Reformatting is the process of removing all data off of a hard drive, and then formatting the drive to accept information again. After the drive is formatted, the operating system, software applications, and personal files must be re-installed onto the hard drive.

Things to Consider Before Reformatting

Once a hard drive has been reformatted, all data that was on it before is permanently removed. Insight Broadband does not offer any form of support when it comes to reformatting your hard drive, but we do highly recommend that you make sure that you back up all of your data before proceeding. Some of the items you may wish to consider backing up before reformatting your hard drive include:

1. Personal data files

2. E-mail

3. Browser favorites or bookmarks

4. Browser cookies

Reformatting a hard drive is not for the inexperienced computer user, and Insight Broadband recommends that experienced computer repair technicians perform actions such as this.

How To Restore your Insight Broadband Service After Reformatting

Once your hard drive is reformatted, you will need to restore your Insight Broadband service. If you have installed any network cards or USB device drivers previously, you will need to reinstall those drivers again. Even though formatting your hard drive removed all of the data from your computer, you will notice that your high-speed Internet service works when you open your Web browser.

If you are unable to get back online after reformatting your hard drive, please power cycle your modem and routers (if you are using one with your home network).