[redsniper]

I must know. Is it safe to do to a new SATA hard drive?

[mikhael]

Don't Low Level Format unless you've got a damned good reason to.

Low level formatting lays out the tracks and sectors on the drive. There's no reason for you to do this unless you've horked it hardcore.

You want to do a REGULAR format.

[ChronoReverse]

In other words, do a format using the FORMAT command.

Don't do anything else that feels complicated or is called low-level formatting in any way.

[Flipside]

Welcome to one of the scariest moments of your life hehehehe

[an0n]

I thought a low-level was when it just 'removed' all the file info. A normal was when it screwed all the data. And a thorough was when it went through and completely re-did the surface of the drive.

?

[Ashrak]

Format erases all data ... lowlevel kills data clusters ETC and remakes em" - " ofcourse

[mikhael]

Quick format: just zero out the file allocation table
Full Format: Quick Format, plus some other stuff that I can't quite remember

Low Level Format: What the FACTORY does to set up your hard drive for you. Only applies to fixed disks (IE Hard drives). Usually done from within software supplied only on the boot disk that came with the hard drive or, in the case of a SCSI drive, a program contained within the SCSI BIOS. This type of format will take you, at a minimum, several hours, usually more like ten to twelve hours for larger drives, and is absolutely the wrong thing to use 999999 out of 1000000 times you need to do a format of any sort.

[karajorma]

Hmmmm. Come to think of it I think it might be worth trying a low level format with that old laptop I have lying about (It doesn't work at the moment and I think the hard drive is royally screwed so it won't hurt to try )

If I don't have the disk that came with the laptop where could I get software to do it from?

[redsniper]

well, it's a good thing I didn't low level format it then...

[Xelion]

Whats this pussy sh**... A low level format is just wiping your hard drive clean.. and when I mean clean I mean it! No Windows, no DOS, not even a piece of the recycle bin left on. It does not or should not damage your hard drive.

When I first put my computer together several weeks back, I had problems setting up software and partitions, just the general setup of things and how conflicts arise and the rest of that sort of stuff I had to figure out. Through this process of mine I done this low-level format about 6 times if not more until I got the damn thing setup right . The format took me less than an hour for my Samsung 80GB SATA 150 hard drive. If I think about it this format is the most simple one I've done in my life. It asked me roughly 2-3 times if I was sure to format and warned me just about as much what happens: 'you will lose all data on this hard disk' blah.. So I don't think its something to be worried about

[Grey Wolf]

That wasn't a low-level format then.

[Xelion]

Samsung
This is a low-level format: The process of creating sectors on the media so that a drive can store information.

and thats what I done!

[Grey Wolf]

Hmm... Something seems wrong here. Either the program lied, or something rather interesting is going on inside your drive.

[mikhael]

Do children these days even go to school anymore? Jesus. Don't argue with people who were working with hard drives before you were born. Xelion:

Low-Level Formatting

Low-level formatting is the process of outlining the positions of the tracks and sectors on the hard disk, and writing the control structures that define where the tracks and sectors are. This is often called a "true" formatting operation, because it really creates the physical format that defines where the data is stored on the disk. The first time that a low-level format ("LLF") is performed on a hard disk, the disk's platters start out empty. That's the last time the platters will be empty for the life of the drive. If an LLF is done on a disk with data on it already, the data is permanently erased (save heroic data recovery measures which are sometimes possible).

If you've explored other areas of this material describing hard disks, you have learned that modern hard disks are much more precisely designed and built, and much more complicated than older disks. Older disks had the same number of sectors per track, and did not use dedicated controllers. It was necessary for the external controller to do the low-level format, and quite easy to describe the geometry of the drive to the controller so it could do the LLF. Newer disks use many complex internal structures, including zoned bit recording to put more sectors on the outer tracks than the inner ones, and embedded servo data to control the head actuator. They also transparently map out bad sectors. Due to this complexity, all modern hard disks are low-level formatted at the factory for the life of the drive. There's no way for the PC to do an LLF on a modern IDE/ATA or SCSI hard disk, and there's no reason to try to do so.

Older drives needed to be re-low-level-formatted occasionally because of the thermal expansion problems associated with using stepper motor actuators. Over time, the tracks on the platters would move relative to where the heads expected them to be, and errors would result. These could be corrected by doing a low-level format, rewriting the tracks in the new positions that the stepper motor moved the heads to. This is totally unnecessary with modern voice-coil-actuated hard disks.

Warning: You should never attempt to do a low-level format on an IDE/ATA or SCSI hard disk. Do not try to use BIOS-based low-level formatting tools on these newer drives. A modern disk can usually be restored to "like-new" condition by using a zero-fill utility.

Low Level Formatting is NOT just 'erasing' the data, you schmuck.

[Xelion]

I wish I had a digital camera to prove what I just said, because in the SATA RAID utility it says "Low Level Format" if I could take a screenshot I would. And this utility is outside of Windows XP! mikhael I know most of what you said is true already and all I said was that it does wipe all data on the HDD, there wasn't a need for saying anything else.

[mikhael]

Yep. There's a "Low Level Format" option in the SCSI bios on my wife's computer and in the SATA utility for my motherboard. That doesn't invalidate anything though.

"rm -rf /" or "del /y /s c:\" will wipe all the data on your hard drive too, but neither of those things is a "Format". Using a bulk tape eraser will wipe all the data on your drive, but again, that's not a 'format'. There's a difference between 'low level' formats, 'quick' formats, 'high level' formats, and just erasing the drive. Ignorant people seem to think that a plain formatting of your drive is a 'low level' format, and that is exactly WRONG, as in NOT RIGHT, not even SORTA RIGHT. ITs dead, 100% wrong.

So yeah, there WAS a need to say something else, because stupidity needs to be corrected.

[Xelion]

As I'm not 100% with all this, whats the best way to format a hard drive including windows? (Thats not quick)

[mikhael]

Right click on the drive in question and select 'format'.

If you prefer, on Win2k or XP, go to the drive manager and right click on the volume and select 'format'.

In either case, there will be a checkbox for a quick format. Make sure its cleared and click OK.

[adwight]

What exactly would that do mikhael?

[Xelion]

Originally posted by mikhael
Right click on the drive in question and select 'format'.

Thats what I done after installing Windows XP Professional for each partition

So your saying you can format windows within windows?