How to Create a Bootable USB to Format a Hard Drive and How to Format a Hard Drive from USB

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Linda 

Written by

Linda 

Last updated on April 22, 2024

Creating a bootable USB formatted drive? What can you do?

Almost everyone knows that formatting a hard drive is not a difficult task, and it can be easily done with the built-in Disk Management tool in Windows. However, formatting a hard drive may become complicated when your OS fails to boot or the disk doesn't work properly. That's when you need to create a bootable USB to format the hard drive. You can use a bootable USB drive created by a third-party HDD formatting tool or a Windows installation disc to format hard drive from USB. Both of them work as effective bootable USB hard drive formatting tools. Keep reading and perform the method that best suits your needs.

Page Content:

Method 1: Format the Hard Drive using a Bootable Formatting Tool via USB Method 2: Format HDD via USB with Command Prompt How to Format a Hard Drive using BIOS and USB?

Method 1: Formatting the Hard Drive from USB with a Bootable Formatting Tool

The easiest way to format an HDD via USB is by using a professional partition management software like tools Partition Master. With this tool, you can create a bootable formatting utility that lets you run the software on the problem computer and format the hard drive without an operating system. To accomplish this task, you'll need to create a bootable USB drive on a functioning computer (Part 1) and then use it to format the hard drive on the computer without an OS (Part 2).

Section 1: Creating a Bootable USB Drive

Please refer to this page: Create WinPE bootable disk with Partition Master Software here.

After creating a bootable USB with the formatting tool, you can format the hard drive on the problem computer from the USB. Plug the USB into the computer and open Partition Master from it. Then follow the steps below.

Section 2: Formatting the drive in USB

Run Partition Assistant, right-click the hard drive partition you want to format and choose "Format".

Step 2. In the new window, set the "Volume label," "File system" (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and "Cluster size" for the partition to be formatted, then click "OK".

Step 3: A warning window will appear. Click “Yes” to proceed.

4. Click “Execute 1 Task(s)” to review your changes, and then click “Apply” to begin formatting the partition.

With the guide above, you will successfully format your hard drive with a bootable USB. Don't miss this partition tool that perfectly meets your needs.

How to Create a Bootable USB to Wipe Hard Drive

In this article, you can learn how to create a bootable USB from an unbootable computer to wipe the hard drive.

Method 2: Format HDD using Command Prompt from USB

Aside from using third-party tools, you can also format the hard drive using the Windows installation disk from a USB. As you might know, this process is more complex than using a bootable formatting tool, like shown in Method 1.

Step 1: Create a Windows installation media, and then use it to start your PC.

Step 2: Go to Repair your computer -> Command Prompt.

Step 3: Type diskpart in the Command Prompt window and press "Enter."

Step 4: Type list disk and press Enter to list all disk drives.

Step 5: Type select disk X, where X is the number of the disk you want to work with. You can find the number by looking at the list of disks presented earlier.

Step 6: Type clean to delete all files and folders on the selected disk.

Step 7: Type Create primary partition and press Enter.

Step 8: After creating the partition, type format fs=ntfs (or format fs=exfat) and press Enter. This tells Disk Management to format the drive with a file system, like NTFS or exFAT.

Step 9: Finally, assign a drive letter to the new partition by typing assign.

As you can see, the above guide walked you through all the steps to partition and format a hard drive from the USB using diskpart command prompt. It's a bit tedious and time-consuming. If you're looking for an easier way, a third-party bootable USB formatting tool will come in handy.

Here's a more beginner-friendly video tutorial:

How do I format a hard drive from BIOS using a USB?

Aside from formatting the hard drive through bootable USB, you can also try formatting it from BIOS. This works the same when there's an issue with the bootable partition or when you want to format C drive in Windows from the C Drive Formatter.

When formatting a hard drive from the BIOS, you have two options.

Option 1: Enter BIOS and use Windows formatting

Step 1: Press F1, F2, F8, or Del repeatedly while starting up your computer to enter BIOS setup.

Step 2: Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select “Advanced BIOS Features,” and then set the First Boot Device to either USB drive or CD/DVD.

Step 3: Once you have changed the BIOS settings, you can exit the screen and reboot your computer. Insert the bootable USB or CD/DVD, and your computer should boot from the USB or CD/DVD.

Step 4: You can now format the drive in File Explorer or Disk Management after restarting your computer.

Option 2: Enter BIOS and format using CMD

Step 1: Press the F1, F2, F8, or Del keys repeatedly while starting up the computer to enter the BIOS setup.

Step 2: Change the boot order to start from USB/CD/DVD.

Step 3: Restart your computer from the bootable disk. When the disc loads, click on “Use a recovery tool that can help fix problems starting Windows,” and then navigate to Windows Setup > Command Prompt.

Step 4: In the Command Prompt window, type format c: /fs:ntfs and press Enter.

If you want a full guide on how to format your hard drive from BIOS, click on the link below:

How to Format Hard Drive from BIOS in Windows 10

This guide will walk you through 3 full methods to format hard drive in BIOS Windows 10, including using Partition Master tool, Command Prompt, and formatting drive during Windows setup.

Which method do you prefer for formatting a hard drive?

Given situations like an unbootable computer, unbootable partitions, or attempts to reinstall the OS, formatting the hard drive in a bootable environment becomes necessary. With that said, you have the freedom to format HDD from USB and format HDD from BIOS settings.

No matter you format the hard drive via USB or BIOS, you need to create a bootable USB or CD/DVD to boot Windows. Compared with that, it's easier to use a bootable USB formatting tool and usually only requires several simple clicks to finish disk formatting. Besides, it's not easy to get a Windows Recovery Disk and formatting hard drive via CMD is more advanced. We don't recommend ordinary computer users try it for the first time.

"Frequently Asked Questions about 'Boot from USB to Format Hard Drive'"

How do I wipe a hard drive from a bootable USB?

Download and run the Partition Master tool from your PC, create a bootable USB flash drive, and select Wipe from here.

How do I format a hard drive using a flash drive?

Plug the USB into your computer.

Open File Explorer, then click "This PC" on the left side.

Right-click on the USB drive under “Devices with Removable Storage,” and select “Format.”

3. Can you format a hard drive from BIOS?

No, you cannot. If you've decided to format the drive, you should create a bootable USB drive and proceed to format the device from there.