Commodore PC Ms-Dos 3.2 User's Manual page 132

60 MS-DOS User's Reference
The following table shows which switches you can use for certain \~s
types of disks:
U
u
Disk type
160/180KB
320/360KB
720KB
1.2KB
hard disk
Valid switches
/I /4 /8 /b
/1 /4 /8 /b
/n
/n
/n
/n
/t
/t
/t
/t
/v -
/v -
/v -
/v -
/v t
/ 5
/5
/5
/s
Format exit codes
Note Formatting destroys any previously existing data on a disk
and ignores drive assignments created with the assign command.
You should not format disks on drives used in the assign, join, or
subst commands, and you cannot format disks over a network.
Format returns the following exit codes:
0 Successful completion
3 Terminated by user (control-c)
4 Fatal error (any error other than 0, 3, or 5)
5 N response to hard disk prompt, "Proceed with format
(Y/N)?"
Formatting a floppy
disk
You can check these exit codes by using the errorlevel condition
with the if batch processing command.
Examples:
To format a floppy disk in drive A and put the operating system
on it, type the following:
format a: /s
And to format a floppy disk in drive A for use with data, type the
following:
format a: /v
The /v switch causes format to prompt you for a volume label.
You should type a label since it will help you identify the data
that the disk contains.
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