Can formatting a hard disk solve all sorts of problems?

Question

I was facing some really serious issues, like system would hang, or sometimes it would refuse to start, so I formatted my hard disk and reinstalled Vista, I have done this 3 times already and plan to do it once again after repartitioning..... I just wanted to know that does formatting solve ALL problems, because during last formatting, I had to leave home for some work, so it was left in between, and so I started all over again.

Answer 1

It fixes all software problems, but if your drive has bad sectors for example then formatting will not fix that.

Answer 2

I agree with the other comment. Your question covers a lot that is not clear. The part I'm focusing on is apparently you know enough to format and re-install. Or do you? No offense intended at all, but exactly how did you do this? If you used something like System Restore, you may have accomplished nothing at all. If there is a virus System Restore will restore the virus, just like everything else. Know that many virus will reside in the memory or in the Boot Sector of your hard drive. It is possible for a boot-virus to survive what I call a "simple" re-install. You would need to do a "true" low-level format of the hard drive to get rid of that one. That's a bit beyond explaining here. A search will find you sites that explain that in greater detail. Just fully understand before you try. Get it wrong, and you could ruin the hard drive. Another offhand idea is perhaps your hard drive is beginning to fail. If that's a possibility, back everything up and either take it to a shop for a new hard drive or do it yourself. Another item could be failing or loose RAM. Same as above, either you know how to check that yourself or take it to a shop. Without more info, I'm afraid that's about all I can recommend at the moment. Best Luck "You don't have to vote for me- Just Vote! It encourages us to continue helping others."

Answer 3

It's no good at solving math puzzles or clearing up acne or fixing a broken transaxle.



However it's a pretty brutal way of fixing many computer problems... you lose all your data and have to reinstall all your programs each time when there are better (less destructive) ways of fixing most problems. Oh, and it won't fix a burned out motherboard, a damaged power supply or a broken heart.



It's a bit like throwing your laptop away and buying a new one whenever anything goes wrong.

Answer 4

You can say that formatting the hard disk will solve all the problems as it creates new boot sectors and the Fat Allocation Table i.e. all the files are deleted and the structure of the hard disk is reconstructed. But bad sectors may still exist as it is a hardware problem.

Answer 5

Formatting clears the hard drive of all software errors, if the problems you are experiencing are from faulty hardware, formatting will not help. If your computer is still doing the same thing after formatting and reinstalling vista, it could be a failing hard drive, memory, processor or cooling fan.

Answer 6

Formatting does solve some issues but no all i suggest after you reformatting the drive wait for the blue screen and when it asks you to format there is an option to repair the drive the Option comes up wile the blue screen is on the screen hope this helps.

Answer 7

should be as good as new when you're done, just set some time aside for it it usually takes a few hours depending on the computer.

Answer 8

its solves every problem e.g virus freezes stuff like that