formats - quick and normal?

[RicoDirenzo]

quick only erases the partition data. This inforamtion is used to find files on the drive. So the data is still on the drive but you os doesn't recognize it cus it doesn't know where the files are.

Which is the case with a format that doesn't use Fdisk. The only way to remove the existing partition pointers is to completely redefine the partition tables on that drive back to factory by using fdisk. And then the data remains anyway. You never completely delete the data. Even on a drive that has been reformated and fdisk has been run, any recovery software worth any salt can still recover files form that drive! So......quick = no chkdsk full = Chkdsk.....that's the extent of the whole thing. I cannot imagine a scenario where reformating using quick format and any prior data can cause a corrupted OS. Full is used to make sure that you are not writing data to a "defective" drive.