Formatting prepares a floppy or fixed disk so information can be stored on it and retrieved from it. When you format a disk, the operating system removes all the information from it, writes new directory information to it, and checks for unusable portions called bad sectors.
Caution You cannot recover information from a disk that has been accidentally formatted.
To format a disk, open the Change Drive Menu (Alt+F1) and select the drive you want to format. Then open the context menu (right-click or press Shift+F10) and choose Format.