Personal Computers Questions

What is the difference between a quick format and a full format?

by on September 20, 2010

Q: I recently purchased 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate. When I try to format my flash drives, quick format is checked by default. In order to full format I uncheck the quick format box. However, a full format takes several minutes. Is there any disadvantage in using quick format every time I format my flash drives?

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2 Responses to “What is the difference between a quick format and a full format?”
  1.  
    Picked as best answer

    Quick format just clears data from the drive, the full format checks for bad sectors as well and actually writes zeros to all bits on the drive.

    For a flash drive, I’d suggest just doing the quick format.

    For hard drives, I’d suggest a quick format as well, and then use a separate tool to scan for bad sectors if needed.

     

    Mark (Uber Geek) says: on September 20, 2010 at 8:35 am

  2.  

    Mark, Thanks for clearing that up for me.

     

    Ted Vaver (Newbie) says: on September 20, 2010 at 6:17 pm