question on low level formats

[Rage Skywolfe]

I have heard from various sources about doing low level formats. what is that
exactly? and is there any particular way to reformat a hard drive? also. is
creating a partition from the windows disk the right way to repartition or is
there supposed to be another way to start fresh.

 

[Malke]

I have heard from various sources about doing low level formats. what is
that exactly? and is there any particular way to reformat a hard drive?
also. is creating a partition from the windows disk the right way to
repartition or is there supposed to be another way to start fresh.

Low-level formats are from the olden days of computing and aren't applicable
to modern hard drives. This article will tell you everything you want to
know about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_formatting

Let me suggest an invaluable tool for answering questions like yours:
Google. For instance, I used this search term:

"what is low level format"

and among the first few of the 1.5 million hits was that excellent Wikipedia
article.

As for the last part of your message, when you want to reinstall Windows,
delete the partition(s), create a new one(s), and format during the
installation routine. Normally doing a Quick Format is sufficient. The full
format checks the hard drive thoroughly and so takes much longer. I do the
full format if the drive is a) brand-new - because hard drives can fail out
of the box; or b) rather elderly and I want to be sure it's OK.

Malke

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

ok another question I have is it is recommended for things like rootkits that
are on the system to do format and reinstalls. does this include partition
delete as well? or just reformating. and also does a partition delete start
the drive from fresh?

 

[John John (MVP)]

I have heard from various sources about doing low level formats. what is that
exactly?

An antique procedure that went out with the steam engine... No modern
drive ever needs to be low level formated, this is a bit of a mute point
because its something that users can't do on modern drives. Some people
incorrectly equate zero filling a drive with low level formatting.

and is there any particular way to reformat a hard drive? also. is
creating a partition from the windows disk the right way to repartition or is
there supposed to be another way to start fresh.

If you want to cleanly install Windows then boot with the Windows CD and
when you get to the disk/partition selection screen you can remove and
recreate partitions if you need to and you can format your installation
partition at the same screen. Unless you have compelling reasons to do
otherwise you should always install Windows XP on an NTFS formated drive.

John

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

alright that is what I was wondering. I kind of thought that could be done
from the xp disk and I am glad it can be done that way. for months I never
knew you could do that as it was completly different with windows 98 in
having to use the Format C: command I am curious though. does the same
formating procedure work with vista as it does with xp?

 

[Malke]

ok another question I have is it is recommended for things like rootkits
that are on the system to do format and reinstalls. does this include
partition delete as well? or just reformating. and also does a partition
delete start the drive from fresh?

I always delete the existing system partition when I do a clean install.
Yes, normally deleting the partition, formatting, and doing a clean install
should produce a clean computer.

Malke

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have heard from various sources about doing low level formats. what is that
exactly?

It's something that could be done on old-style hard drives. If you do
it on your current drive, it will destroy it.

However, bear in mind that these days some people mistakenly use the
term "low level format" to refer to filling the drive with zeros. That
is almost always completely unnecessary.

and is there any particular way to reformat a hard drive?

If you mean "format," as opposed to "low-level format," sure, but if
you are talking about doing it to your Windows drive, that means that
everything on your drive is lost, and you have to reinstall Windows.
If that's your plan, please explain why you think that that would be a
good thing to do. It very seldom is.

also. is
creating a partition from the windows disk the right way to repartition or is
there supposed to be another way to start fresh.

Exactly why do you want to this? Once again, many people create their
partitioning schemes very poorly. I recommend that you read this
article I recently wrote about partitioning schemes: "Understanding
Disk Partitioning" at
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=326

 

[John John (MVP)]

Yes, when you install Vista you will be able to format the drive during
the installation.

John

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

I very rarely do a repartition of the drive but in thiscase I have been
curious more or less as to how it is properly done as I have nothing to
really back up I don't have the worry of that there is nothing I have or even
keep on my computers that can't be put back on within a few minutes at the
most. most of the problems I have had with this computer in particular is
having it freeze up alot at different times. I had that especialy when I
first got it. haven't had that in a whle except for a few exceptions. another
problem I have occssionaly had is it will boot up alright but won't go to the
windows loading screen or at times I have had something happen that it
continulay reboots itself. entering it in safr mode does the same thing. the
screen will flash blue for a moment and then just reboot. but like I said I
haven't had it happen in a while. most of the freeze ups I have are either in
the shutdown process or the startup. it occassionaly happens with a program
but not very often.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

ok another question I have is it is recommended for things like rootkits
that
are on the system to do format and reinstalls. does this include partition
delete as well? or just reformating. and also does a partition delete
start
the drive from fresh?

It takes seconds to delete and recreate the partition, and it is effective.

If you are concerned about the system having been compromised, this is the
way to go.

In addition, new hard disks are not expensive. Where I am, 160 gig drives
are in the $50 range.