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Spinpoint F4 (Advanced Format Technology) in XP then Win7

D

duragezic

Lifer
Earlier this year I bought a Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB. I remember it had some "Advanced Format Technology" where it had larger sectors or something. And to use it in XP, it required a tool for the new sector alignment or whatever.

But I installed the drive, it was detected, and I partitioned it and formatted it fine through Windows XP SP3 Disk Management. I copied some files over and it seemed to work fine. So I just left it alone and never got the utility.

I had formatted it in advance since I knew later on (now) I would be building a new rig and installing Windows 7 to the one OS/apps/games partition I made. So my question is, will the partitioning and formatting I did under Windows XP be valid with Windows 7? I want to know if Windows 7 setup will require it to redo the partition/format, therefore erasing the data I have stored on the other partition.

I looked on Samsung's site, and it's terrible. The info on this ATF and download link to the tool is no longer there, though it was when I bought the drive. There's just repeat FAQs on the same questions and using the drive with Windows 2000 (lol). The Samsung US site is even more useless and only lists SSDs.

Also, what in the heck happened to hard drive prices? 6 months ago I bought this drive for $70. Now it's $220 on Newegg and every other drive is 3x normal price.
 
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You may have problems transitioning, from what I've read the Win7 machine may not read it once formatted that way in XP...but who knows. I just sold 2 F4's because they weren't playing nice in my WHS v1 box...I sold them as the prices spiked, $25 each in about mint condition LOL.

Did you run the alignment tool when initially installing it? It will work the way it sounds like you did it, but with less than optimal performance. Also, there is a firmware update available to prevent certain loss of data situations.

edit: Thailand flooded. WD is under water, some of Seagate's parts suppliers as well, and Nidec (who makes 80% of drive motors). I bet it will be 2-3 years before we see prices back where they were.
 
I think what you are looking for is this:
Samsung Advanced Alignment Tool:
http://www.samsung.com/global/busine...t_in_aft.html#

For your setup (already formatted with XP) you will need to ensure that no HDD jumper (for WIN XP) is used, and the drive is aligned using the Samsung Alignment Tool (could take awhile if there is lots of data already on the drive). After that, the drive should work well with both XP & 7. Also, hence more, never mess with formatting or repartitioning using XP. Instead use Win 7 (needs at least SP1).

You may want to check the drive alignment with another tool such as:
http://diskat.net/home-en.html
 
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Yeah so it sounds like I would have to use that Samsung Alignment Tool before installing Win7, I guess it's not destructive though. But I think in that case I'll just let the Win7 setup re-partition and format the drive. Then it'll install the OS and it shouldn't need that alignment tool since it was done with Win7.

I just wanted to know that ahead of time so I can get an external drive or something to save the data currently on the 2TB drive.

Wow that flooding is crazy. Of course I knew about the flooding but I didn't think the hdd manufacturers had a presence there, especially Samsung being a Korean company. I guess it's not just them but their suppliers. Sure glad I did buy the drive then.
 
Fine, but just a couple points.

If you are going to redo the partitioning but instead using Win 7, backup your old data, THEN DELETE ALL PARTITIONS CREATED ON THE SAMSUNG WHICH WERE CREATED USING XP (ie, you want a raw drive).

WHEN PROCEEDING TO CREATE THE NEW PARTITIONS USING WIN 7, USE FULL FORMAT.

When completed. It is still a good practice to VERIFY the drive alignment (forums recommend this as sometimes Win 7 doesnt get it right). You can use the Samsung Align Tool for this verification (ie, when the align tool comes up and checks the disk, it will tell you its status whether or not it is aligned). If by some chance it is not, run the Align Tool to fix it. This should go pretty fast with empty partitions. It has been recommended to always use full format.

Remember, you will not use the Win XP jumper for the setup. Once complete, the disk will work optimally with both OSes.
 
Yep. I got the data backed up so I will use the Windows 7 setup to delete all partitions then recreate partitions, then do a full format. After Win7 is installed, I will use the Samsung Align Tool to check. If not, like you said, at that point the only data on the drive will be the OS on one partition and the other partition will be empty.

I didn't even realize there was a XP jumper... so I'll check that out before booting the Win7 Setup. Thanks!
 
From the Win7 setup, I removed both XP-created partitions and with the unallocated space, recreated two partitions (plus Win7 created that 100mb system reserve). I then clicked Format on both partitions although it was quite quick and it wasn't clear if it was a quick or full format.

After Win7 installed, I deleted the partitions on my other drive (backup) and recreated one. Then I ran the Samsung Align Tool and all partitions are aligned. Great!
 
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The stupid Samsungs don't have a jumper for XP compatibility btw. The jumper they have can set SATA speed but that's it. Replaced them with 2 WD20EARX, slapped the jumpers on and they are working fine.
 
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