[kasperl]

nope.

in that case, boot from a DOS disk, and type format C if it's a FAT drive. Otherwise, you'll need a different OS bootdisk, for windows: XP, NT or 2k. *nix probably could do it as well, but i am not sure about NTFS support of some *nix systems, and i know nothing about most of them.

[Xelion]

I'm familar with Windows 98 having a Dos but I thought Windows XP doesn't??

On another note I built my computer from scratch so there is not a boot disk or cd, it has only one Hard Drive, and its a SATA. This complicates matters because current boards don't support plug'n play with SATA drives. This means that drivers are required for installation before being able to install Windows XP. I think this makes the format options available different to IDE drives.

[SadisticSid]

That doesn't mean plug'n'play doesn't work with them, simply that the drivers for the SATA controller aren't included on the WinXP CD.

[mikhael]

During the WinXP setup, it gives you the opportunity to load drivers for RAID, SCSI, and other drive controllers. You need to give it the floppy (or CD) with the driver at that point.

[Stealth]

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

low leveling usually takes hours and hours. days sometimes.

[Xelion]

Originally posted by Stealth
low leveling usually takes hours and hours. days sometimes.

[/color]
I did say earlier...

Originally posted by Xelion
The format took me less than an hour for my Samsung 80GB SATA 150 hard drive. AND because in the SATA RAID utility it says "Low Level Format"

[/color]
and things do progress...

Originally posted by SadisticSid
That doesn't mean plug'n'play doesn't work with them, simply that the drivers for the SATA controller aren't included on the WinXP CD.

[/color]
I meant hot plug support Sorry

A7N8X-E Deluxe User Guide Book
Important notes on Serial ATA solution:

• Hot plug support for Serial ATA drive and connections are not available in this motherboard
• Install Windows XP Service Pack 1 when using Serial ATA

[/B]

[/color]

Originally posted by mikhael
During the WinXP setup, it gives you the opportunity to load drivers for RAID, SCSI, and other drive controllers. You need to give it the floppy (or CD) with the driver at that point.

[/color]
Thats what Asus told me as well

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Xelion

and things do progress...

Yeah, but they don't progress to the point where something that takes a dead minimum of SEVERAL HOURS, POSSIBLY DAYS takes less than SEVERAL HOURS, POSSIBLY DAYS.

See, its a "DEAD MINIMUM" for a reason. If you're doing a low level format in a few minutes, or even less than an hour, your drive isn't doing a low level format. Period.

[Xelion]

Originally posted by mikhael
Yeah, but they don't progress to the point where something that takes a dead minimum of SEVERAL HOURS, POSSIBLY DAYS takes less than SEVERAL HOURS, POSSIBLY DAYS.

See, its a "DEAD MINIMUM" for a reason. If you're doing a low level format in a few minutes, or even less than an hour, your drive isn't doing a low level format. Period.

[/color]
Have you considered the fact that the 'Low-Level Format' for SATA drives may have been revised somewhat or perhaps the fact that a SATA 150 would be FASTER to a ATA66 or even ATA100. Remembering that IDE cables work differently to SATA cables. If you know the difference between those two technologies you would be surprised .
All I'm saying is what the hardware is saying, it says a 'Low-Level Format' so I believe that and it takes under an hour. So I've contacted one of my friends I used to go to college with, he currently works at Samsung in Sydney, so I'll await his response.

[mikhael]

Yes, I've considered that.  If you know how a hard drive works, you'd know that the limiting factor is NOT the interface. The limitation is in how fast you can give order to a bunch of iron oxide particulates on the substrate.

Low level formatting does not involve slinging around data: its a single bitcode passed to the integrated electronics telling THEM to do the format.

If you're getting a low-level format done in under an hour, you are getting a no-op or the LLF programming is hamstrung in some way:

Modern hard drives are low-level formatted at the factory for the life of the drive. A PC can not perform an LLF on a modern IDE/ATA or SCSI hard disk, and doing so would destroy the hard disk. Older MFM drives could be low-level formatted to extend the life of the disk, but modern hard drives no longer use MFM technology.

Or perhaps this will explain things a bit better for you:

Low-level formatting an older hard disk could be a rather complicated procedure, particularly for one who was not very familiar with PCs and hard disks. Various factors needed to be taken into account, such as defect mapping and setting the interleave factor. The particular conditions of the drive when formatting were also important: due to the vagaries of stepper-motor actuators, doing an LLF when the drive was very cold or very hot could lead to errors when the drive returned to a more normal temperature. Even the orientation of the drive when it was formatted was an issue.

As I have said (probably too often, sorry) modern drives do not need to be low-level formatted by the end user, and in fact cannot be LLFed outside the factory due to their precision and complexity. However, it seems that the need to LLF hard disks on the part of users has never gone away. Like some primordial instinct, many PC users seem to have a fundamental desire to LLF their modern disks. Maybe it is built into the genetic code in some way yet undiscovered. In fact, even if it were possible, the vast majority of the time that someone "needs" to LLF a hard disk today, it is not really necessary. Many users jump quickly to wanting to try an "LLF" whenever they have a problem with their hard disk, much the way many jump to re-installing their operating system whenever it gives them trouble.

Hard drive manufacturers have created for modern drives replacements for the old LLF utilities. They cause some confusion, because they are often still called "low-level format" utilities. The name is incorrect because, again, no utility that a user can run on a PC can LLF a modern drive. A more proper name for this sort of program is a zero-fill and diagnostic utility. This software does work on the drive at a low level, usually including the following functions (and perhaps others):

• Drive Recognition Test: Lets you test to see if the software can "see" the drive. This is the first step in ensuring that the drive is properly installed and connected.
• Display Drive Details: Tells you detailed information about the drive, such as its exact model number, firmware revision level, date of manufacture, etc.
• Test For Errors: Analyzes the entire surface of the hard disk, looking for problem areas (bad sectors) and instructing the integrated drive controller to remap them.
• Zero-Fill: Wipes off all data on the drive by filling every sector with zeroes. Normally a test for errors (as above) is done at the same time.

[Stealth]

Originally posted by mikhael

If you're doing a low level format in a few minutes, or even less than an hour, your drive isn't doing a low level format. Period.

yeah. particularly if you're doing a 150GB hard drive.

if it takes you anywhere less than 12 hours, you're not doing it right

[Flaser]

I could do an LLF at roughly 45-120 mins.

This was with an old dirve of 650-850 Mbyte capacity.

150 Gbyte - under an hour? NO F***N WAY. Period.

However it's good the issue came up since some of us lesser PC Gurus were given a good lecture about the state of hardware in hour technoshocking age.