Low Level Format

[jonaz74]

Guys,

i have a hard drive that needs to be format in "low level format"

i have downloaded a "seatools_enterprise_install.exe" but before going further, i know how to format and partition a hard drive but i dont have any experience yet in low level formatting.

can you give me any ideas and the procedure how to do it?
what are the do's and dont in formatting?

thanks in advance, more power to the group.

:bounce:

 

[Sharam]

Important drive information (servo, sector layout, and defect management, etc.) is stored in the low-level format at the factory. This information is designed to last the life of the drive and therefore it is not possible to low level the drive outside the factory. Although some drive manufactures and BIOS provided so-called "low level format utilities", they actually perform a write-read verify of the drive’s user data sectors, and do not actually perform a low-level format. In the event of a corrupted master boot record or boot block virus, use FDISK /MBR command to restore the master boot record. If you need to low level format your hard drive then check the drive manufacturer and download such an utility from its website. Every drive manufacturer provides just such a utility.

If Seatools is like the other tools I have used. It would make a bootable floppy for you, with the program files and a batch file that will most probably start the program or give you a menu at the least. (Newer tools provide an ISO image to burn a bootable CD with the tools on it).

All you need to do then is to start the computer with the floppy disk in the drive making sure your computer is set to boot from the floppy first in the BIOS and follow the prompts.

Don’t interrupt the process, once it starts low level formatting, go get a drink, watch a movie, go for a walk or to the Mall, depending on your drive size this could take some time.

I don’t know this Seatool, if you have a Seagate drive and got this tool from Seagate, there is probably a test program on it, I would run some tests first.

 

[Nodsu]

How do you know the drive needs a "low level format"? AFAIK you can't LLF modern IDE drives - the closest you can get is "drive erase" or similar function in manufacturer specific utilities.

 

[jonaz74]

guys thank you very much for the reply.....

the reason why i need to low level format my hard drive because i cant format anymore using the normal format procedure and the second thing i cant even install an OS to the drive, so i ask some of my tech friends and they just told me to low level format my hard drive.

i cant ask them to have a service on my hard drive because of two reasons, 1. they want some money 2. i want to experience it also

:giddy:

 

[s3xynanigoat]

Assuming you have windows installed at the moment, use the cypher CLI command. If you have no experience with this then search microsoft.com for "cypher" + "how to".