Re--formatting Hard Disk

Shortly I plan to re-format my Hard disk and re-install everything. I have Backups, but deliberately want to go for a completely clean install, to give ma a totally fresh install of all my software.
My database file is saved on a separate partition, but I am worried that other data/settings need to be saved as well. Is there a list of locations to back up?
Anyone tried this?
Thanks
Colin

PC or Mac? On a PC you want User/application Support/Adobe/Lightroom as well. Has all you presets.
Someone will indicate their placement on a PC.
Don
Don Ricklin, MacBook 1.83Ghz Duo 2 Core running 10.4.9 & Win XP, Pentax *ist D
http://donricklin.blogspot.com/

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Dual Boot Windows 7 with preinstalled Windows 8 on GPT-formatted hard disk and UEFI BIOS.

Question for Jordon Wees,
Hi,
You wrote: I can successfully install both operating
systems in UEFI mode, with Windows 7 on the first partition and Windows 8 on
the second partition. <o:p></o:p>
But I couldn´t!<o:p></o:p>
Could you please provide me how to install Windows 7
64 bit on a PC that already has Windows 8 64 bit preinstalled?<o:p></o:p>
I have also a GPT-formatted hard disk with UEFI BIOS
but I get the error message that windows can´t install Windows 7 on the disk
because it is a GPT-formatted hard disk.<o:p></o:p>
I don´t understand this because it is a GPT-formatted
hard disk with Windows 8 on it!<o:p></o:p>
I can´t change the hard disk to MBR format because I
will lose Widows 8 and all other partitions.<o:p></o:p>
In the BIOS for the storage dives Boot´ option I
selected the: only UEFI, I could also select the option ´first UEFI´ but it doesn´t
change the failure of installing Windows 7.<o:p></o:p>
Thanks, Sia

If I am reading your issue correctly. Windows 8 came pre-installed on a computer with a hard disk setup as a GPT with UEFI configured.
If this is the case then the outcome you are experiencing is correct.
Windows 7 does not inherently have the ability to install into a GPT disk from the base installation.
The Windows 7 DVD is designed to install using BIOS mode.
Also note that Windows 7 x86 does not support UEFI mode.
These two articles below may help you.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744321(WS.10).aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2011/05/31/installing-windows-7-on-uefi-based-computer.aspx
Thanks
Sean
MCTS: Windows 7
MCITP: Windows 7 Enterprise Administration
MCSA: Windows 7

I am using i 4 phone. recently I had a problem with my lap top and had formatted hard disk of it. Now I want to use sync data in my iphone back to itune n my lap top. how can I perform this task with out loosing data in my i phone.

I am using i 4 phone. recently I had a problem with my lap top and had formatted hard disk of it. Now I want to sync data in my iphone back to itune on my lap top. how can I perform this task with out loosing data in my i phone.

Hey floridiansue,
Do you have an installed email program such as Microsoft Outlook? If your email is through an online login, such as Gmail, etc, then one will have to create an email association with a program such as Microsoft Outlook on the PC for this Scan to Email system to function.
-------------How do I give Kudos? | How do I mark a post as Solved? --------------------------------------------------------
I am not an HP employee.

I had a trouble with my lap top and had to format hard disk and install all soft ware again. could any body tell me how to transfer the application and data in my i phone back to my laptop.

I had a trouble with my lap top and had to format hard disk and install all soft ware again. could any body tell me how to transfer the application and data in my i phone back to itune.

You can't. It still thinks that your iPhone is synced with another iTunes library (the one that you had before you reformatted the hard drive.

When I format hard disk while installing windows it shows an error?

When I format hard disk while installing windows it shows an error and says that windows can't be installed to this hard disk, but I have installed windows before. How can I install windows?

You are getting this message because you are trying to create an iCloud account on a PC by signing with your Apple ID. You can only sign into an existing account on a PC. You first have to create iCloud account on an iOS device (iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch) running iOS 5 or higher, or on a Mac running OS X Lion (10.7.5) or higher. After creating your account on one of these devices you will then be able to sign into the account using this ID on your PC.

Win XP Unable to format hard disk and install

Recently my system has got error about system hive error
"C:\windows\system32\config\sysem file missing"
So when I tried to reinstall the system the winxp setup says
unable to format my hard drive after I choose C Drive to Quick Format(NTFS) and install option,this note appears
"setup was unable to format drive c:the hard disk may be damaged
make sure the disk is on and properly connected to the computer .If the disk is a SCSI disk,make sure your SCSI devices are properly terminated.See your computer or SCSI adapter documentation for more info"
Thinking that the hard disk(Seagate Barracuda 160GB SATA) might have corrupted I used Seagate seatools to check for error and the test failed. So I replaced the hard disk with brand new WD 160GB SATA hard disk and started installing the winxp. Again I'm facing the same problem. Even I checked with the new connection port.
I'm using AMD Sempron Processor. MSI K9MM-V Motherboard. dynet 512MB RAM.
As the problem is existing even with the new hard disk I think there is no problem with the hard disk or cable. the problem must be something else.
Please help me find the problem and rectify it.
(My hard disk is SATA and No-RAID, No-SCSI, BIOS detects my hard disk and I'm able to create partitions but unable to format and install WinXP)
I've used the same hard disk on another system with MSI Mother Board but it's working fine. Windows XP installs without any problem. I've replaced the hard disk in which the Win XP already exists(Win XP installed on another system with same configuration MSI K9MM-V Mobo, AMD Sempron Processor, 512MB RAM) But it hangs the system and when I restart the system it says,
"Windows Could Not start because the following file is missing or currupt:
\Windows\System32\Config\System
You can attempt to repair this file by starting windows setup using the original setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair."
I've tried this some 10-15 times every now and then this problem is popping up.
So I think this is not the problem with Hard Disk. It must be the problem with Mother Board. So please help me resolve this issue.

Good luck!
But please remember what you wrote: "BIOS detects my hard disk and I'm able to create partitions but unable to format and install WinXP",
and what Bas wrote about listing your system components.
Have a minimised system when you install Windows.
A cloned copy of Windows can do this, for example one that a back-up program made.

Can'f format hard disks with a PM8M3-V board

Hello,
Recentl i tried formatting my old pc (P4, PM8M3-V board).
When i enter my windows disk to the cd-rom, it won't recognize any of my two hard disks, Though almost anything else will recognize them (like partition magic, and other PC's). I can format the HD on another pc, and i have. After formatted, i installed the HD back at thePM8M3-V computer. The computer boots up, and reaches the windows logo screen, and then it restarts and starts this whole proccess again. Also, as it seems, a RAID is configured, since a raid screen is appearing after the initial POST scree, but i could not set it off. I searched for a bit and found out that this:
Quote
Integrated Peripherals -> IDE Devices -> SATA Rom Select = [IDE][RAID]
But the SATA Rom Select line does not appear!
Please, help me find the problem. Thanks in advanced...

If you want to reset everything including RAID, you can clear CMOS when the system is powered off by removing the board's battery for 10 secs and placing it back. Once done, power up the system and BIOS is reset.

Need help properly formating hard disk. hard disk model wd7500bpvt says no bootable drive.

bought this hard disk new from hp about 3 or 4 months ago. hard disk was not recognized by the laptop. i download app from hp to do low level format on hard disk. Then i formated the drive during windows vista installation. Upon completion of windows installation the drive will not boot up on its own. what can i do to fix this?

The odd 400MB is the hidden files put there by the system to define the file structure of the partition, plus other stuff like .Trash. It's perfectly normal and the HDD wouldn't be recognised if they weren't there.
You will see a similar situation with the internal boot drive if you compare the Drive size (leftmost item with the manufacturers designation) and that of Macintosh HD (which is the working partition). In my case this shows 640.14 GB for the drive, 639.79 GB for Macintosh HD, a difference of 350MB
This will be the same within about ± 50MB whatever drive you format in HFS+J, including pen drives.

Formatted Hard Disk Memory

Hi,
I am new to the Mac world, and I just got my iBook with a hard disk memory of 80G. However, when I checked out the formatted memory, 20G has already been used, leaving slightly more than 60G. Is this typical? My last notebook was only 20G (not a mac), and the formatted memory was around 17G. If any one can enlighten me, I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks!

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
This amount of available space is not unusual. The "80GB" capacity is a marketing term, the Finder will report an actual formatted capacity of about 74GB. Mac OS X takes up more than 3GB and iDVD and Garage Band each take up more than 2GB of hard drive space. When you add the games and other software that comes with an iBook, 14GB of used space is just about normal. You might want to take a peek at this previous topic:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1040919
-Doug

Cannot format hard disk

I took out the hard disk from ps3 which is 40gb sata and bought a case for the hard disk and connect to my mac. tried formating it with disk utility and it gives an error half way. it doesnt even show the hard disk on desktop.

THERE ARE 2 DISKS THERE SO HERE THE INFO FOR BOTH..
Name :     ST940211 5AS Media
    Type :     Disk
    Partition Map Scheme :     GUID Partition Table
    Disk Identifier :     disk1
    Media Name :     ST940211 5AS Media
    Media Type :     Generic
    Connection Bus :     USB
    USB Serial Number :     D166237543D4
    Device Tree :     IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/EHC1@4,1
    Writable :     Yes
    Ejectable :     Yes
    Location :     External
    Total Capacity :     40.01 GB (40,007,760,384 Bytes)
    S.M.A.R.T. Status :     Not Supported
    Disk Number :     1
    Partition Number :     0
    Name :     disk1s2
    Type :     Volume
    Disk Identifier :     disk1s2
    Mount Point :     Not mounted
    File System :     Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    Connection Bus :     USB
    Device Tree :     IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/EHC1@4,1
    Writable :     Yes
    Capacity :     39.66 GB (39,663,788,032 Bytes)
    Owners Enabled :     No
    Can Turn Owners Off :     Yes
    Can Be Formatted :     Yes
    Bootable :     Yes
    Supports Journaling :     Yes
    Journaled :     No
    Disk Number :     1
    Partition Number :     2

Formatting Hard Disk?

Please see attached which I should have entered as a new topic:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2678296&tstart=0
My question was as follows:
Hi all
I've now taken delivery of the new iMac and the LaCie d2 Quadra and as this is the first time I've had an external back up drive I'm looking for some advice on how to set up the disk without getting off to the wrong start as I'm not very technically minded?
-Should I follow the LaCie Set Up Assistant of use the iMac's native disk utility programme to format or partition the LaCie drive? or does it make a difference?
-Is there a need to partition the LaCie hard disk? Mostly what I save are media files (songs, pics & vids)
iMAc Specs below, All advice welcome, thanks
BAC
iMac 27'/5750/SD
2.8GHZ QUAD-CORE INTEL CORE I5
8GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB
1TB SERIAL ATA DRIVE+256GB SSD
ATI RADEON HD 5750 1GB GDDR5
8X DOUBLE-LAYER SUPERDRIVE

-Should I follow the LaCie Set Up Assistant of use the iMac's native disk utility programme to format or partition the LaCie drive? or does it make a difference?
-Is there a need to partition the LaCie hard disk? Mostly what I save are media files (songs, pics & ids)
Congratulations on the new iMac and EHD.
Plug the D2 into the wall, then connect it to the iMac and follow Lacie's on-screen instructions. It's simply formatting itself for use on the iMac. DO NOT partition it!
I am assuming you will be using Time Machine to back it up. Once it's has been formatted Time Machine should pop up per this TM video. If for some reason it doesn't begin as it did in the video then open *Time Machine Preferences* (System Preferences - Time Machine) *Select Disk* click the Slider to On and it should begin the first backup which will take awhile because it's backing up the complete internal HD on the first backup.
Roger

Hard disk format, hard disk format

Trying to format an external hard disk. When plugged in the hard disk is not showing in my desktop...

marcfrommarseille wrote:
Trying to format an external hard disk.
What Brand is it? What connection method (USB, FireWire or Network) are you using? Why and what do you want to change the Format to? Is it new, old, was it working before?
marcfrommarseille wrote:
When plugged in the hard disk is not showing in my desktop...
Is the box for ☐ External disk check in your General Finder Preference? Have you checked in Disk Utility or your System Profiler to see if it is recognized by the iMac?
Dennis

Formatted hard disk twice of pc, will ipod work?

hi, i HAVE JUT BOUGHT AN IPOD 60 GB VIDEO DISPLAY. i HAVE A VAIO LAP TOP WICH I HAVE FOMATTED TWICE THE HARD DISK. tHEN YESTERDAY I GOT THAT IPOD AND FIRST I CHARGED IT FOR THREE HOURS. THEN AUTOMATICALLY IT APPEARS ME THE WELL KNOWN FOLDER ICON. SO WOULD YOU BE SO KIND TO TELL ME WHAT SHALLL I DO? I VE RED ALL THE FAQS AT THE APPPLE OFFICIAL PAGE AND SOME OF HERE, BUT NOTHING HAS WORK? WOULD IT BE BEACUSE I HAVE FORMATTED MY HDD?
THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS

That one is hard. Pod must be defective because I am running 4 pods in my house ok.

Cannot Format Hard Disks for Re-installation

Hello, first post,
I have a computer that stopped working and showed the folder icon with a question mark when attempting to boot the machine. Since I was able to boot to internet recovery and things appeared normal aside from not being able to find the OS. I attempted to verify/repair the disk using Disk Utility. My disk was unable to format after multiple attempts. I took the HDD out of the machine and put it in a known working machine and was able to format it. After putting it back in the original machine, I found that it only detected 67GB of the 500GB HDD when the working machine detected all 500GB.
I bought a replacement HDD and I am not able to finish erasing/formatting the disk. On both disks, it never gets stuck in the middle of formatting in the same place. Sometimes it gets stuck unmounting the disk, sometimes while creating the new partition. I am using the GUID partition map. Any ideas about what could cause these issues? Could I have a different hardware problem that might be causing this issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you live near an Apple Store, make a Genius Bar appointment to have the computer tested. Supposedly there is no charge for testing.
Genius Bar Reservation US

Format hard disk as I a,m getting rid of this PC.

Disposing of this notebook and want to format the hard drive.

Please download DBAN (Darik's Boot And Nuke) and make a bootable CD using the downloaded ISO. Next, place this DBAN CD in the CD/DVD drive and boot the computer. Answer a couple of prompts and this will securely erase the hard drive in the computer.
Please send KUDOS
Frank
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Re--formatting Hard Disk

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