formatting a hard drive

[Dinah]

What is a low level format?

If you really want to start all over with a clean slate what steps do you take?

I have deleted the primary partition, created another and formatted a hard drive only to end up with some of my own settings for some parts of Windows after a clean install. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. For instance when I made my new dialup connection after a new, clean install of Windows98SE the protocols would be set-up like I had input them before (not the default ones). As well as I can remember there were some other little things that popped up like I had input them before - not the default settings. What gives?

Thanks for any info, Dinah

 

[mastertech01]

If you formatted the drive it should have wiped all data... I believe you are installing software from your ISP that inputs some of those settings for you. Thats the only explanation I can give for it. Low level formats can be very time consuming and arent recommended unless you are getting errors on the drive.

 

[Dinah]

Thanks MasterTech,

I do not use the software from my ISP. I go into DUN and Internet Explorer and input all of the settings needed. The settings that remained the same (for sure) that I remember after doing a format and using IBM's erase feature in DOS were in the DUN Server Types: logon to network, NetBEUI, and IPX/SPX compatible were all unchecked. The defaults are checked.

I just thought of something though! Okay, that's it! Duh! If you use the Internet Connection Wizard that comes with Windows, then it automatically unchecks those settings vs going in and making a connection in DUN and setting it up. Sorry, for being so stupid! Sometimes I use the Wizard and sometimes I don't.

I really would like to know what a low level format is. I usually boot up with a floppy, FDisk to delete the primary partion and create a new one, then I format the hard drive. I guess this isn't a low level format?

Thanks, Dinah

 

[zogg]

Dinah, If you ever bought a retail maxtor or western digital hard drive, they come with a floppy. The maxtor is called maxblast. I forget what the western digital is called. But you can low level format with the diagnostic program on those disks. You should test the hard drive first and then it will tell you a code that you can check with tech support. If it needs a low level you can do the write test. It writes all ones(1's) to every block on the drive. It could take hours on a big drive. A low level can done with Dos's Debug its in the windows/command folder. But I wouldnt do it unless you know what you are doing because you could render the drive useless with that antiquated dos program.

 

[urbantechie]

<< It writes all ones(1's) to every block on the drive >>


It writes 0's.




After a LLF, the HD is in the state when you first bought it.

 

[zogg]

whats the differnce if it writes all ones or zeros, it will still acheive the same thing wont it ? It's going to get the drive ready to accept any type of file system like fat or ntfs or hpfs or linux / unix type file systems or what ever as long as the drive is written over by ones or zeros.

 

[urbantechie]

Nope. A HDD writes data in 0s and 1s. 0 is totally blank. Just think of it, 0 is none..1 is something.

 

[Dinah]

Thank you for your answers.

My current hard drive is a 30g IBM Deskstar 75GXP and I had trouble with it right after the initial install of Windows and most of my programs. It was super quiet but I had heard some high pitched scratching type sounds. (I had installed a new 56X Afreey CD-ROM also and I at first thought that it was making the noise) When I went to run ScanDisk before defragging, the hard drive hung and really started making those scatching noises while checking the FATs, so then I realized that the hard drive might be bad.

I used IBM's DFT (drive fitness test) to check the drive and it showed to be defective. I called and had a new drive cross-shipped and in the mean time wanted to try and erase this hard drive. Well, after doing the Erase through the DFT (which took a really long time - don't know if that was a low level format or not) I decided to run the drive test again and it checked out all right. So, now I have two hard drives.

One of my friends has had trouble galore with a pieced together computer, and when you format the hard drive and install Windows it brings up a warning about writing over the Master Boot Sector. I thought maybe the low level format would help her problem.

Thanks again for your information, Dinah

 

[urbantechie]

Glad to hear you figured out your problem.

 

[zogg]

A 0 is not a blank...it's a logical low and a one is a logical high..........data on disks is in highs and lows ones and zeros..... I don't know where you got the idea a zero or low is nothing...its logical state which is a valid peice of data.

 

[urbantechie]

Well...i'm not an expert, but in WDCLEAR, the option is to WRITE ZEROS TO THE DRIVE.



(no flame or yelling inteneded)

 

[zogg]

allright..I dont mean to flame either...In maxblast it writes all 1's

 

[mastertech01]

There are two types of disk formatting: low-level and high-level. These are both done in the preparation of a hard drive for use. First, one low-level formats, then partitions, then high-level formats. A low-level format turns the platter from a blank slate to a divided slate. It defines the data areas, creates tracks, separates into sectors, and writes the ID numbers to each sector. What you kind gentlemen describe is disk erasing, using all zeros or all ones. This can be done with one pass or a multitude of passes to achieve a complete WIPE of the drive

 

[urbantechie]

<< using all zeros or all ones >>


Guess we were both right!

 

[SemperFi]

I have had the same strange happenings on a supposed clean install. In the past I used the Western Digital tools and write 0's to the drive. After doing so the defalts were what is expected. I just installed a IBM about a month ago and haven't used their utilites except to change to ata 100.

 

[mastertech01]

The utility I have writes zeros also. I had a bunch of tiny bad sectors on a drive right after shipping..it was a fresh drive...I just did the zero write erase program from IBM and it works perfectly now. And time wise it was MUCH faster than a Low Level Format

 

[rmblam]

Slightly related:

Drive Name: Deskstar, Deskstar 75GXP, Deskstar 40GV, Deskstar 37GP, Deskstar 34GXP, Deskstar 22GXP, Deskstar 25GP, Travelstar, Ultrastar 18XP, Ultrastar 18ES, Ultrastar 18ZX, Ultrastar 36XP, Ultrastar 36ZX, Ultrastar 36LZX
Disk Controller: n/a
BIOS manufacturer: n/a
BIOS level: n/a
Operating system: Windows 98
Hardware system: n/a

Scandisk or Defrag refuses to run and generates an &quot;Out of Memory&quot; error when a drive over 16.8GB is installed and formatted with one large FAT32 partition, but it runs fine if partitioned into smaller FAT32 partitions.

This is a cluster size problem. With 16.8 GB to 33.6GB partitions the default cluster size is 16KB per cluster rather than usual size of 4KB per cluster in partitions below 8.4GB and 8KB per cluster in 8.4GB to 16.8GB partitions.

Some older programs set the cluster size to 4KB by default for any size partition. This increases the size of each fat copy dramatically, causing problems with Scandisk and Defrag. For example, old versions of Ghost (5.1b), or EZ Drive, or Partition Magic.

The fix is to backup any required data and repartition the drive using newer software such as Drive Guide, Disk Manager or Fdisk/Format. After this, install Windows then Scandisk and Defrag should run without errors. The cluster size and fat size will now be the defaults based on partition size.