More effecient formatting tool

C

Caelum Atra

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
May 24, 2001
Messages
2,039
I'm looking for a better version of format than the old faithful format.

I am trying to make my drive...unrecoverable. Not so much destroyed, cause I need to put XP back on it, but I need it to be as clean as it can be.

Do i just need to fill it up with other data and delete that data so the bits will be rewritten or am I SOL
 
Depending on the brand of drive, the manufacture probably makes a zero fill utility.

I know Western Digital does.
 
If your really paranoid
you cn use Wipeout

from a different HDD w\ windows and wipeout installed
delete all files and folders start wipeout>
Advanced Tab > Overwrite options > 32 times :p

then use one of the above to wipe the partition table, master file table and master boot record

overwriting data 32 times with various patterns would defeat even the NSA forensics department, and far exceeds the level for a secure erase for the DOD
 
Ice, how about the low-level format tools from Samsung and Seagate? I had a catastrophic HDD failure (80GB and 20GB.. both gone :(), and now I'm having trouble reading back from them, with invalid FATs. Will a low level format utility get them back up?
 
hmmm...actually the diagnostics would be better, Id say youd want to lock out any bad sectors, a low level format, followed by a diagnostic check, a format and a chkdsk /f

and why are you running FAT32?
 
Yeah, I know :(. I should have had NTFS from the beginning :eek: . Mistake corrected though... the new 120GB has NTFS :)
Okay.. how do I lock out the bad sectors? Scandisk, Thorough option? Which low-level format tool do you recommend?
And rest assured, these HDDs are coming back up with NTFS. One question more though, can you have FAT32 and NTFS partitions on the same HDD?
TIA
Bhairav.
 
Yes you can have FAT32 and NTFS on one HD. I boot Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 98 from one HD.
 
the 2 above (DBAN & Autoclave), or the manufacturers diagnostic
of course they arent "real" low level formatting utilities
there arent any of those anymore
they simply zero the drive

Low-Level Format, Zero-Fill and Diagnostic Utilities

Excerpts:
"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." :p

"When most users today talk about "low-level formatting" a drive, what they are really talking about is doing a zero-fill. That procedure will restore a functional drive (that is, one that does not have mechanical problems) to the condition it was in when received from the factory"

"True" 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. "

from the PCGuide



Hard Drive Architecture: Zones (Zoned Bit Recording)

Hard Disk Architecture: Servo Bursts

From As the Disk Spins @ Lost Circuits
Parentheses link PCGuide
 
Wow! Thanks,Ice. I'll zero them out with the stuff you mentioned.
Thanks again.
:)
 
Originally posted by Ice Czar
hmmm...actually the diagnostics would be better, Id say youd want to lock out any bad sectors, a low level format, followed by a diagnostic check, a format and a chkdsk /f
Click to expand...

What's the best way to lock out the bad sectors on a hard drive? I have a laptop Toshiba drive with a bunch of 'em, and as far as I can tell, Toshiba doesn't have a "LLF" or diagnostic utility.

Also, why would you need to use a diagnostic check followed by a chkdsk (both search for disk errors, right)?
 
Originally posted by MEfreak
diagnostic check followed by a chkdsk (both search for disk errors, right)?
Click to expand...

yup, just department of redundancy department
standard proceedure :p

the diagnostic would lockout any bad sectors at the HDD controller level, Error Management and Recovery (see defect mapping)

while the chkdsk command would lockout sectors at the OS filesystem level
Scanning for Filesystem Data Corruption

I searched the Toshiba site, and it seems your right
I didnt find a Diagnostic utility
 
Originally posted by Ice Czar
I searched the Toshiba site, and it seems your right
I didnt find a Diagnostic utility
Click to expand...

So does that mean I'm SOL with marking out the bad sectors on this drive? :confused:
 
actually if you look at that error management and recovery link
youll see that modern HDDs automatically do that (defect mapping) and substitute "spare" sectors for those lost

more or less if Toshiba actually doesnt offer a utility
it means they arent pandering to our delusions :p
it also means they dont require error codes,
probably because they arent doing alot of end user sales?

you can still zero out the drive with DBAN or Autoclave
which is a typical manufacturers utility, they also issue reports, and sometimes clone HDDs for easy upgrades, ect.
 
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