When you format a hard-drive, you will lose any information on that drive.
you could attempt to format the media but you will lose all of information which is stored on the device. using windows go to my computer - find the appropriate device - right click on it - click on format - click on quick format and then start
It means to erase all info on the drive and prepare it to receive new info.
Yes, Format is a term for "clear out"
Unless you back them up your going to lose them. Id recommend you back them up to an external HD. Once you format your computer everything is lost, all your files, all your settings, everything is gone. Though if your only formatting to get rid of private data, don't just assume its gone for good. Youv'e just made it a tad harder to get them that's all. But generally speaking, format your computer and you have lost everything.
format c:
You may need to format your Ds. Go to settings, then look for the thing to format. (P.S. You will lose all data when you format your Ds.)
Yes
None. if you want to format a non-boot drive, find it in my computer, right click and select "format...". if you want to format your boot drive [Be careful] , you usually need to stick in a windows CD and boot from disk, so that the computer knows what to do with itself afterwords. -------------- You can also do this from a terminal window (use the DOS 'format' command), however reformatting the computer will require you to reload the operating system from scratch (and you will lose all your data) before you can use it again. -------------- Assuming you are using Windows XP here's a tutorial http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/windows/instructions/reformat.htm
If you format the partition where windows files are located, you will loose all data on the partition.
You don't. When you format your computer it deletes everything. No exceptions. If you want to set your computer back to the way you got it from factory then you can use the disks that you got with your computer.
In order to format Windows XP, you will have to use the installation disc. This will erase all the data that you have on your computer.
If you are going to format the drive first then there are two possibilities: 1. You have all system and personal files on one drive. In this case you would lose all your files. 2. You have system files and personal files on different drives. In this case you would only lose the files on the drives that you format. As long as you don't format the drive with your personal files on it you won't lose them.