Clear-Disk

Clear-Disk

Cleans a disk by removing all partition information and un-initializing it, erasing all data on the disk.

Syntax

Parameter Set: ByNumber
Clear-Disk [-Number] <UInt32[]> [-AsJob] [-CimSession <CimSession[]> ] [-PassThru] [-RemoveData] [-RemoveOEM] [-ThrottleLimit <Int32> ] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [ <CommonParameters>]

Parameter Set: ByName
Clear-Disk [-AsJob] [-CimSession <CimSession[]> ] [-FriendlyName <String[]> ] [-PassThru] [-RemoveData] [-RemoveOEM] [-ThrottleLimit <Int32> ] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [ <CommonParameters>]

Parameter Set: ByPath
Clear-Disk -Path <String[]> [-AsJob] [-CimSession <CimSession[]> ] [-PassThru] [-RemoveData] [-RemoveOEM] [-ThrottleLimit <Int32> ] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [ <CommonParameters>]

Parameter Set: ByUniqueId
Clear-Disk -UniqueId <String[]> [-AsJob] [-CimSession <CimSession[]> ] [-PassThru] [-RemoveData] [-RemoveOEM] [-ThrottleLimit <Int32> ] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [ <CommonParameters>]

Parameter Set: InputObject (cdxml)
Clear-Disk -InputObject <CimInstance[]> [-AsJob] [-CimSession <CimSession[]> ] [-PassThru] [-RemoveData] [-RemoveOEM] [-ThrottleLimit <Int32> ] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [ <CommonParameters>]

Detailed Description

The Clear-Disk cmdlet clears the disk by removing the partition and volume information.

If the disk contains active data volumes, then the RemoveData parameter is required as this will delete all data from the specified disk. This cmdlet will not clear OEM recovery partitions unless ForceOEM parameter is also specified.

Parameters

-AsJob

-CimSession<CimSession[]>

Runs the cmdlet in a remote session or on a remote computer. Enter a computer name or a session object, such as the output of a New-CimSession or Get-CimSession cmdlet. The default is the current session on the local computer.

-FriendlyName<String[]>

Specifies a friendly name of the disk to clear.

-InputObject<CimInstance[]>

Specifies the disk object to clear. Enter a Disk CIM object, which you can get by using the Get-Disk cmdlet.

-Number<UInt32[]>

Specifies the disk number of the disk on which to perform the clear operation. For a list of available disks, see the Get-Disk cmdlet.

-PassThru

Specifies that the cmdlet should output an object representing a disk. By default, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

-Path<String[]>

Specifies the path of the disk to clear.

-RemoveData

Enabes the removal of all of the data on the disk.

-RemoveOEM

Enables the removal of any OEM recovery partitions from the disk.

-ThrottleLimit<Int32>

Specifies the maximum number of concurrent operations that can be established to run the cmdlet. If this parameter is omitted or a value of 0 is entered, then Windows PowerShell® calculates an optimum throttle limit for the cmdlet based on the number of CIM cmdlets that are running on the computer. The throttle limit applies only to the current cmdlet, not to the session or to the computer.

-UniqueId<String[]>

Specifies the UniqueID of the disk to clear.

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Verbose, -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -OutBuffer, and -OutVariable. For more information, see    about_CommonParameters (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=113216).

Inputs

The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet.

• Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#ROOT/Microsoft/Windows/Storage/MSFT_Disk

  You can pipe a Disk object to the InputObject parameter.

Outputs

The output type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet emits.

• Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#ROOT/Microsoft/Windows/Storage/MSFT_Disk

  When you specify the Passthru parameter, this cmdlet outputs an object representing the disk that you cleared.

Notes

• The Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance object is a wrapper class that displays Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) objects. The path after the pound sign (#) provides the namespace and class name for the underlying WMI object.

Examples

Example 1: Clear a blank disk

This example clears disk number one only if it does not contain both data or OEM partitions.

PS C:\> Clear-Disk -Number 1

Example 2: Clear a disk with data partitions

This example clears the disk if it has data partitions, but not if it also has OEM partitions.

PS C:\> Clear-Disk -Number 1 –RemoveData

Clear a disk with data and OEM partitions

This example clears the disk regardless of whether it contains data or OEM partitions.

PS C:\> Clear-Disk -Number 1 -RemoveData –RemoveOEM

Related topics

Format-Volume

Get-Disk

Initialize-Disk

New-Partiton

Set-Disk

Update-Disk