Format
(v.) (1) To prepare a storage medium, usually a disk, for reading and writing. When you format a disk, the operating system erases all bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure all sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (that is, those that are scratched), and creates internal address tables that it later uses to locate information. You must format a disk before you can use it.
Note that reformatting a disk does not erase the data on the disk, only the address tables. Do not panic, therefore, if you accidentally reformat a disk that has useful data. A computer specialist should be able to recover most, if not all, of the information on the disk. You can also buy programs that enable you to recover a disk yourself.
The previous discussion, however, applies only to high-level formats, the type of formats that most users execute. In addition, hard disks have a low-level format, which sets certain properties of the disk such as the interleave factor. The low-level format also determines what type of disk controller can access the disk (e.g., RLL or MFM).
Almost all hard disks that you purchase have already had a low-level format. It is not necessary, therefore, to perform a low-level format yourself unless you want to change the interleave factor or make the disk accessible by a different type of disk controller. Performing a low-level format erases all data on the disk.
Read Also:
- forms processing
An imaging application for handling printed forms. Forms processing systems often use OCR engines and data validation routines to extract hand-written or printed information from forms that go into a database.
- forms software
A type of program that enables you to design and fill in forms on a computer. Most forms packages contain a number of sample forms that you can modify for your own purposes. Newer forms software packages enable you to publish a form on the Internet so that anyone with Internet access can fill it […]
- formula
(1) An equation or expression. (2) In spreadsheet applications, a formula is an expression that defines how one cell relates to other cells. For example, you might define cell C5 (column C, row 5) with the formula =A4*D7 which means to multiply the value in cell A4 by the value in cell D7.
- forum
An online discussion group. Online services and bulletin board services (BBS’s) provide a variety of forums, in which participants with common interests can exchange open messages. Forums are sometimes called newsgroups (in the Internet world) or conferences.
- forward
Forward is an option found in an e-mail client, which allows you to forward a received e-mail to another recipient. The e-mail will be sent with the body of the e-mail showing as “quoted text”. Recipients of a forwarded e-mail can usually tell the e-mail is a forward. Some clients will place the letters “FWD” […]