If you want to format your hard drive you will need a program of some sort, a format hard drive utility. There are several options from where you can pick in order to achieve this be it with a boot disk to format hard drives or something like Knoppix. Here will be described how to use some of these program to format hard drive.

First of all you should be aware that you can format hard drive without OS. That is to say that you don`t need Windows or Linux installed. If you have an MS-DOS boot disk, you can use it to boot the computer and from there use the Format program with a simple syntax like `Format C:`. Or instead you can use FDisk to do it while at the same time rearranging your partitions.

You can also use the knoppix format hard drive. Knoppix is a Debian based operating system that can run straight off a CD or a USB drive and you can use it easily just like windows to format a hard drive without problems. There are other non-Debian possibilities too.

You can use a format hard drive CD like Hiren`s Boot CD which is also a MS-DOS boot disk but it has many, many utilities that you can use to fix your computer and it also has format tools. You start the Boot CD normally like you would use your Windows XP install disk, and you`ll get a simple to use menu displaying you all the tools. You`ll be able to format the hard drive through there or use FDisk as well.

Another format hard drive utility you can use is that that the manufacturer of the hard drive has. Usually this tool is shipped with the hard drive or your computer when you purchase it and it guarantees the most options when it comes to formatting and maintaining your hard drive. There is no risk in using other programs however since all hard drives are made in a standard way.

Remember that when you use hard drive format utilities all the data will be wiped and may be irrecoverable, so be sure that you are formatting the right hard drive. If you there is any error you should contact immediately a professional specialist to try and recover your data or it may be lost if you use the hard drive much longer. The specialist can also provide you proper hard drive formatting programs if you request them.