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Help reformatting hard drive to NTFS

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  • purple_spider
    purple_spider Posts: 304 Forumite
    edited 25 September 2009 at 9:47PM
    I'm doing the 'normal' option, as at the time I didnt know what the difference was - thanks AHAR for link :) I wish I'd known that before, I was only doing the reformat so my files would fit.

    The status bar doesnt seem to have moved much at all in the last couple of hours, maybe like about 1/5 of the way along :( I've just left the computer doing its thing and caught up on some tv off Sky+

    I was wondering is it ok to leave it reformatting overnight? Just thought I'd ask since I don't usually leave my laptop turned on/plugged in overnight. That said I don't think i have much choice as I have no idea how long it will be, and at this rate its quite possible it'll still be plodding along at this time tomorrow!

    I suppose it doesn't matter too much only I was wanting to sort out my files over the weekend, a couple more hours/days won't hurt... I hear the weathers supposed to be nice tomorrow :D

    EDIT
    Just a thought - would it be possible to cancel the format without damaging the hard drive and then do a quick format? Or is it necessary to check for bad sectors since this is the first time i've formatted it.
  • HTML200
    HTML200 Posts: 164 Forumite
    Weather... is that the stuff that happens outside? :)

    However, as Marty J said, it's a good stress test of the drive, though at USB speeds it's more a test of the interface than the drive itself.
  • Marty_J
    Marty_J Posts: 6,594 Forumite
    HTML200 wrote: »
    though at USB speeds it's more a test of the interface than the drive itself.

    At USB speeds, it's also a test of your sanity.
  • HTML200
    HTML200 Posts: 164 Forumite
    EDIT
    Just a thought - would it be possible to cancel the format without damaging the hard drive and then do a quick format? Or is it necessary to check for bad sectors since this is the first time i've formatted it.

    You can cancel and quick-reformat with no problems, it won't cause any damage and modern drives pretty much look after themselves when it comes to bad sectors and the like.
    At USB speeds, it's also a test of your sanity.

    True. If they started putting SATA connectors on the front of PCs then removable drive manufacturers would be out of business...
  • :) too true! Heading back to the sofa, the sky+ is calling I'll check back in a couple of hours see if it manages a few more tiny steps before I go to bed...

    Thanks for all the help and humoring a newbie, who seems to learn one term only to find it decribed by another she has to find out. Sesame street should do a tech version with elmo telling you that today is sponsered by the letter B which is is for bad sectors... and the number 572, the likely amount of time it will take to reformat the hard drive :D
  • Marty_J
    Marty_J Posts: 6,594 Forumite
    HTML200 wrote: »
    True. If they started putting SATA connectors on the front of PCs then removable drive manufacturers would be out of business...

    I'd settle for a FireWire 800 port.
  • Thanks for all the help and humoring a newbie, who seems to learn one term only to find it described by another she has to find out.

    If it helps, a full format of a drive essentially involves replacing every little bit of information with a zero, whereas a quick format involves writing a quick bit of info at the start that says "everything in every space on the drive should be considered empty - just ignore anything you find and replace it if you need the space."

    Normally, when you delete files, it's like a quick format of the file - the file isn't really overwritten and zeroed out, there's just a marker placed at the start of the file that says "this space should be considered empty - overwrite as required". Programs that offer 'secure deletion' or 'shredding' do the same thing, but they also get hold of the contents and overwrite them several times with zeroes and random nonsense to make sure the file can't be reconstructed. So shredding a file is actually like 'formatting a file', except a normal format only write zeroes and only does it once, whereas shredding writes across the same spaces many times with zeroes, patterns of data and random garbage - to make sure the CIA can't recover your emailed cake recipes to your mother, or your photographs of horses or whatever.
  • I'd settle for a FireWire 800 port.

    I have one of those on the front of my PC, and while I diligently wired it to the motherboard headers I've never found a use for it.

    SATA's twice as fast as IEEE1394 and better supported by drive manufacturers, so I think SATA would be a better choice.
  • basmic
    basmic Posts: 1,043 Forumite
    edited 25 September 2009 at 10:54PM
    You'll like experience speeds of 30MB/sec - I know my 320GB drive took a good 90 minutes to 2 hours, so you'll probably end up waiting about 10 hours!
    Everybody is equal; However some are more equal than others.
  • Marty_J
    Marty_J Posts: 6,594 Forumite
    HTML200 wrote: »
    I have one of those on the front of my PC, and while I diligently wired it to the motherboard headers I've never found a use for it.

    SATA's twice as fast as IEEE1394 and better supported by drive manufacturers, so I think SATA would be a better choice.

    FireWire has lots of uses such as IP over FireWire, Target Disk Mode on a Mac (I'll never buy a computer without this feature), daisy-chaining peripherals, etc. FireWire can also operate over longer cable lengths than eSATA, and it can power devices.

    It's not as fast as eSATA, but it's a lot more versatile.
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