, or CD/DVD disc. Connect the drive to your computer properly.

Step 2: Launch Partition Master, and then find the “Bootable Media” feature on the left. Click it.

Step 3. If you have a bootable media (USB or CD/DVD) connected, it should show up here. If not, you can also save the ISO file to your local disk and burn it to media later. Click “Create” to start the process after making your choice.

• Read the warning, and then click Yes.

Step 4: When it's done, a message will ask you if you want to restart your computer from the bootable USB drive.

• Restart Now: You want to restart your computer immediately and boot into the disk partitioning tool from the live media, without needing an operating system in place first.
• Finish: You do not want to restart your computer right now but instead want to use the USB device on a different computer.

Note: To use the bootable drive on a new computer, you'll need to restart the target computer and press F2/F8/Del to enter BIOS, then set the USB boot drive as the first boot device.

Wait patiently, the computer will automatically boot from the USB boot media and enter the WinPE tool desktop.

Insert the bootable drive into a computer without an operating system, and then set the boot order in the BIOS to start the computer from the tool's bootable drive.

• Reboot your computer and press F2 to enter BIOS setup.
• Set the boot order to prioritize "Removable Device" (bootable USB drive) or "CD-ROM Drive" (bootable CD/DVD) before the hard drive.
• Press "F10" to save and exit.

Then, you'll see the Partition Master tool interface. Follow the guide below to format the hard drive without an operating system.

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How to Create a Bootable USB to Wipe Hard Drive

In this article, you'll learn two methods to create a bootable USB and wipe the hard drive of a Windows computer. Read More >>

How to Format a Hard Drive Without an Operating System

Usually, you can format a hard drive in all types of Windows OS using Command Prompt, the built-in Disk Format tool, or Windows Explorer and Disk Management. However, it's hard to format a hard drive without an operating system. You can make things easy with tools like Partition Master.

Meanwhile, insert the bootable drive (that you created earlier) and boot from it to get to the GParted partition tool. Then proceed with the following detailed steps:

Step 1: Choose a partition.

Step 2: Right-click on it and choose "Format."

Step 3: Type the label you want in the Volume Label text box.

Step 4: Select the file system type (FAT/FAT32, NTFS, ReFS, or EXT2/EXT3) you want to create from the Partition Type drop-down list. Select the cluster size (512 bytes, 1, 2, 4… up to 64 KB) from the Cluster Size drop-down list.

5. Click “OK”. All changes to the disk layout will be pending until applied from the “Pending Operations” list.

You can also watch this video tutorial to learn how to format a hard drive without an operating system.

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How to Partition a Hard Drive Without an Operating System

In addition to formatting a hard drive without an operating system, you can also partition a hard drive without an OS using the bootable Partition Master USB drive, for example, to move space from D drive to C drive to expand the system partition, shrink and merge partitions, delete and create partitions, etc.

< strong > Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant, and check the available space of the disk in the "Partition Management" section.

• If you have unallocated space on your hard drive, skip to Step 3 to create the partition. • If you do not have any unallocated space, continue to Step 2.

< strong >Step 2.</strong> Shrink the disk partition to create unallocated space.

Right-click on the target disk partition with lots of free space, and select “Resize/Move Partition”.

Drag the partition to the right or left to shrink it and free up enough unallocated space. You can see how much you've reduced the size by in the "Size" area. Click "OK".

Click “Perform XX Task,” and then click “Apply” to save all the changes.

Back in the “Disk Management” tool, you should see the unallocated space on the same disk, and you can proceed to create a new partition on your drive.

Step 3. Create a new partition on the target drive to use the unallocated space.

Right-click the unallocated space, and then select New.

Customize the partition size, drive letter, label, file system (NTFS, FAT32, EXT2/3/4, exFAT), and other settings in the "Advanced" tab. Click "OK".

Finally, click “Execute Tasks” and “Apply” to finish creating the partition with the unallocated space. Repeat these steps to partition your hard drive and create more partitions.

Create partition step 3

How to Wipe a Hard Drive Without an Operating System

The "Wipe Data" function deletes all data from the selected partition/disk/unallocated space. In most cases, the data wiped by this function cannot be recovered. You might need to wipe a drive when you no longer need the hard drive. You can use a tool like BitWiper to wipe a hard drive without an operating system:

Step 1. Run the BitWiper tool. Click on the “Wipe Disk” tab.

Step 2. Select the HDD or SSD that you want to erase.

Important: Make sure you select the correct hard drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD). Data will be irretrievably lost once the wipe begins.

Step 3. Choose your wipe preference, then click on "Next".

Choose the appropriate wiping method. Use a Secure Erase tool if available!

Step 4: Review the warning, then click “Clear” to confirm.

Step 5: Wait for the formatting to complete, then click “Finish.”

Learn more about the BitWiper tool:

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In short

After reading this article, you should know how to format a hard drive without an operating system, as well as how to partition or wipe a hard drive without Windows. It's easy to do with disk management and partitioning programs.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional enables you to easily partition hard drive with or without OS, and make the best use of disk space. You can even use this tool to migrate OS to SSD for speeding up Windows, whether you're upgrading from a small HDD to a larger SSD or moving from a large HDD to a smaller SSD.

Frequently Asked Questions on Formatting a Hard Drive Without an Operating System in UTF-8 Encoding

Below are some questions related to formatting a hard drive without an operating system. If you have any of these issues, you might find the solutions here.

Can I format the hard drive in BIOS?

You cannot format a hard drive through BIOS. You can only change the boot order to have your computer check a CD, DVD, or USB drive for an operating system to boot from. If you want to format an HDD without an operating system, you'll need to create a bootable USB flash drive or CD/DVD and boot from that to format it.

How can I format a hard drive without booting into Windows?

You can create a bootable USB drive with the Partition Master tool to format the hard disk without Windows <a class="anchor" href="#part1">here</a>. Then, boot your computer from the bootable drive to format HDD or SSD.

< strong > Step 1. Launch Partition Master and click the “WinPE Creator” on the top.

Step 2: When the drive is detected, you can choose between USB or CD/DVD to create the Bootable Partition Master drive.

Step 3. Insert the bootable drive into the computer without an operating system, and set BIOS to boot from it. Then, format the hard drive in WinPE.

How do I format a blank hard drive?

To format a partition using Disk Management, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Disk Management, right-click on the new hard drive and choose the "Format" option.

Step 2: In the "Volume label" field, enter a descriptive name for the drive. From the "File system" dropdown, select NTFS (recommended for Windows 11/10). From the "Allocation unit size" dropdown, choose the default option. Check the "Quick format" box.

Step 3: Click “OK” to begin formatting the hard drive.

Do you need to format a new hard drive?

Yes, before using a hard drive, you need to format it first. You can format the hard drive to NTFS, FAT32, or other file systems using a formatting tool, Windows Disk Management, or the Diskpart command-line utility.

If you come across the issue of "Windows was unable to complete the format", you can refer to the tutorial to solve it.