I noticed when using the Disks utility that clicking on the three dots gives me the option "Format Disk" while clicking the cog leads to "Format Partition." They seem to do similar things, but I'm curious if there are any key differences. For example, when I opted for "Format Partition," it allowed me to name the drive and choose the Ext4 format, which was necessary for my usage. I managed to get f3 working properly after that, which is a tool for checking if a USB drive is counterfeit. Can anyone shed some light on this? Should I be formatting both the disk and the partition?
2 Answers
Great question! Essentially, formatting the whole disk wipes the entire structure, including the partition table, while formatting a partition just clears the data in that specific partition and sets up a filesystem for storing files. If you format the disk, you lose all partitions, but formatting a partition keeps the other partitions intact. So if you want to set up or reorganize your storage, go with formatting the partition. It's more versatile, especially if you're using it for Linux with different filesystems like Ext4!
You definitely don't need to do both! If your goal is just to reuse the drive, formatting the partition is usually enough. It sounds like you got the hang of it with f3, which is handy for checking if your drives are genuine. Just remember, if the drive had any pre-existing partitions you cared about, formatting the whole disk would wipe those. Otherwise, stick with formatting individual partitions to keep things simple!
Got it! So, as long as I don't mind losing everything on that partition, I can just go with formatting the partition next time. Appreciate the heads up!
Thanks for clarifying! I wasn't really sure how it all worked before. So, if I just want a fresh start on one part of my disk, formatting the partition is definitely the way to go!