Format method of the Win32_Volume class

The Format method formats the volume.

This topic uses Managed Object Format (MOF) syntax. For more information about using this method, see Calling a Method. The Format method, like the Defrag method, can run for a very long time. These methods are normally called asynchronously. If your code cancels the call by calling IWbemServices::CancelAsyncCall (or SWbemSink.Cancel in script or Visual Basic), then the provider is not notified and the operation continues to completion.

Syntax

uint32 Format(
  [in] string FileSystem = "NTFS",
  [in] boolean QuickFormat,
  [in] uint32 ClusterSize = 4096,
  [in] string Label = "",
  [in] boolean EnableCompression = false
);

Parameters

FileSystem [in]

File system format to use for this volume. The default is "NTFS".

The following list identifies the possible values for this parameter.

"NTFS"

"FAT32"

"FAT"

QuickFormat [in]

If true, formats the volume with a quick format by removing files from the disk without scanning the disk for bad sectors. Use this option only if the disk has been previously formatted, and you know that the disk is not damaged. The default is false.

ClusterSize [in]

Disk allocation unit size cluster size. All of the file systems used by this version of Windows organize the hard disk based on cluster size, which represents the smallest amount of disk space that can be allocated to hold a file. The smaller the cluster size you use, the more efficiently your disk stores information. If no cluster size is specified during format, Windows picks defaults based on the size of the volume. These defaults have been selected to reduce the amount of space lost and to reduce fragmentation. For general use, the default settings are strongly recommended.

Label [in]

Label to use for the new volume. The volume label can contain up to 11 characters for FAT and FAT32 volumes, and up to 32 characters for NTFS file system volumes.

EnableCompression [in]

Not implemented.

Return value

Return code	Description
0	Success
1	Unsupported file system
2	Incompatible media in drive
3	Access denied
4	Call canceled
5	Call cancellation request too late
6	Volume write protected
7	Volume lock failed
8	Unable to quick format
9	Input/Output (I/O) error
10	Invalid volume label
11	No media in drive
12	Volume is too small
13	Volume is too large
14	Volume is not mounted
15	Cluster size is too small
16	Cluster size is too large
17	Cluster size is beyond 32 bits
18	Unknown error

Requirements

Minimum supported client	None supported
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003
Namespace	Root\CIMV2
MOF	Vds.mof
DLL	Vdswmi.dll

See also

Win32_Volume