Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In computing, format is a command-line utility that carries out disk formatting. It is a component of various operating systems , including 86-DOS , MS-DOS , IBM PC DOS and OS/2 , Microsoft Windows and ReactOS .
For example, in DOS 5, if the current directory is C:\TEMP, then TRUENAME command.com will display C:\TEMP\COMMAND.COM (which does not exist), not C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM (which does and is in the PATH). This command displays the UNC pathnames of mapped network or local CD drives. This command is an undocumented DOS command.
On Windows XP or later, the maximum length of the string that can be used at the command prompt is 8191 (2 13-1) characters.On earlier versions, such as Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0, the maximum length of the string is 2047 (2 11-1) characters.
Drive: This command-line argument specifies the drive letter of the disk for which to display the volume label and serial number. Note: On Windows, the volume serial number is displayed only for disks formatted with MS-DOS version 4.0 or later. OS/2 allows the user to specify more than one drive. The vol command displays the volume labels ...
Overwriting: In Windows Vista and upwards the non-quick format will overwrite as it goes. Not the case in Windows XP and below. [32] OS/2: Under OS/2, format will overwrite the entire partition or logical drive if the /L parameter is used, which specifies a long format. Doing so enhances the ability of CHKDSK to recover files.
When booting up an MS-DOS startup disk made with Windows XP's format tool, the version number and the VER internal command reports as "Windows Millennium" and "5.1", respectively, and not as "MS-DOS 8.0" (which was used as the base for Windows Me but never released as a stand-alone product), though the API still says Version 8.0.
B: — Reserved for a second floppy drive (that was present on many PCs). C: — First hard disk drive partition. D: to Z: — Other disk partitions get labeled here. Windows assigns the next free drive letter to the next drive it encounters while enumerating the disk drives on the system. Drives can be partitioned, thereby creating more drive ...
The chkdsk command on Windows XP. CHKDSK can be run from DOS prompt, Windows Explorer, Windows Command Prompt, Windows PowerShell or Recovery Console. [10] On Windows NT operating systems, CHKDSK can also check the disk surface for bad sectors and mark them (in MS-DOS 6.x and Windows 9x, this is a task done by Microsoft ScanDisk).