Can I use PC while my hard drive formats?

[Mechanics55]

I just rebuilt my PC and installed my SSD. I put in my old hard drive to do a full format so I could re-use it as a data drive. Is it ok to keep using my PC while the drive formats?

 

[azaran]

Don't see any reason why you shouldn't. If you're doing a quick format, it'll only take a few seconds. If you're doing a full format its going to take a long time, but it shouldn't affect anything or be affected by anything you're doing on the computer.

 

[Mechanics55]

Don't see any reason why you shouldn't. If you're doing a quick format, it'll only take a few seconds. If you're doing a full format its going to take a long time, but it shouldn't affect anything or be affected by anything you're doing on the computer.

It's a full format. At this rate it'll be around another hour and a half. And the drive only had 200GB worth of data on it! I'd rather full format just to wipe EVERYTHING, I'm in no hurry.

 

[azaran]

Yeah then you'll be fine. Depending on the size of the drive it could take a few hours to sometime tomorrow. Also if you are looking to do a full wipe, not just a format, you can look at tools like Boot n Nuke that will do secure wipes.