Laboratory: Computer Formatting

College of Computing Sciences
IT 221 | OPERATING SYSTEMS

Second Semester, S.Y. 2022-2023
LABORATORY
MODULE
COMPUTER FORMATTING
Learning Outcomes:
1. Explain Computer Reformat.
2. Determine things to do and prepare before reformatting Computer.
3. Discuss the process of OS Installation and PC Formatting.
4. Perform OS installation, PC reformatting, and disk partitioning.
Topic Outline:
A. Overview of PC Reformatting
B. Things to know before you wipe your computer
C. Steps of OS installation and Disk Partitioning
D. What to Do next after PC formatting
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A. Overview of PC Reformatting
Computer has become one of the most important tools in our lives, and we use
computers every day at work, at home, or during our studies. It’s common for
many users to possess several computers, for example, a desktop at home and
office, a laptop for mobile work, a notebook or smartphone to stay connected,
etc. As a digital device, the computer cannot work smoothly all the time, for
instance, it may run out of disk space, the system slows down or infects a virus,
etc. Once we get issues on a laptop, we tend to perform formatting to fix them.
To begin, you must first determine your operating system and the steps
necessary to reset your PC. If you’re using another operating system than
Windows, you’ll need to follow various steps to do a full factory reset, so make
sure you know which one you’re using before you start.
B. THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE FORMATING A COMPUTER
Reformatting a computer means completely erasing (formatting) the hard drive

and reinstalling the operating system and all other applications and files. All
your data on the hard disk will be lost, so, it is recommended that you back up
your important files first, regardless of the operating system you’re using to an
External HD, DVD, flash drive, or another computer.
Even if you don’t anticipate the need for a backup, it’s a good idea to have one
in case you need to reload files or transfer them to a new device.
You may even set up frequent backups, so you don’t have to worry about losing
vital data if your operating system fails to launch. You should also make sure
that these backups are routed to somewhere other than your hard drive, such
as cloud storage, in case something goes wrong and your hard drive crashes.
Why do you need to format/reformat your PC?

Here are some reasons that can explain why you need to format or reformat
your laptop or desktop.
▪ Your computer gets a booting issue. It has a back screen and cannot
boot to the system, or if you try restarting the system, it stops before
passing the DOS screen. If you do not have a system backup, all you can
do is the format and reinstall the system.
▪ Virus or malware infects your PC. Viruses or malware may steal
sensitive data or delete files. To protect data security, formatting a hard
disk is a good option.
▪ Upgrade operating system. If your computer is running an outdated
system, you may want to upgrade it to Windows 10 or higher version or
even the latest versions of installed applications.
▪ Reorganize disk space. You feel partitions on your hard drive are not
reasonable and want to repartition disk for better performance.
▪ Computer slows down with bad performance. The operating system
has been installed for a long time and it does not get proper maintenance
all the time, your computer tends to face issues like, slowing down, the

hard disk running out of space, the computer is full of junk data, etc. Then
you may want to format the computer hard drive, repartition the hard
drive and reinstall Windows once again.
What are the things you should prepare before formatting a PC?
The following are the things you should have before you start formatting your
computer:
1. Operating System installer disc or drive with product key if needed;
2. Device Drivers/motherboard driver;
▪ No worry about this if you have an internet connection because you can
update your drivers online and download needed drivers.
3. Software installers you need like Microsoft Office, web browser, etc.
C. Steps of OS installation and Disk Partitioning
For demo purposes, we take Windows 10 as an example.
1. Check your PC, it should meet the Windows 10 system requirements.
Below you’ll find the minimum specs needed to run Windows 10, so check
your device is capable:
CPU: 1GHz or faster processor
RAM: 1GB for Windows 10 32-bit or 2GB for Windows 10 64-bit
Storage: 32GB of space or more
Display: 800x600 resolution or higher
2. Insert your OS installer to your DVD-ROM drive. If you have no DVD-ROM
in your PC, use external DVD-ROM. If you are using executable installer,
insert your Flash Drive to the USB port of your PC.
3. Restart your PC and you'll need to press the F2, F12 or Delete keys as your
computer boots up to be able to enter the BIOS.
4. Change your computer's boot priority order. Once you have access to your
computer’s BIOS/UEFI you’ll need to locate the settings for boot order. Go
to Advanced BIOS options.

Select CD-ROM/ USB to be the first boot-up device priority and HDD/SDD
or HARD DISK to be the second priority. Save settings and exit the BIOS by
pressing F10 on your keyboard.
5. Restart your PC/device, a message will prompt you to boot from CD-ROM
Drive or Removable Devices. Press any key on the keyboard to continue.
6. Installation will begin. Your device should now load up the Windows 10
installation tool.

7. Installing Windows 10. Click the Next button when prompted. You can also
change the options on this page (e.g., the setup language) before continuing if
needed.
8. Click Install Now . It's in the middle of the window.

9. Enter your Windows 10 key, then click the Next button. If you don’t have a Windows
10 key, instead click Skip in the bottom-right corner of the screen and enter the key
later. However, there are some versions of OS which can’t allow to skip therefore, you
need to enter the product key.
10. Select the edition that you want to install on your device.

11. Now, you will see the license agreement window, if you want, you can read
all the terms and conditions, check the option labeled as “I accept the license
terms” and hit the “Next” button.
12. In the next window, you will see two different options:
• Upgrade: Install Windows and keep files, settings, and
applications
• Custom: Install Windows only (Advanced)
To perform a clean installation of Windows 10, you need to click on the
second option i.e., Custom: Install Windows Only (Advanced).

13. In the next windows, you need to choose the drive on which you want to install
the copy of Windows 10. If you want to delete the existing partition and create a fresh
partition, then select the partition and click Delete button. Delete all until you can see
the unallocated space drive.
To create a partition, you need to select the drive and click on the “New”
button. Make sure to allocate a minimum of 20 GB or you can create a
partition of more size depending on the space on your hard drive you want. If
you want to have the same drive size, divide the total size to two (2) and enter
the Click “Apply” to complete the process.
If you decide to create two (2) partitions, then divide the total number of hard
disk sizes by 2. If it’s three (3) partitions then divide by 3. So, your divisor is
dependent on how many partitions you will create.

The system will additionally create a partition with the name “System
Reserved” to ensure that the system works fine. The size of this partition is
around 500MB in most cases.
Note: After formatting the drive, you will lose all the data on the C drive and
settings which include installed apps, games, and any personal data lying on
the desktop, Music, Video, Pictures, and related folders.
14. Select the drive where you want to install the copy of Windows 10 and click
on the “Next” button. At this point, the installation of Windows will start. It
will take around 20-25 minutes to complete the installation process.
During the installation, your system may reboot two or three times.

Note: At the time of the reboot, make sure not to press any key on your
keyboard else it will boot again from your installer. Just let the PC restart.
15. Once the installation is completed. You will see the blue color screen.
Here you can click on the “Use Custom Settings” button if you want to go
with default settings. You can also click on the “Customize” button if you
want to customize settings.
Keep following the instruction as mentioned on the screen and in a few seconds
Windows 10 home screen will appear.

CONGRATULATIONS! You were able to reformat your own computer ☺
YOU HAVE SAVED YOUR TIME AND MONEY!
D. What to Do next after PC formatting?

After successfully formatting and installing the new OS on your device, it is time
for you to update your device driver.
If you don’t have your device driver with you then, you can update it online if
you’re connected to the internet.
Go to This PC directory, select and write click to your mouse, select Manage
Click Device Manager

Select the driver you want to update, right-click and choose to search your
drivers online.
After updating all your device drivers, restart your PC and you may install all
software you need like Microsoft Office, Antivirus, web browser, etc.
You’re done!
https://www.cashify.in/how-to-format-windows-laptop-pc-steps

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College of Computing Sciences

IT 221 | OPERATING SYSTEMS

Prepared by: Alma P. Cablinan|Page | 1

B. THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE FORMATING A COMPUTER

Reformatting a computer means completely erasing (formatting) the hard drive

Why do you need to format/reformat your PC?

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C. Steps of OS installation and Disk Partitioning

For demo purposes, we take Windows 10 as an example.

1. Check your PC, it should meet the Windows 10 system requirements.

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8. Click Install Now . It's in the middle of the window.

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YOU HAVE SAVED YOUR TIME AND MONEY!

D. What to Do next after PC formatting?

Click Device Manager

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