format a windows partition from linux hadrdisk

Oh, here's the quickest way to make ext2/ext3 filesystem from an existing windows partition of your linux-enabled harddrive.

First step is to make sure your windows partition is not currently mounted.

Let'us use an alternative way like

# df -ah

which shows file system disk space usage. Sample result

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00
17G 13G 3.7G 78% /
proc 0 0 0 - /proc
sysfs 0 0 0 - /sys
devpts 0 0 0 - /dev/pts
/dev/sda1 99M 12M 82M 13% /boot
tmpfs 248M 0 248M 0% /dev/shm
none 0 0 0 - /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
/dev/sda4 19G 6.5G 13G 35% /win
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

# mount -l

that shows currently mounted partitions and devices. You'll see similar lines

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 on / type ext3 (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
/dev/sda1 on /boot type ext3 (rw) [/boot]
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
/dev/sda4 on /win type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,blksize=4096)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

# fdisk -l

now shows us all available and detected storage devices and their corresponding partitions like

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disk /dev/sda: 40.0 GB, 40019582464 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 14 2431 19422585 8e Linux LVM
/dev/sda4 * 2432 4864 19543072+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, the windows partitioned needs to be umount before we proceed making it as ext2/ext3 filesystem. As root

# umount /dev/sda4
# mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda4

Why /dev/sda4? Check out the result of your fdisk -l and current mounted points. This partition
is also the partition we want to initialize and reformat with linux ext3 filesystem.

More details
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
mke2fs 1.39 (29-May-2006)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
2443200 inodes, 4885768 blocks
244288 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=0
150 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
16288 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000

Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 31 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Simply remount it

# mkdir /mnt/newdisk
# mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/newdisk

And make the newly mounted partition permanently by adding similar lines to /etc/fstab

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/dev/sda4 /mnt/windows ext3 defaults 0 0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/dev/sda4 = your newly formatted partition
/mnt/windows = mount points
ext3 = filesystem type
0 0 = which means fsck does not need to check it


# cd /mnt/windows
# ls -la

That is all.