Will formatting a CD free up space?

[Xorph]

I found the only (almost) blank CD in my entire house, and I'm putting some songs on it. However, I noticed in My Computer it lists the disk as having 232mb of 650mb free, despite the only thing on the disk being 80mb of old DOS games. I read formatting the disk will free up space since it deletes everything on it, but in the format menu it lists that the capacity of the formatted disk will be 232mb. Will formatting it free up the other 400mb or remove the DOS stuff without actually freeing up more space? All help appreciated

 

[Tharwen]

You can't remove data from most disks. Presumably, what the format will do is simply hide the original data and pretend that the remaining space is the entire disk.