Can perform normal or low level hard formatting disk, as well as other external media. To do this, you just need to right-click on the desired object and select the “Format” menu item in the contextual branch.
But what exactly this utility does and what it is capable of in general remains a mystery to many. After checking, if a bad sector was detected on the media, the program will not give you any notification, and it is quite possible that this problematic cluster will continue to be used by the system.
In order to solve this problem, you have to resort to help third party programs for low level formatting hard drives and USB devices. Well, with the help of basic applications operating system Unfortunately, Windows is unable to unravel the mystery of the sectors.
So, we present to your attention the best programs for low-level formatting hard drive, which can be found on the Internet. All of them have basically a free or shareware license and are freely distributed through official or specialized resources.
It’s worth noting right away: before performing low-level formatting of the hard drive, be sure to copy all important information to third party media. Otherwise, you risk losing this data.
JetFlash Recovery Tool
This program for low-level formatting of hard drives will be an excellent help not only for working with a hard drive, but also with branded flash drives from this company, as well as ADATA brand devices.
The utility allows you to efficiently format media or recover data from it. The application will be especially useful if you have unreadable sectors, recording is completely disabled, or the disk is not recognized by the system.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the most simplified interface. Here you won’t see confusing menu branches or unclear icons, everything is very simple. There are two buttons: one to start the data recovery procedure, and the other to “Exit”.
The fly in the ointment here is the fastidiousness of the software. That is, on the one hand, this is an excellent program for low-level formatting of hard drives, but on the other hand, we see only a narrow list of supported equipment. The lack of localization is difficult to write down as a minus, because even without the Russian language everything is extremely clear.
HP Drive Key Boot Utility
Another smart program for low-level formatting hard drives and working with damaged sectors. In addition, the utility perfectly “digests” the brands of flash drives “Kingston”, “SanDisk” and “Transcend”.
The application works smoothly in file systems such as FAT32, NTFS and regular FAT. That is, any storage capacity will be within the capabilities of this program. One of the main advantages of the application is its intuitive interface. All the main functionality of the program is concentrated in one single window, and you can perform all operations without leaving it. By pressing just a couple of buttons, in a few minutes you will see the inscription: “ Low-level formatting disk is complete."
Distinctive features of the program
It would also be useful to note the fact that this software can create boot disks using built-in tools based on a copy of your operating system. The application itself goes to portable version, so there won’t be any problems with migration to other media and PCs.
The disadvantages of the utility include mediocre support for the currently popular SSD format, but in all other respects it is an excellent program for working with drives.
HDD Low Level Format Tool
This is a highly specialized utility, designed specifically for working with media in such a “deep” way. HDD Low Level Format Tool is an excellent program for low-level formatting Seagate, WD hard drives and almost any flash drive.
Before starting the procedure, you must select the desired media and then designate a work plan. That is, here you can do quick cleaning hard drive or complete low-level formatting of the hard drive.
One of the distinctive features of the program is its support for all types of hard drives, both regular HDDs and high-speed SSDs, and from any interface (IDE, SATA, SCSI, etc.). The software also copes well with small flash devices like mini- or micro-SD. Thanks to its universal code, the utility works on all known operating systems, including Windows.
The only fly in the ointment is the low data processing speed. That is, for example, this low-level formatting program for a WD hard drive will be able to process this brand of hard drive at a speed of no more than 50 Mbit/sec. The time it takes to complete the operation will be significant, but it is more than compensated for by competent processing of sectors and tracks.
MiniTool Partition Home Edition
This is for the most part a whole complex, distinguished by expanded functionality and appropriate usability. As for specific possibilities, here they are almost limitless for hard drives.
In addition to basic markup operations, error checking, partition conversion and other things, there is a unique functionality unique to this software. We are talking about transferring an operating system from one medium to another, selectively or completely copying information to another hard drive; in addition, judging by the reviews, this is a smart wizard for recovering lost data.
Also, the software can easily work not only with single hard drives, but also with large RAID arrays. Separately, it is worth mentioning the speed of the application, where MiniTool Partition Wizard Free compares favorably with its peers.
Software features
All operations can be performed using either the usual visual panel or the graphical menu. The developer, alas, did not provide official localization into Russian, but on the Internet you can find quite competent localizations that are in no way inferior in quality to stock ones.
As for compatibility and any updates, the developer carefully monitors his product, so the application can be called completely universal, and users did not notice any failures or glitches with it.
Overall, this is a worthy product that should be in anyone's arsenal. system administrator or advanced user. Some may be upset by the paid distribution license, but for isolated cases there is a conditional free period, where for a 30-day period you can use all the features of the program, which should be enough to troubleshoot problems with the drive.
Disk Storage Format Tool
This is a fairly powerful and full-featured utility for working with hard drives and flash drives of all brands and types. In addition, the program is distributed completely free of charge. There is also an advanced paid version, but it differs from the basic version more in its exterior than in any critical additions in functionality.
The software feels great on the Windows platform of all versions - from XP to ten, and no compatibility problems were noticed.
The utility is very easy to use, and the interface is intuitive even for a novice user. To get started, you need to specify the drive you want to work with, then go to the action menu, where you need to select what exactly you want to do for the drive, that is, format or fix errors.
Features of the utility
The program competently approaches the detection of bad or unreadable sectors and their subsequent correction. A separate button works with USB flash drives, where error correction or low-level formatting of the media is also available.
Another advantage for which advanced users love this utility is the maintenance of detailed logs. All operations with a hard drive or flash drive will be reflected in a well-written report, where every step taken by the program is visible.
It is also worth mentioning the trouble-free operation with other, more finicky media: mini- and micro-SD cards, SDXC and HC formats, as well as the rare Compact Flash. The disadvantages include the lack of functionality for creating bootable disks and clumsy localization. But taking into account the existing functionality of the software and the free license, all these shortcomings are practically leveled out.
Often, if any malfunctions occur in the hard drive, you can lose all the information on it. The optimal solution for saving important data may be low-level disk formatting.
Low-level formatting is carried out by the manufacturer during the manufacture of the hard drive. The procedure described in this article can rather be called “pseudo” formatting, since it is simply not possible to perform a real low-level procedure at home.
By completing this process, it is possible to correct software errors and remove virus software from your PC. Formatting will also be useful when selling a PC, so that the future owner will not be able to use the information stored on the computer.
How to do low level formatting
There is a list of programs that can perform low-level formatting. Some of them are suitable only for a specific brand of hard drive, while others are universal and make it possible to work with equipment from any manufacturer. This article will look at programs that are completely free and will easily cope with the necessary procedure.
Method 1: HDDLLFT
This application is suitable for any hard drive; the only condition for the program to work correctly is the presence of Windows OS installed.
Method 2: SeaTools DOS
The main difference between this utility and its analogues is the ability to create its image on any third-party storage device. This is an important detail that will be very useful for users whose system functionality is working with errors.
Method 3: Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostics
Thanks to this application, you can perform low-level formatting of WD hard drives.
As you can see, the low-level formatting procedure is quite simple. Almost all known programs work on a similar principle, and mastering them will not pose any problems. The main thing to remember is that universal programs will not necessarily turn out to be worse than the proposed utilities of a particular manufacturer.
All new hard drives are already low-level formatted by the manufacturer and do not require reinitialization. In practice, under normal circumstances, you are unlikely to need to perform low-level formatting on your hard drive, since technically only the manufacturer can perform this kind of real formatting.
What computers call low-level formatting is actually more of an initialization and testing of the disk surface, as the process writes and reads to all sectors of the disk. If there are no problems with the disk, there is no need for a full initialization or surface check.
What is low level formatting?
First, let's understand the concepts of low- and high-level formatting.
Low level format- an operation during which servo marks (information that is used to position the hard drive heads) are applied to the magnetic surface of the disk. It is performed during the manufacturing process of the hard drive, using special equipment.
When the process of low-level formatting a hard drive is started for the first time, the hard drive platters are empty, that is, they contain absolutely no information about sectors, tracks, and so on. This is the last moment when the hard drive has completely empty platters. Information recorded during this process will never be overwritten again.
Older hard drives had the same number of sectors per track and did not have built-in controllers, so low-level formatting was handled by an external hard controller disk, and the only information it needed was the number of tracks and the number of sectors per track. Using this information, the external controller could format the hard drive. Modern hard drives have a complex internal structure, including changing the number of sectors per track when moving from external to internal tracks, as well as built-in servo information to control the head drive.
Due to this complex data structure, all modern hard drives are low-level formatted only once - at the factory.
There are two types of high-level formatting:
Formatting in normal mode – a process that involves creating a master boot record with a table of partitions and (or) structures empty file system, installation boot sector and similar actions. The formatting process also checks the integrity of the media to block bad sectors.
Quick format - the same process as formatting in normal mode, only without checking the media for bad sectors.
Use of the term low-level formatting in relation to hard drives gave rise to many myths. For example, there is an opinion that it is impossible to perform low-level formatting of a hard drive and that attempting such an operation will lead to the destruction of the disk. In principle, there is some truth in this misconception. It consists in the fact that when low-level formatting old disks from the late 1980s, the optimal setting bevel of heads and cylinders, installed by the disk manufacturer, as well as a map of disk defects.
All this had a negative impact on the performance of the devices. The problem described has long been resolved, and all devices using zone recording (with a variable number of sectors per track) are immune to any problems that low-level formatting may cause, since actual sector markers cannot be replaced by a sector.
So low-level formatting of discs made in the 1990s and later will prevent it from disturbing its settings.
At the same time, there is often a real need to perform low-level formatting of ATA and SCSI drives. Now we will talk about programs that will help you do this.
Programs for low-level formatting of ATA disks (SATA, PATA, etc.)
ATA drive manufacturers defined and standardized extensions to the original WD1002/1003 hard drive controller, creating the AT bus interface (known as the ATA interface). The ATA specification is implemented for unique teams specific manufacturers that are extensions of the standard. To avoid performing incorrect low-level formatting, many ATA devices have special teams, which must be sent to the device to unlock formatting procedures. These commands vary by device manufacturer, so you'll need to look for low-level formatting and defect management programs created by the drive manufacturer.
These programs are most often intended not only for devices from a specific manufacturer, but also for their individual models. So before you search, make a note of the manufacturer and model number of your hard drive.
Modern hard drives are protected from the possibility of changes in the skew factor or defect map, since they are always in conversion mode. Devices with zone recording are always in this mode and are thus fully protected.
Most hard drives have an additional set of commands that are used during the formatting process, and the standard ATA specification commands do not work (especially for ATA devices with zone recording).
Spare sectors can also be allocated automatically using programs provided by the device manufacturer. Without knowing the correct manufacturer-specific commands, it is impossible to replace defective sectors with spare ones, specially allocated in modern devices for these purposes. A detected defective sector is replaced in the distribution structure by the closest spare sector.
Some hard drive manufacturers offer low-level formatting programs. They can be found at the following addresses.
- Seagate
ftp://ftp.seagate.com/techsuppt/seagate_utils/sgatfmt4.zip
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools - Hitachi/IBM
www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm - Maxtor/Quantum
http://www.maxtor.com/softwaredownload/default.htm - Samsung
www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/hutil.htm
www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/sutil.htm
www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/shdiag.htm - Western Digital
http://support.wdc.com/download/
First of all, you should try the programs provided by the device manufacturer. All of them are free and often allow you to work at a low level in a way that large-scale programs do not allow.
If the drive manufacturer does not offer an initialization/verification/formatting program, you can use the Drive Fitness Test program from Hitachi (formerly IBM). This program works great with drives from other manufacturers and performs detailed, full testing of the entire hard drive. This is one of best programs general purpose, because it allows you to perform a non-destructive test. Although it can test any device, there is one limitation: destructive read/write tests can only be performed on Hitachi drives and IBM.
Advice!
All of the listed programs for initializing, testing and formatting a hard drive, as well as many others, can be found in the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) collection of utilities. This is a fantastic collection of diagnostic tools contained in one downloadable CD! A copy of this CD can be downloaded from www.ultimatebootcd.com.
Non-destructive formatting tools
I strongly advise against using BIOS-level non-destructive formatting tools such as Calibrate (formerly included with Symantec Norton Utilities) when low-level formatting is truly needed. Such funds are characterized by a number of limitations and problems that reduce their effectiveness. They perform low level formatting by separate tracks using BIOS functions; at the same time it is carried out backup and restoration of individual tracks.
These programs also do not create a defect map, as low-level formatting programs typically do. Moreover, they can remove defect map markers added standard programs low level formatting. As a result, it becomes possible to save data in bad sectors, which in some cases may void the warranty.
Another limitation is that these programs can only be used when working with hard drives, pre-formatted using BIOS functions.
A low-level format program created by drive manufacturers bypasses the system BIOS and passes commands directly to the controller. Therefore, many such programs are designed to work with specific controllers. Having one such program that could be used when working with different controllers is almost impossible to imagine. Many hard drives may be incorrectly identified as defective simply because the wrong program was used.
Low-level formatting of Western Digital HDD and SSDs
Let me make a reservation right away that in this case, low-level formatting means testing the disk surface for bad sectors through reading and writing. As mentioned above, factory low-level formatting of a modern hard drive can only be done by the manufacturer.
Tough and solid state drives can be formatted at a low level using several methods. Let's consider one of them, applicable to PC. Mac computers are not suitable for this example.
To low-level format a hard drive we need:
- The hard drive, in this case, is from Western Digital (in this example, the Maxtor drive was tested, and the procedure was successful)
- Data Lifeguard Diagnostics Software for Windows
Before the formatting process, connect the device to the computer. This can be done either through the IDE, SATA, USB or Firefire interface. In this case, low-level formatting will be carried out in Windows system, without pre-booting using special boot disks. This is the easiest way to regular user PC.
Once the device is connected:
1. Download Windows program Data Lifeguard Diagnostics from http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=113&sid=3&lang=en
2. After downloading the application, launch it and follow the installation wizard.
If after installation a dialog box appears with a message about the impossibility of starting the program, then close it and click on the OK button. The program must be launched in a different way.
3. A program shortcut will appear on the desktop, double-click on it.
4. Check the box next to I accept this... and click the Next button.
The program will display all connected drives. Despite the fact that in my example, formatting was carried out on the test Maxtor hard drive, and it was successful, I recommend that you use this program only for Western Digital drives, to avoid possible problems with the carrier. If you have a Seagate hard drive, use a similar program from Seagate.
5. Select the disk that needs to be diagnosed and click on the to run tests button. BE SURE to double-check that you have selected exactly the right disk, otherwise you will lose all data on this media, without the possibility of recovering it, since this process is destructive and irreversible.
7. In the next window, select the EXTENDED TEST option and click the Start button.
8. Close all files that are open on the selected hard drive and click the OK button.
9. The testing procedure on a 20 GB hard drive took approximately 10 minutes. At the end of testing, click on the Close button.
10. But that's not all. Now again click on the to run tests button and in the dialog box select the WRITE ZEROS option and click on the Start button. This procedure will overwrite all sectors with zeros.
10. Depending on the condition of the drive, you will receive one or two prompts reminding you that this action will destroy all data currently on the drive. Click the Yes button.
10. Then choose which method you would like to use to write the zeros. The QUICK ERASE option is much faster, but does not completely erase the disk. This is suitable for users who plan to rewrite the disc multiple times. A FULL ERASE erases the disk completely. This takes longer, but ensures that no data on the drive can later be recovered using data recovery methods. This method is designed for people who need to permanently delete data from their drive, such as hackers ;).
Once you have determined which method you would like to use, select the OK button to begin the formatting process. I recommend choosing FULL ERASE.
11. Start of the rewriting process. For example, it took me about 10 minutes to overwrite a 20 GB hard drive.
12. After the process is completed, click again on the to run tests button and in the dialog box, select the VIEW TEST RESULT option and click on the Start button.
13. The window will display information about the hard drive and the tests that have passed. To be honest, the information in this report is very sparse.
14. If the process was successful, the low-level formatted hard drive will not be available in the system. Now it needs to be initialized, partitioned, and formatted at a high level.
14. Open Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Run and enter the command in the window diskmgmt.msc .
15. The Disk Management program will launch and the Initialize Disks window will automatically appear, where the required disk will be selected. Specify the Master Boot Record parameter and click the OK button.
This completes the low-level formatting process.
A similar process can be used for media on hard drives from other manufacturers. For example, Seagate offers a very convenient diagnostic tool for its media.
In conclusion, I will give an example of how the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics program displays a failed drive. As an example, a Fujitsu hard drive was taken. The program has determined that the media is faulty, as indicated by SMART STATUS.
Using EXTENDED TEST, the program showed that bad sectors were found on the disk.
The program tried to fix them, but nothing worked.
There may be two reasons for this: firstly, the hard drive and the diagnostic program are from different manufacturers, so some commands may not be processed correctly, and secondly, this disk cannot be restored, since it has begun to “crumble,” i.e. physical damage appeared on the surface of his discs; it was already on my inspection table before.
In the section on the question what is low-level formatting? given by the author Pavel Koltsov the best answer is Low-level formatting - formatting a hard drive at a low level (Low level format) is an operation during which the magnetic surface of the disk is divided into sectors and tracks, which are filled with empty data. The disk is formatted at a low level after manufacturing. In everyday life, low-level formatting is used to treat Bad sectors and other serious hard drive errors.
Its meaning is different for different models Winchesters. In contrast to high
co-level formatting - creating partitions and file structure,
low-level formatting means basic surface layout
disks. For early model hard drives that came with clean
surfaces, such formatting creates only informational sections
torus and can be performed by a hard drive controller running
the corresponding program. For modern hard drives that contain
Reaps servo information recorded during manufacture, full formatting
means both marking information sectors and rewriting servo information
mation. The first can be done independently by the screw controller.
tera, the second is possible only at a special technological stand.
For modern SCSI hard drives, sector marking is standard.
function, for IDE hard drives you need a program oriented
naya on specific model. Not recommended for use with IDE hard drives
program from another model - although similar programs provide
to check supported models, there is a possibility of partial
coincidence of service commands, which may lead to undesirable consequences
actions.
To partially correct emerging surface defects in modern
On regular hard drives, reassignment of sectors and tracks on
backup - as manual under control special programs, so and av-
tomatic, transparently performed by the hard drive itself upon detection
defect.
For most Conner hard drives, part of the low-level functions
accessible through the built-in TMOS, dialogue with which is carried out by any termi-
cash via asynchronous serial port (9600 or 7200 bps,
8-N-1), connected to the technological connector of the hard drive. To work with
TMOS is also intended for the PCCONNER program from the PC-3000 set.
For WD Caviar hard drives, low-level functions are available via
programs WDATIDE (for older models) and WD_DIAG (for new models),
which can be found on the Western Digital support site.
Hard drives (hard drives, hard drives, HDDs) are unusually pampered devices. Just shake it a little, overheat it, look askance - and the disk is already covered with terrible “bad blocks” that threaten both it and all the information on it with inevitable death.
In the event of disk failures, the most important thing is to save valuable data. But what to do then with their carrier? Can it be used in the future? They say that one medicine helps with all such “sores”: low-level formatting of the hard drive. Let's figure out what kind of “pill” this is and when there is a need to prescribe it.
What is it really?
Low level formatting today is called something completely different from what it really is. In fact, this is one of the stages of manufacturing disk drives, and it is carried out at the factory.As you know, all . Each piece of data has a unique address where it can be found. Creating areas for recording data on a clean magnetic surface and assigning addresses to them is low-level formatting.
More precisely, this is the process of physically dividing the disk surface into tracks(circles or tracks along which the read/write heads move), their sectors(track sections are the smallest areas of information storage on disk drive with own address) and intersectoral intervals. And also - application servo tags– service records between sectors and within them, according to which the head control system ( servo system HDD) will be able to position the latter.
After marking, the disk surface is thoroughly scanned to identify defects in the magnetic layer (physically “broken” sectors), which must be excluded from addressing. Based on the test results, a list of defects and a translator are generated - a table correlating good physical sectors with logical (numbered) ones. This is also part of the factory formatting.
A long time ago, this entire procedure could be performed using the BIOS of a home PC. Today there are practically no such computers and storage devices left. Modern HDDs cannot be physically repartitioned without special equipment and software, and low-level formatting is the operation of “filling” the logical space with zeros (without access to the service areas in which the translator is stored).
As a result of this formatting:
- All information (except for service information) is deleted from the hard drive.
- A custom defect list is created with the addresses of bad sectors that will be hidden - excluded from subsequent read and write operations.
- Defective sectors are replaced with “healthy” ones from the reserve area (remap).
What problems does pseudo-low-level formatting help solve?
The operation is used:
- To prepare a computer for transfer into the wrong hands, so that the new owner cannot restore the files of the previous one.
- For corrections that cannot be removed using non-destructive methods.
- For the treatment of certain types of boot viruses.
It is effective:
- If the appearance of “broken” sectors is not associated with a malfunction of the mechanical and electrical components of the hard drive. For example, they formed after a short-term overheating of the disk or a sudden power outage of the computer, and their number is not growing.
- If there are relatively few defects.
An example of detecting several unstable sectors when scanning a hard drive with the HD Tune utility:
It's useless:
- If the hard drive has suffered from a fall, drowning, or depressurization of the case (hermetic unit).
- If it makes grinding, knocking, grunting and other unnatural sounds when turned on or is poorly detected by the computer (disappears periodically).
The main area of this disk is occupied by unreadable sectors. Treatment with homemade “low-level” formatting will most likely not help him:
What and how to carry out “low-level” formatting at home
Any utility designed for this will be able to fill the surface of the hard drive with zeros and replace the “broken” sectors with normal ones. Even created by a manufacturer of hard drives of a different brand. Rewriting and remapping operations are triggered by a standard algorithm that is understood by all disk controllers ( final decision It is the controller that accepts the reassignment of bad sectors). These utilities do not have the ability to use highly specific technological commands, so they are not able to cause any harm to the device.Which utility will do the job you need best? It’s not a fact that the native version of your hard drive will work more accurately than the universal one. One didn’t help, try another. There will be no harm from this, but there may be some benefit, since to correct one defective block sometimes you need to make several attempts.
Let's figure out how to conduct a “low-level” HDD formatting using three free utilities.
Universal HDD Low Level Format Tool (HDDLLFT) for Windows
- Let's connect the problem disk to a PC running Windows.
- Download and install the application HDDLLFT. After installation, select “ Continueforfree» (Continue for free).
- In the list of drives, mark the one that we are going to format and click the “ Continue>>>».
- In the next window, go to the section “ LowlevelFormat" and click " Formatthisdevice»
- Let's confirm the operation again and wait for it to finish.
SeaTools for DOS for HDD Seagate
SeaToolsforDOS released in format iso image for recording onto bootable DVDs, flash drives and floppy disks. After starting the computer from such media, the main window of the utility immediately opens. For convenience, let’s switch it to Russian, mark the problematic drive in the list, go to the menu “ Additional features "(Advanced Features) and click " Erase everything"(Erase all).
