Hard Disk Upgrade Mini How-To
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# 5. Format the new disk

Use the following command to format Linux partitions using ext2fs on the new disk:

    mkfs.ext2 /dev/hdb1

To check the disk for bad blocks (physical defects), add the `-c` option just before `/dev/hdb1`.

If the new disk will have more than one Linux partition, format the other partitions with mkfs.ext2 /dev/hdb2, mkfs.ext2 /dev/hdb3, and so on. Add the `-c` option if desired.

> Note: With older distributions, the command mkfs -t ext2 -c /dev/hdb1 didn't check for bad blocks under any of Red Hat, Debian or Slackware, contrary to what the man page stated. This has now been fixed.

To format a swap partition, use this command:

    mkswap /dev/hdb1

Again, you can add the `-c` option before `/dev/hdb1` to check for bad blocks.

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Partition the new disk |  | Mount the new disk