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Formatting a hard disk drive

Low-level formatting removes all data from the hard disk. If there is data on the disk that you want to save, back up the hard disk before you perform this procedure.

Note
Before you format a hard disk, make sure that the disk is not part of a mirrored pair.

To format a drive, complete the following steps:

  1. From the list of adapters, select the controller (channel) for the drive that you want to format and press Enter.
  2. Select SAS Topology and press Enter.
  3. Select Direct Attach Devices and press Enter.
  4. To highlight the drive that you want to format, use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys. To scroll left and right, use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys or the End key. Press Alt+D.
  5. To start the low-level formatting operation, select Format and press Enter.