If I get a new external drive that comes formatted with FAT32 and I want to make it NTFS, can I do a quick format? Or do I need to do a regular format?
When the computer reads a drive that has been formatted with the 'quick format' option.... it appears the same as if the drive was formatted regularly. A regular format, it actually clears out all sectors the best it can, where a quick format leaves all the data on there, it just makes it appear like it's not there and acts as if it's regular ole free space.
Therefore, quick format would work perfectly fine.
Quick format is used when you don't want to check bad sectors and you're reasonably sure the disk is okay. If you do a regular non-quick format, it's just like performing a quick format but the utility also checks the disk for bad sectors. This can take a very long time on giant partitions.
![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}