How to Format a Diskette for a PC

REMEMBER: Formatting a diskette effectively erases the information on it. Before formatting the disk be certain that there is nothing on the diskette that you wish to keep.

Pre-formatted diskettes if they are old are less apt to cause problems if they are reformatted.

• Windows 95/98
• Windows XP (2002)
• DOS

From Windows 95/98:

1. Place the diskette to be formatted into the appropriate size drive.
2. Double click the "My Computer" icon (if you have a program open you may need to minimize it so you can see the icon). You can also reach the My Computer icon from the Explore File Management Program (Right click on the start button and left click on Explore.)
3. Click ONCE on the icon for the diskette. This will cause the name of the disk drive to be highlighted.
4. Click on File, then Format.
5. If the type of diskette you have is not visible in the blue box, click on the arrow at the right of the blue box and click on the correct size. (If in doubt, you probably have a 1.44 3.5 inch diskette.)
6. Choose full to completely format the disk. The quick format just erases everything on the diskette. It may be adequate, but if it has been a year since the diskette was last formatted, choose the full format.
7. After the formatting is done, click on the Close button and wait until the disk drive light is out before retrieving your diskette.
8. Click Close again unless you wish to format another disk.
9. Close "My Computer" by clicking on the small x in the upper right hand corner, or clicking on File/Close on the menu line.

From Windows XP (2002)

1. Click the Start button
2. Click on My Computer
3. Click on the disk you wish to format (Should be a: or b: - c: is the hard drive.)
4. On menu line click on File>Format
5. Click Start.

From DOS

1. Place the diskette to be formatted into the appropriate size drive.
2. From a DOS command line, type the word format and tap the enter key.

The above assumes that you are using the size diskette that the drive was designed for. Trying to format a 720 kilobyte 3.5 inch diskette in a 1.4 drive requires the command "format b:/t:80/n:9." Unfortunately, the 5.25 inch diskettes were set up so differently that it is not possible to format a 1.2 meg 5 inch diskette in a 360K 5 inch drive, or vice versa.

Minimize All Windows to See the Desktop

1. Find a blank spot on the bar on the bottom of the screen - often either at the right side of the screen, or just before a tool bar that is placed there.
2. Place the mouse pointer there and right click.
3. Click on Minimize All Windows.

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