Often, in the event of any malfunctions in the work hard drive, you can lose all the information on it. The optimal solution to save important data, low-level disk formatting can become.
Formatting at a low level 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 following this process, it is possible to correct software errors and remove virus software from the PC. Formatting is also useful when selling a PC so that the future owner cannot 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 consider programs that are absolutely free and can easily cope with the necessary procedure.
Method 1: HDDLLFT
This app is suitable for anyone hard drives, the only condition correct operation programs - the presence of an installed Windows OS.
Method 2: SeaTools DOS
The main difference between this utility and analogues is the ability to create its image on any third-party drive. This is an important detail that will be very useful to users whose system functionality works with errors.
Method 3: Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostics
With this application, you can perform low-level formatting of WD hard drives.
As you can see, the procedure for low-level formatting is quite simple. Almost all famous programs work on a similar principle, and mastering them will not be any problem. 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.
Can perform standard or low-level formatting of the hard drive, as well as other external media. To do this, simply right-click on the desired object and select the "Format" menu item in the context 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 found 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 the help third party programs for low-level formatting of hard drives and USB devices. Well, with the help basic applications operating system "Windows" to unravel the mystery of the sectors, alas, does not work.
So, we present to your attention best programs for low-level hard disk formatting, which can be found on the Web. All of them have a basically free or shareware license and are freely distributed through official or specialized resources.
It’s worth noting right away: before performing a low-level formatting of the hard drive, be sure to copy the entire 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 of this company, as well as ADATA brand devices.
The utility allows you to qualitatively format media or recover data from them. 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 will not see confusing menu branches or incomprehensible icons, everything is very simple. There are two buttons: one for starting the data recovery procedure, and the other for "Exit".
The pickiness of the software acts as a fly in the ointment here. That is, on the one hand, great program for low-level formatting of hard drives, and on the other hand, we see only a narrow list of supported hardware. The lack of localization is difficult to write down as a minus, because even without the Russian language everything is very clear there.
HP Drive Key Boot Utility
Another smart program for low-level formatting hard drives and working with bad sectors. In addition, the utility perfectly "digests" trade marks flash drives "Kingston", "SanDisk" and "Transcend".
The application works smoothly in file systems type FAT32, NTFS and ordinary FAT. That is, any capacity of drives will be within the power of this program. One of the main advantages of the app is its intuitive clear interface. All the main functionality of the program is concentrated in a single window, and you can do all the operations without leaving it. By pressing just a couple of buttons, in a few minutes you will see the inscription: "Low-level formatting of the disk is completed."
Distinctive features of the program
Also worth noting is the fact that this software can create boot disks using a built-in toolkit based on a copy of your operating system. The application itself goes to portable version, so there will be no problems with migration to other media and PCs.
The disadvantages of the utility include mediocre support for the now popular SSD format, but in everything else it is an excellent program for working with drives.
HDD Low Level Format Tool
This is a highly specialized utility, sharpened specifically for working with media in such a “deep” way. HDD Low Level format tool is an excellent program for low-level formatting of Seagate, WD hard drives and almost any flash drives.
Before starting the procedure, you must select the desired media and then designate a work plan. That is, here you can perform a quick cleaning of the hard drive or a complete low-level formatting of the hard drive.
One of the distinguishing features of the program is support for all types of hard drives, both conventional HDDs and high-speed SSDs, and from any interface (IDE, SATA, SCSI, etc.). Also, the software does an excellent job with small flash brothers like mini- or micro-SD. Thanks to the universal code, the utility works on all known operating systems, and on Windows as well.
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 Mbps. The time to complete the operation will be significant, but it is more than compensated by the competent processing of sectors and tracks.
MiniTool Partition Home Edition
This is for the most part a whole complex, distinguished by extended functionality and appropriate usability. As for the specific possibilities, here they are almost limitless for hard drives.
In addition to basic markup operations, error checks, partition conversion and other things, there is a unique functionality that is unique to this software. We are talking about transferring the operating system from one medium to another, selectively or completely copying information to another hard drive, in addition, judging by the reviews, this is an intelligent recovery wizard for 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 counterparts.
Software features
All operations can be performed both using the familiar visual panel and through the graphical menu. Unfortunately, the developer did not provide an official localization into Russian, but on the Web you can find quite competent localizations that are in no way inferior in quality to stock ones.
As for compatibility and some updates, the developer closely monitors his product, so the application can be called universal through and through, and users did not notice any failures or glitches behind it.
In general, this is a worthy product that should be in the arsenal of any system administrator or advanced user. Some may be upset by a paid distribution license, but for isolated cases a shareware period is provided, where for a 30-day period you can use all the features of the program, which should be enough to troubleshoot 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 base one rather in the exterior than in some critical additions in terms of functionality.
The software feels great on the Windows platform of all versions - from XP to dozens, and no compatibility problems were noticed.
Using the utility is very simple, 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 choose what exactly you want to do for the drive, that is, format or fix errors.
Utility features
The program competently approaches to finding faulty or unreadable sectors and to their subsequent correction. A separate button is used to work with USB flash drives, where error correction or low-level formatting of the media is also available.
Another advantage for which the utility is so loved by advanced users is the maintenance of detailed logs. All transactions with hard drive or a flash drive will be reflected in a well-written report, where you can see every step made by the program.
It is also worth mentioning the problem-free operation with other, more fastidious media: mini- and micro-SD cards, SDXC and HC formats, as well as a rare Compact Flash. As disadvantages, one can note the lack of functionality for creating boot disks and clumsy localization. But taking into account the existing functionality of the software and free license All these shortcomings are practically leveled.
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 disk at a low level (Low level format) - an operation during which the magnetic surface of the disk is divided into sectors and tracks that are filled with empty data. The disc is formatted at a low level after manufacturing. In everyday life, low-level formatting is used to treat Bad sectors and other serious hard disk.
Its meaning is different for different models hard drives. Unlike high-
co-level formatting - creating partitions and file structure,
low-level formatting means basic layout of surfaces
disks. For early hard drives that came with clean
surfaces, such formatting creates only information sections
torus and can be executed by the hard drive controller under the control
the corresponding program. For modern hard drives that contain
presses the servo information recorded during manufacture, full formatting
means both the marking of information sectors and the rewriting of servo information
mation. The first can be independently performed by the controller of the hard drive.
tera, the second is possible only on a special technological stand.
For modern SCSI hard drives, sector marking is standard.
function, IDE hard drives require a program that is oriented
naya on specific model. Not recommended for IDE hard drive
program from another model - although such programs provide for
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
changeable hard drives apply reassignment of sectors and tracks on
reserve - as manual under control special programs, and av-
tomatic, transparently performed by the hard drive itself upon detection
defect.
For most Conner brand hard drives, some of the low-level functions
is available through the built-in TMOS, the dialogue with which is conducted by any terminator
cash via asynchronous serial port (9600 or 7200 bps,
8-N-1), brought to the technological connector of the hard drive. To work with
TMOS also includes the PCCONNER program from the PC-3000 set.
For WD Caviar hard drives, low-level functions are available via
programs WDATIDE (for old models) and WD_DIAG (for new models),
which can be found on the Western Digital support site.
I bought myself a WD My Passport Ultra fee. Today received. Festplatu bought for FritzBox 7490. I immediately decided to format it in extFAT format. I put it not on a fast format but on a normal one. Two hours have passed and the fest payment has not been formatted. I disconnected it from the computer, plugged it in again and the computer itself offered to format it, I set it to format only quickly and it was formatted. I immediately tried to format it to NTFS and went to work, asked my wife to let me know how it was formatted. I got to work, waited a couple of hours and called to ask what was there, to which my wife replied that nothing had been formatted. It turns out that the fest was formatted for 4 hours and nothing happened. Because of what it can be?
I came home, tried it on an old laptop, the same garbage.
Forgive me TS (did not want to open a new topic)
The hard drive was connected to the laptop, the battery died and the computer turned off. Now when I connect a disk, a sign pops up that I need to format the disk. The hard drive is visible on the desktop but does not open (requests formatting). There are dates on the disc that you don't want to lose (pictures, videos and MP 3 own recording). Most likely, the Boot sector has flown. Of course, one could format and try to restore the disk, but there is a possibility that not all dates will be restored.
Maybe someone knows how to recover a disk without formatting it? With what program can this be done? And please in more detail.
Unfortunately, nothing happens with disk recovery. It will probably need to be formatted. Maybe someone knows what program, which can then restore all the dates with the least loss? I already have Ontrack Easy Recovery. I already tried it once: it restores photos well. Refused to restore the rest (although the disk was formatted twice). Maybe someone knows more good programs? You will need to restore photos, videos and MP 3 (your own recording).
and if on this disk -> properties-> service-> check the disk for errors? sometimes that helps too...
there is another one
There is a video on the web for how to use it.
Now I have in this moment the disk is being scanned Mini program Tool Partition Recovery. Maybe he will find something. If not, then I just found another program that is listening to attention: EaseUS Data Recovery Wyzard. there in the description it is indicated that it can restore dates even if the disk is in RAW format. I will try.
so you already formatted chtoli?
maybe I misunderstood something, but ... do you want to restore it or just what is on it?
you are writing
MiniTool Partition Recovery maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem to be quite right...
Data Recovery Wizard this is just for data recovery
No, I haven't formatted it yet. At first I tried to convert it to NTFS with various programs. So far it hasn't worked. Now I'm trying to save the dates to another disk. If this does not help, then it remains only to format and try to restore all the dates. But this will be the last opportunity.
Mini Tool Partition recovery found Fat32 and NTFS boot sectors, it was possible to delete them from the disk (delete). The description was English language, I didn’t quite understand what could happen if these sectors were deleted, so I didn’t take risks.
After several installations of various Linux versions I decided to format HDD through standard utility FDISK. But I was disappointed, after installing a distribution based on Linux, I could not format the hard drive because the main one was lost boot record(MBR). After digging into the bowels of the Internet, I found a pretty good program that does low-level formatting of a hard drive (Low Level Format).
As the developers of the program say, using the HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool utility, you can format hard disks with S-ATA (SATA), IDE (E-IDE), SCSI, SAS, USB, FIREWIRE interface. The program runs on the following operating systems MS Windows XP, Vista x32/x64, 7 x32/x62, Server 2003, 2008, 2008R2. The program is paid but there is free version which has a speed limit of 50 MB/s. You can download the program from the official website of the developer at http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/ on the page you need to find the version to install on your computer. See screenshot below.
Or you can download the program via a direct link by clicking here. After installing the program on the computer, run it and see what we got. The main window of the program should open with a choice of drives as in the picture below.
Here we need to select the drive to which we will do low-level formatting. I have this top Western Digital with a capacity of 120 gigabytes. Click on it with the mouse and click on Continue>>> . Now we need to go to the middle tabs in the upper tabs with the inscription LOW-LEVEL FORMAT.
Remember that low-level formatting permanently erases all data on the disk and it will be impossible to restore them.
After we click on the big button FORMAT THIS DEVICE. We are once again given a warning that after the formatting operation, all data will be lost.
We agree by clicking on Yes and the formatting process has begun.
After the formatting process is over, we will be given a warning that it is necessary to mark up the disk and format it into partitions. Read about it.
Thus, after all these actions we have done, we will get almost like a hard drive from the factory and you can continue to use it by installing any operating system.
I also want to note that the program can also format memory cards and flash drives.
