Mesa Community College
Business Administration Department
Formating a Disk Using My Computer
  1. Turn on your computer and wait for Windows to finish loading.
    Insert a 3.5" high density disk into the appropriate drive (should be drive A:).

  2. Look for the My Computer icon on your computer screen.
    Double click on the My Computer icon to open its window.

  3. Look for the 3.5" Floppy (A:) disk drive.
    Click ONCE on this icon to select or highlight it.
    Click on File located on the menu bar, and then click on Format..
    The format command window should look similar to the picture below:

    4. format_disk.gif

  4. The Capacity should be set to 3.5", 1.44 MB, 512 bytes/sector.
    The File System should be set to FAT.
    The Allocation unit size should be set to Default allocation size.
    The Volume label should be your last name or the first 11 letters of your last name.
    The Format options should NOT have any options slected.

    Click on the Start button to format the disk.

  5. A dialog window will be displayed warning you that all of the data (if any) on the disk will be erased. Click on OK to continue.

  6. After the format has been completed, click on OK to close the informational window.

  7. Click on the Close button to close the format disk window.

  8. Close [X] the My Computer window.

revised 8/15/2003: www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d07/cis105/format_disk.html