• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Low Level Format is SLOW!

E

EnderW

[H]F Junkie
2FA
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
11,430
In an attempt to get my video card working (see thread here) I decided to low level format my hard drive (a Maxtor 120GB, 7200RPM, 8MB buffer, ATA)

First, I tried the MaxBlast software from Maxtor, but it kept saying my dirve wasn't recognized.

So, then I tried AutoClave, and I couldn't even get it to run.

So, I went to DBAN, and I was able to get it started. I set if for a quick format, only one pass, nothing fancy. This was the setting the program recommended for 'internal redeployment' - which just means if you are going to be reusing the disk.

Well anyway, I started it, and it was going extremely slow. It took 30 minutes to get to 1%, so I estimated that it would take the better part of a day to finish.

I read the FAQ on the DBAN website, and one if the questions was 'Is it supposed to take this long?' which was answered with a simple 'Yes,' but ~20 hours for a one-pass format? That's crazy, I'm sure glad I didn't pick the 35 pass method.
 
Just for the record, doing a low level format isnt a good idea whatsoever on an ATA drive.

A low level format physically defines placement of every 0 and 1 on that drive. You have a large drive so it should definately be taking a long time. It's not the software, its the drive.
 
Actually I think he's really doing a zero fill, not a low level format. Seems to be a lot of confusion between these two lately.
 
Originally posted by tdg
Actually I think he's really doing a zero fill, not a low level format. Seems to be a lot of confusion between these two lately.
Click to expand...
Yeah, my bad.
 
yup its a "fake" low level format

its not even possible to do a real low level format anymore (on modern drives), its all done in factory only

zero fills do take a long time, especially with a big drive

did you see this?
http://dban.sourceforge.net/faq/index.html
Q: I have a new Intel motherboard. Why is DBAN slow?

A: The exact reason is unknown as of 2003-08-02.

Users have been reporting performance problems with Intel motherboards manufactured in the last four months, specifically those with the Springdale chipset. A fix is not currently available, but the problem will likely be resolved with a driver update


:
 
Originally posted by Ice Czar
yup its a "fake" low level format

its not even possible to do a real low level format anymore (on modern drives), its all done in factory only

zero fills do take a long time, especially with a big drive

did you see this?
http://dban.sourceforge.net/faq/index.html
Q: I have a new Intel motherboard. Why is DBAN slow?

A: The exact reason is unknown as of 2003-08-02.

Users have been reporting performance problems with Intel motherboards manufactured in the last four months, specifically those with the Springdale chipset. A fix is not currently available, but the problem will likely be resolved with a driver update
Click to expand...
I missed that. I have an 875 Intel board, which isn't a Springdale chipset, but is pretty similiar.

Thanks.

BTW, it took 19 hours, and didn't fix my problem :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top