How To Reformat a Partition

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Note: Draft of text below.
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To reformat a partition on a removable device,
such as a USB flash stick, or a USB connected external HDD.


To identify the Device

With the device unplugged, open PCLOS Control Center > Local Disks > Manage disk partitions.



For each disk attached to the computer there will be a tab with a label. The labels will have
sda
sdb
sdc
and so on. One for each drive connected to the PC.
Take note of the labels.

Close the 'Manage disk partitions' page.

Plug in the device which requires reformatting. Wait a few seconds for the system to recognise it is inserted.

Again open the 'Manage disk partition' window in PCC, and you will see an extra tab showing. That represents the new device you have inserted.

Click on the tab, and a linear representation of the device is shown. Each partition on the device will be identified.




Reformatting

Click on the partition you wish to reformat.

Select 'Toggle to expert mode' in the bottom right of the page. This shows extra options down the right side of the window and also more information about the partition under the 'Details' heading.

Now with the correct partition selected,

click on 'Type' in the options. This brings up a long list of filesystems you can format your partition to.

You select Linux Native for ext2
Journalised FS : ext3   for ext3

or whatever your preferred filesystem is, from the list.



Select 'OK' to confirm your choice.


Next select the 'Label' option, and type in your preferred Label for the partition you are about to reformat.



Confirm your label name by selecting 'OK'

Now press 'Format' to proceed with reformatting your selected partition.


You will receive a warning letting you know you will be deleting everything on the selected partition.



You are asked if you wish to check for bad blocks on the partition.
Unless you have a definite reason for doing otherwise, select No here.



You will then see a progress bar for the formatting of the partition.




When it completes, select 'Done' from the bottom right of the page. You can exit out of PCC also.

You must then Safely Remove the drive from the PC.
When next you plug in the device, the new format of the partition will be recognised.