format 2 HDs or format one and then copy it?

[Timothy Daniels]

I have 2 new hard drives to format. Is it easier
(i.e. faster) to format each one individually, or
to format one and then copy its image to the
2nd drive? The OS is WinXP Pro, and I have
Drive Image, Partition Magic, and Maxtor's
MaxBlaster software. Is there a preferred
combination of software to do this?


*TimDaniels*

 

[Rod Speed]

I have 2 new hard drives to format. Is it easier
(i.e. faster) to format each one individually,
Generally.

or to format one and then copy its image to the 2nd drive?

Generally not.

The OS is WinXP Pro, and I have Drive Image, Partition
Magic, and Maxtor's MaxBlaster software. Is there a
preferred combination of software to do this?

Best to just format the drive using the OS.

And to stop being so obsessively anal.

 

[Cyborg-haf]

You would still have to format the receiving drive before being able to copy
a disk image to it. The disk has to be set up with a file system
(formatted) to be able to write data to it.
Herb

 

[Timothy Daniels]

You would still have to format the receiving drive
before being able to copy a disk image to it. The
disk has to be set up with a file system
(formatted) to be able to write data to it.

So one could "image", or "ghost" the image of, a partition
formatted in FAT32 to a partition formatted in FAT32
and vice versa?


*TimDaniels*

 

[Timothy Daniels]

[correction]

You would still have to format the receiving drive
before being able to copy a disk image to it. The
disk has to be set up with a file system
(formatted) to be able to write data to it.

So one could "image", or "ghost" the image of, a partition
formatted in NTFS to a partition formatted in FAT32
and from a FAT32 partition to an NTFS partition?


*TimDaniels*

 

[Groove]

Cyborg-haf said this...

You would still have to format the receiving drive before being able to
copy a disk image to it. The disk has to be set up with a file system
(formatted) to be able to write data to it.

This is not actually correct. When I use ghost to clone an existing hd to a
new factory-fresh disk it is not necessary to format in advance. The cloning
process formats and copies all in one.

 

[Lil' Dave]

"copying the image" means to create the partition(s), create the FAT(s), and
write the data accordingly to the FAT. This will create a formatted
partition(s).
Imaging does not rely on a preformatted partition to copy to.
Dave

 

[Timothy Daniels]

"copying the image" means to create the partition(s),
create the FAT(s), and write the data accordingly
to the FAT. This will create a formatted partition(s).
Imaging does not rely on a preformatted partition
to copy to.

That's what I suspected - imaging is at a lower
level than file copying and the formatting is
copied along with the data.


*TimDaniels*