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Quick question on formatting hard drive.
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Posted Message
4thmebcoB
Junior Member
_ 		12. May 2006 @ 12:44 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
Just out of curiosity,about how many times & how often can you format your hard drive safely?Also can formatting affect the drives performance?The question came to me b/c i recently formatted my drive b/c of a virus i couldnt get rid of & this is the second time in 2 months(6th time in a year)i've formatted,now my computer seems to run a little slower than usual.I just wanted to know if formatting my drive too many times had something to do with this or not.
On a side note,i was using nortons antivirus 2005 until the yearly subscription expired so when i formatted last i decided to try bitdefender 9 since it doesnt use as much resources,dont know why it would but could this be the reason my computer is running slightly slower?
Thx in advance.
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Morph416
Senior Member
_ 		12. May 2006 @ 13:04 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
Formatting your drive is actually good for it. If done properly, meaning the correct format type.

Quick Format: Formats the drive, and sets up the MBR, and file table.
Format: Formats the drive, sets up the MBR, file table, and scans for defective sectors.
Low Format*: Formats the drive using 1's and 0's to overwrite all information including the boot record (MBR).

My fav: Drive Scrubbing*. Formats the drive in low level type, but using 1's and 0's in a seven (7) to 35 pass method. Leaves the drive as if nothing was ever written to it. Wipes the drive clean, and leaves no boot record. (boot record will be created during OS setup)

* - highly recommended method if your drive was corrupted by a virus. Regular formatting doesn't always kill the virus, especially if it resides in the boot sector.
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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. May 2006 @ 13:06
halfhere
Member
_ 		12. May 2006 @ 13:09 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
how do you set up drive scrubbing, is it command in the dos prompt or a piece of software
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4thmebcoB
Junior Member
_ 		12. May 2006 @ 13:15 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
Thx alot morph.
Drive scrubbing?lol i dont know what that is,I never choose quick format i choose the other if thats what scrubbing is.

So formatting doesnt affect a drives performance if done too many times?

[ + quote]
"The deadliest weapon in the world is a MARINE and his rifle!"
"We signed up knowing the risk. Those innocent people in New York didn't go to work thinking there was ANY kind of risk."
"The safest place in Iraq was right behind a platoon of Marines."

PLEASE PRAY FOR THOSE STILL AT WAR!!!!!!!!!!!
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Morph416
Senior Member
_ 		12. May 2006 @ 13:55 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
Drive "scrubbing" is a referrence to how a drive can be formatted, or in this case "totally erased" by the software that's doing it.

Such as Drive Scrubber.

http://www.iolo.com/ds/

A good tip to remember, if you have a new drive (though new doesn't always mean it's perfect), you don't have to waste your time with a normal "format". A quick format is the same as the drive manufacturer's disk/CD that comes with the drive when you first set it up. It simply readies the drive for use. No real need to scan for bad sectors, which is why the normal format takes so long.

However, if your drive is getting up in age, or if it's been mishandled, then yeah, before installing an OS, it's best to run the normal format first. Or even better, "scrub" it!
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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. May 2006 @ 13:56
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