How Does Formatting a Hard Drive Increase Computer Performance?

When a computer's hard drive is formatted or reformatted, all data on the disk is completely erased and a fresh copy of the system's operating system is reinstalled. Even after all of the operating system files have been copied on to the formatted drive, you will notice a considerable larger amount of free space on your hard drive. This extra room is the result of the formatting process deleting unnecessary system files that were previously taking up space on the hard drive. Computers run faster and more efficiently when there is more room on the hard drive, so formatting the drive can increase the computer's performance in terms of data storage.

Performance often increases because all system files are in a working state. After years of computer use, different files and coding that run the operating system can become corrupted, which can significantly slow down many functions of the computer. Hard drive utility applications can sometimes clean and repair these files, but the easiest way to boost performance is to do a complete format of the hard drive and reinstall all necessary files, returning them to their uncorrupted state.

Computer viruses and other malicious software do not always make themselves visible to the user, but they can be roaming the system's hard drive and damaging important files. Spyware and viruses can be very harmful to a computer's overall performance, and although virus scanners and other utility programs can help to remove these malicious items, they are not always successful. However, reformatting a hard drive deletes all files on a computer, including the harmful ones, and returns the system to peak performance.