Formatting a floppy disk in Windows XP

Before you follow this tutorial you must read the terms of our disclaimer.

This guide will take you through the process of formatting a floppy disk in Windows XP^®.

Floppy disks usually need to be formatted before you can use them, although some blank floppy disks do come pre-formatted, at some point in the future you will want to format your own.

Windows XP makes it easy to format floppy disks, you will find the process very straightforward by following the instructions below.

First, click on the START button, then click on My Computer on the start menu.

note: if you are using the classic start menu, then simply double click My Computer on the desktop.

Next, right click on the floppy drive icon (see below), then left click on the Format option from the menu that appears.

Now you are presented with the Format Dialogue box, as shown below in fig 1.1

format floppy in Windows XP fig 1.1

A few options are available:

Capacity: This will depend on the floppy disk that you are formatting, most disks are 1.44Mb, if unsure, it is best to leave this option as it is.

File System: FAT or NTFS, FAT is the normal file system for floppies, however, if you have a utility installed to enable NTFS floppies then select NTFS. If you are unsure or FAT is the only option then just leave it on FAT.

Allocation Unit Size: This should be left on the default, unless you have a reason to change it.

Volume Label: This is where you can enter a label for your floppy disk, simply type the name into the box, in our example we have named the disk NEW DISK.

Quick Format: This option can be selected if the disk has previously been formatted and you just want to clear the data off the disk.

Create an MS-DOS startup disk: This option can be used to copy system files over to make a bootable system disk (everyone should have at least one of these).

When you have selected the options that you want, simply click on the Start button (as shown on the left).

After clicking Start you will be presented with a warning, informing you that all data on the floppy disk will be deleted, assuming there is no data on the floppy that you need, click OK.

After clicking OK you will see a progress bar, and that will be followed by an alert informing you about the status of the format, ie whether it was successful or not.

If you want to format another floppy disk then enter a different volume label (if needed), and then click the Start button in the format dialogue box again.

When finished click Close

Your floppy disk is now formatted and can be used to store your files.