format c:
The MS DOS Manual taught me the true power of the PC.
Typing those 9 characters and hitting Enter made a very large change in my computer.
Before I ran that command, my computer booted. I turned on the power switch and I got a prompt to perform an action. After, it didn’t do anything.
Something like this had never happened with my last “home computer,” the Atari 800 XL. No matter what I did with that device, it (almost) always did the same thing when I turned it on. But after format c:
, my new PC was not the same.
I do not remember how I learned about format c:
. I do remember, at a summer job in college, when a co-worker jokingly told me about rm /*
, the UNIX equivalent. But in each case, it taught me to, as some say, “Read the Freaking Manual!”
If you haven’t been so brave (or brash?), both format c:
and rm /*
can have the same effect on a machine. Wiping the contents of the hard drive completely. Afterwards, the computer is lifeless, until you reinstall an operating system. This, I learned from a book.
Afterwards, the computer is lifeless, until you reinstall an operating system. This, I learned from a book.
These days, you can learn similar lessons from sites like superuser.com Websites can be so much more dynamic than a paper book. However, it the case of this answer to the question is another important lesson that hasn’t changed for many years, “Backup Early. Backup Often.”
I didn’t really love reading the MD DOS Manual back in the day. Really, it was only the words and actions of my father that made me do it. I had begged and begged for a computer. My father told me that if I wanted to have a computer, I had to learn how to use it. He never seemed surprised that I had erased everything on the computer. And, he didn’t seem surprised when I restored (almost) everything to it. But others were amazed by both.
Nice blog post. Very interesting and I’m glad to learn from yours blog post to understand about format c: and rm /* commands. Great one. Even though people (including myself) knew about the power of format c: but yours blog post has unique explanation and this is really awesome!