low level format

GiLtY

Golden Member
Sep 10, 2000
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first of all, if i post this in the wrong section of the forum, im sorry....... thought this is part of the hardware section :)

anyways recently my computer has been developing bad sectors, and it's out of control, tried to reformat with the recovery cd that came with computer, doesnt help at all. and my friend told me about low level format, i went online and did some research, and i just got more confused. there's zero-fill and low level format, i just don't know which one to use, and what are the disadventages of using them.

glad to have any suggestions
 

Semimaker

Member
Dec 13, 2000
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The drive is on the nose dive...

Buy a new one.
I wouldn't bother trying to do anything with it unless it is purely for research.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
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if the drive is relatively new (still under warranty) ... you should apply for an RMA ... to get a replacement ...

I've had a Maxtor die out on me before once before the warranty expired.

If the drive is so old the warranty has expired ... you can get one much bigger for around 100 bucks ....

 

GiLtY

Golden Member
Sep 10, 2000
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well, i'd like to do a last struggle with my hd be4 i abandon it.. is it recommanded to do a low level format on my own?
 

etech

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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My limited experience with hard drives that start developing bad sectors is that it is time to RMA it or get a new one. They do not get better.

A low level format will not help the drive that much, more and more sectors will contine to show up as bad.
 

hominid skull

Senior member
Nov 13, 1999
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A low level format will wipe all the bad sectors from the drive, but the underlying problem will still be there. Semimaker is right, the Drive is on it's way out probably. If you know the make of the HD then you could go to the manufacturers Web site and download a drive fitness - or similar - test for the HD, most manufacturers do them these days, it will tell you if the drive is buggered, hopefully.

 

GiLtY

Golden Member
Sep 10, 2000
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how can i check the make of the hd without taking the case off, im not the kind of person that is good with hardware, so is there any kind of software that'll tell me?
 

hominid skull

Senior member
Nov 13, 1999
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If you click on control panel, click on the system applet - a system properties window will appear. Click the device manager tab, you will see a list of all the devices attached to your computer, double click disk drives and you HD will hopefully be listed there. Sometimes it might be listed as a generic type 47 Disk, if this is true then your only other option is to remove the case and physically have a look at the drive.
 

GiLtY

Golden Member
Sep 10, 2000
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i did what you told me, and i see a generic IDE disk type01, under the manufacture, it says "standard disk drives", am i looking at the right thing or i really have to open up the case?
 

hominid skull

Senior member
Nov 13, 1999
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It sound like you are going to have to open the case, it's not as bad as it seems, although if you have bought the computer as is you might be messing with the warrantee. Just take your time..
 

GiLtY

Golden Member
Sep 10, 2000
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the warranty expired a year ago, i should've continued the warranty...... :(
 

hominid skull

Senior member
Nov 13, 1999
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The warrantee on the drive might still be ok, some - if not most - have a three year manufacturers warrantee.. Have a look at the drive, see who built it, and see if you can find out how long there warrantee is, you might still be in luck.
 

Lalakai

Golden Member
Nov 30, 1999
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a low level format might correct the problems unless the read-write heads are the problem.

a low lever format isn't real fun and takes a bit of time. the biggest precautions are an adequate boot disk, make certain you have the original program disks, and some good documentation doesn't hurt. you may have downloaded a virus that's eatting at your hd or the command sector in which case a reformat will fix it. with the consideration in mind, be careful what you try and back up before you do the format, so that you don't recopy the virus back onto the clean hd.

if you're gonna write the hd off, do it as a learning experience and you might even come up with something salvagable. if not, you'll have some addition experience and might be able to help someone else on the forum.

good luck
 

GiLtY

Golden Member
Sep 10, 2000
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well virus shouldn't be the problem, i update my .dat files very often(almost like every week), so i don't think it's the virus thats causing the troubles. good thing bout hp is, it has the recovery disk that contains all the original programs:)

and i have another question about getting to BIOS, i have a HP4540, and my friend told me that press del when the comp boots, it'll get you to the bios. That didn't happen to mine, instead i press esc, and a lil screen pop up with "removable disks" and other 3 things, one of them is "hard drive", i highlighted it and i press enter, and nothing happen, can anyone tell me what nothing's happening, or im looking at the wrong thing
 

GiLtY

Golden Member
Sep 10, 2000
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is the recovery good enough? or i need to back up ALL the files on the computer, and is
zero-fill any different than low level format?
 

jamarno

Golden Member
Jul 4, 2000
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this place has an old DOS based utility called MH-IDE that can show what kind of drive you have, but I believe you have to boot to DOS to make it work right.

Try the web sites of the drive manufacturers for their own diagnostic utilities because sometimes they can restore drives to full working order when no other software can, as I've foudn with some Maxtor and WD drives. But you hear any abnormal clicking or knocking sounds from your drive, it's probably gone bad for good.

With modern IDE drives there's often little difference between a zero-fill and a low-level format, but some LLF programs can replace bad sectors with hidden spares.

BTW, CompUSA today and tomorrow has a 40gig Maxtor for $99 after $50 rebate.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
As I understand it, some of the old DOS low-level format tools would completely erase a disk, including sector info, then re-write everything from scratch. Do not use this kind of utility on a modern disk, they aren't made the same and will likely be destroyed.

As others have said, back up all your important stuff, yesterday, crack the case open and find out what kind of HDD you have. Go to the manufacturer's website and download their disk utility, follow their instructions to put it on a bootable floppy, and work from there. These utilities write to and read back from the entire disk, disabling bad sectors as they go. Scandisk doesn't work this way, and can easily mistake bad data for a bad disk.

You will need to do this in any case, the manufacturers I've dealt with will want you to do it before they issue any RMA unless the drive is just plain dead, or has smoke coming out of it.

Spinrite is a highly recommended professional-level tool, but you pretty much need to be a sysadmin or repair pro to justify the cost.

If you are terribly apprehensive about doing this stuff, just take it to a repair shop, AFTER you make backups.