How to do a low level formatting?

Question

Manufacturers usually do the low level formatting. And what we do is called High level formatting.

Is it possible for us to do a low level formatting? Anyone who has done it?

Answer 1

Yes it is possible, and yes I have done it. It worked wonderfully. As for how to do it, it is different for each drive and mfgr. Check the mfg website. If you don't get any joy there you are going to have to break down and call their tech support. Be prepared to meet resistance (and void your warranty!!)

Answer 2

IDE hard drives can only be properly low-level formatted at the factory. All IDE drives have control information on track 0 or -1 that only the controller can read. This information includes bad track information, head skew factors and zone sector information. Fortunately, all newer hard drives only operate in a translation mode, so we can successfully do a format that could be more properly called a mid-level format. I don't know of any virus that can infect the low-level format installed by the manufacturer.

Answer 3

Both a full format and quick format delete the first few MB of the partition to make the file system unreadable - they do not zero format the disc so data may still be recovered by special software. A full format also scans for bad sectors on the disc to mark them as not to be used by Windows in future - this takes a lot longer than a quick format but is useful to do on a brand new disc. A low level format (often called zero wipe) can usually be performed from a manufacturer's diagnostic CD and is more secure because it will overwrite every sector of the drive. Formatting in itself will not destroy your hard disc - all methods just read and write to the disc like normal use. However, if your disc is faulty/failing then beware as the repeated disc access from the low level and full formats may take hours to complete and this intensive level of use and increase in temperature may hasten the death of the disc. To sum up: Quick format - use before reinstalling Windows for yourself on an existing disc Full format - use for formatting a brand new disc before installing Windows Low level format or zero wipe - use to delete all data before disposing of the disc/computer

Answer 4

Low level formatting used to be done on old styles of hard drives, such as MFM drives from the 80's. Back then you could do it easily, without problems. From what I understand, it is not recommended for modern drives, and if you try it can damage performance of the drive.

Answer 5

i ve done it..since windows 95 and so on here goes the url..find something useful..go ahead make ur day

Answer 6

there are many software tools available for that purpose