Low Level Format

[Khattab]

السلام عليكم ..


هل يوجد حالياً برنامج لذلك النوع ؟ وما هو ؟

[الذهبي]

التهيئة بهذا النمط تصمم في المصنع فقط ، ويجب أن لا تحاول العبث بها لأنك سوف تتلفها ، والسبب ان التهيئة بهذا النمط تمسح القرص على المستوى الفيزيائي وخصائص المغناطيسية للقرص .

[Khattab]

السلام عليكم ..

أعلم ذلك أخي الذهبي ..


ولكن لولا الحاجة ، لما فكرت في ذلك.


وبعد البحث وجدت

http://www.softland.com.ar/Info/syma...fs_nu8win.html

قديم ولكنه يحتوي ذلك ، ولكني لا أدري من أين أنزله .


فهل تعرفون برنامجاً يقوم بهذه المهمة؟

[الذهبي]

اخي الكريم كما انت تعلم لا يمكن عمل تهيئة بالنمط المذكور الا في المصنع لأنه يحتاج لمعدات وليس فقط لبرنامج لأنك تتعامل مع مغناطيسية وفزيائية القرص الصلب .

وبالنسبة للرابطة التي ادرجتها فهي لبرنامج قديم من ايام المرحوم دوس ، وليس لها علاقة بموضوعنا ، فهذا البرنامج المخصص لدوس الاصدار الثالث واعلى وهو يقوم بعدة وظائف منها :

== بمعالجة نظام دوس او ويندوز المعطل في القرص .
== القيام بالاصلاح والتنظيم في الخلفية وانت لا تشعر .
== دعم الاقراص المضغوطه .
== وغيرها .

[Khattab]

السلام عليكم ..

أخي ..

أمتأكد أنت ! !

الرابط هذا أعتقد أن محتواه تغير لأني فتحته آخر مرة منذ خمسة أو ستة أشهر ، وأذكر أن به Low Level Format .


وفي رد لأحد المنتديات الأجنبية كان هذا الرد على سؤالي منذ خمسة أشهر


Old Norton Utilies v.8.0 for DOS had a program called Calibrate that fixed bad sectors by doing a low-level format. However it's not present on newer versions (don't know why). If you can find it, that's a great help.

[الذهبي]

انتظر وسأوافيك بما يستجد إن شاء .

[الذهبي]

How do I low-level format drive?
A low-level format actually does a physical format; it lays down tracks and sectors. It is the first format for a hard disk, and is used later to extend the life of an old drive to refresh the media. It wipes all information, just like reformatting a floppy disk.

Doing a regular format on a hard drive merely re-organizes the File Allocation Table (FAT), and doesn't really erase the disk or lay down tracks and sectors.

Spinrite, mentioned below, actually reads information off the disk, and re-writes it as it finishes formatting sectors on the disk, which is why it is not destructive like an ordinary low-level format. The instructions below work for small-disk Western Digital and Adaptec MFM and RLL controllers. Newer controllers usually use bundled software for low-level formatting.

WARNING: DO NOT LOW-LEVEL FORMAT IDE DRIVES!

It is best to do this from a bootable floppy. The floppy should have DEBUG.COM, FDISK.COM and FORMAT.COM on it.

The old 10MB IBM XT drives have to be low-level formatted using a routine on the IBM Advanced Diagnostics diskette. Zenith machines use the PREP command in Zenith DOS. Other older machines require use of the debug utility.

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If possible, how do I low-level format my Hitachi disk drive?
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. Hitachi do not provide such utility.

In the event of a corrupted master boot record or boot block virus, use FDISK /MBR command to restore the master boot record.

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What does "low level formatting" mean?

Actually the term "low level" is a bit of a misnomer. The low level process first used years ago in MFM hard drives bears little resemblance to what we now call a "low level format" for today's ATA (IDE) drives. A better name for today's low level formatting utility is intermediate- or mid-level formatting. This is sometimes referred to as the "initialize" or "re-initialize" process. The basic purpose of a mid-level format is to erase everything currently on the drive.

Why would I want to low level format my drive?

The most common reasons to low level format an ATA (IDE) hard drive are:


The drive has contracted a virus that cannot be removed without destroying the boot sector.
The drive is developing bad sectors at an increasing rate.
You are changing from one operating system to another and wish to remove everything from the drive.

How do I low level format my drive?

Caution: Low or Mid Level formatting an ATA (IDE) Drive destroys 100% of the data on the drive. Make sure the drive is completely backed up before proceeding.

Caution: The Low Level Format options of Disk Manager are the only safe methods for use with Seagate and Conner hard drives. Some system BIOSs may include a Low Level Format option; use these at your own risk, as this may produce undesirable results.

Disk Manager can be downloaded as a part of the DiscWizard package. It includes two low-level format options, partitioning options, and high-level formatting options. Zero Fill writes zeros in each data sector up to the complete capacity of the drive and will clean up some file system defects. The Low Level option performs a track by track initialization for the entire capacity of the drive, but does not spare bad sectors.

The download routine for Disk Manager creates a bootable diskette. Boot from the diskette to start Disk Manager. After startup, Select Advanced Options | Maintenance | Options | Utilities. Select the drive you want to erase, then select Zero Fill or Low Level.

Note: The Zero Fill option runs more quickly and removes data just as thoroughly as the Low Level option.

Note: Older versions of Disk Manager do not include the Advanced Options menu, but the Maintenance Options can be reached by pressing Alt+T at the Main Menu.

When the process completes, reboot the system from a DOS diskette. Run FDISK to partition the drive, then format the drive and begin installing the new Operating System.

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Why would you want to do a low-level format on a modern hard drive? The main reasons are virus infection and development of bad sectors. For security purposes, you would want to take another direction, as there are any number of programs that will recover data from a formatted hard drive. Older DOS versions of Norton Utilities are a good place to start for security formatting. At then end of this paper, I will offer a few suggestions as to how to avoid the problems encountered attempting to low-level format IDE hard drives, and why I would recommend not doing a low-level format on these drives. SCSI drives are covered first, since you have little option in low-level formatting. You either have the proper utilities, with instructions, or don't do it. Simple
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IDE hard drives can only be properly low-level formatted at the factory. All IDE drives have control information on track 0 or -1 that only the controller can read. This information includes bad track information, head skew factors and zone sector information. Fortunately, all newer hard drives only operate in a translation mode, so we can successfully do a format that could be more properly called a mid-level format. I don't know of any virus that can infect the low-level format installed by the manufacturer.

The reason for this is twofold:

All hard drives are initially formatted in native mode, and all, except the oldest IDE drives, operate in translation mode. The special tracks containing information specifically for the controller cannot be accessed in translation mode. Even if you could access this information, the BIOS and operating system would not be able to read the hard drive, as they cannot handle Zoned Bit Recording. (See Software Utilities below for more on Zoned Bit Recording)
All computer viruses are programs. They may be Java script, Word Macros, or machine language. They must be run on top of the operating system. The operating system cannot access your IDE hard drives, except when the drives are in translation mode.
Some manufacturers provide utilities to properly do what is referred to as a low-level format. For those that do not, other utilities, such as Ontrack's Disk Manager, are available. (Further links where possible, and recommendations to other programs as necessary are provided below).

IDE hard drives are broken down into several groups. Early IDE drives used the same control interface commands as the forerunner MFM, RLL and ESDI drives. The main advantage came from having the controller mounted on the hard drive, as opposed to on a card mounted in a slot on the motherboard. This freed the design engineers from having to conform to interface standards between the hard drive and controller, since the controller would never be used with another drive. Later hard drives conform to various ATA (AT Attachment) standards, which specify various additional commands and other features found on the modern IDE hard drive.

A few words about IDE controller cards are in order. The earlier separate cards are not controllers, only interface cards with buffers to prevent damage to the drive or motherboard due to stray electric impulse. The controllers mounted on the motherboard are, for the most part, nothing more than a stripped down ISA slot, with a 40 pin subset of the 98 pins available on a standard 16-bit ISA slot. An IDE connector only requires one IRQ, plus the required signal pins. All IDE and EIDE interfaces are a 16-bit bus. 32-bit disk access is accomplished 16 bits at a time. The reason for this is that, even with 2 hard drives hooked to the same controller using 32-bit disk access, the bus can handle the data faster than both hard drives working simultaneously can send data.

Enough of trivia. Time to get to the hard core facts of getting that drive formatted.

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BEFORE YOU LOW-LEVEL FORMAT
If you have a stubborn virus or are just beginning to develop some bad sectors on your hard drive, I recommend that you try this formatting routine before going further. The steps are easy, and, unless you have a very stubborn problem, these routines will correct any problems you are having with your hard drive.

Be sure you have all programs, drivers and other material at hand to restore your hard drive.
If possible, back up all the important data on your hard drive. Don't forget address books and Internet bookmarks.
Boot up from the floppy drive with a known good boot disk. This can be Disk 1 of MS-DOS, or your Windows 95 or Windows 98 emergency boot disk.
When you get to the A:> prompt, run FDISK. Type FDISK and press Enter.
Remove all partitions in the following order:
All assigned drives in extended partitions
Any extended partitions
The primary partition
Exit FDISK, and reboot the computer with the reset button or Ctrl-Alt-Del keys.
When you are back to the A:> prompt, type in exactly the following:
FDISK/MBR
Check to be certain the command looks exactly like the above. NO SPACES! When you are sure the command is typed correctly, press the Enter (Return) Key.
The screen may or may not blink, and should return an A:> prompt. No other message will appear.
You have now written a new Master Boot Record to your hard drive, and have overwritten any virus hidden in the master boot record.
Reboot your computer.
Run FDISK. If using Windows 95B or higher, or Windows 98, you can choose to use FAT-32 large drive partitions. Choose option 1 to create a primary dos partition, then create extended partitions and drives, if you want or need to.
Exit FDISK and reboot the computer.
From the A:> prompt, type FORMAT C: and press Enter. If you want to have the disk bootable, the command is FORMAT C: /S to format and transfer the operating system
You have now removed any virus that resided in your Master Boot Sector or Boot Sector. You have also replaced any damaged FAT tables, and mapped out any bad sectors to prevent them from being used by the operating system or any programs. Use normal procedures to install your operating system and programs.

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هذه خلاصة المعلومات التي وجدتها خلال بحثي السريع .
قرأت هذه المعلومات واتضح لي خلاف ما اعرفه أن هناك نوعية من البرامج مخصص لكل شركة وهي تقوم بالتهيئة بالنمط المذكور أما كيفية ذلك لا اعلم .

manufacturers recommend you never low-level format a hard drive.

A low-level format cannot be done with the FORMAT command. It is recommended you get a low-level format program from the manufacturer of your drive. These programs are tailored to work with specific drives and can sufficiently trace the defects and map them. Visit the Web site of the manufacturer to find these programs; they are often available for download.

والله اعلم.

[الوليد]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

ما شاء الله، كتاب كامل أخي الذهبي

شكرا على هذا الكم الكبير من المعلومات. لقد أجبت أخانا خطاب بخلاصة كلامك.

استعمل البرنامج المخصص لقرصك الصلب من الشركة المصنعة لهذا القرص.

[Khattab]

السلام عليكم ..



يعني كل قرص له برنامج ؟


طيب اللي عندي WD ، فهل يوجد برنامج له ؟

وما رأيكم في سالفة calibrate ؟

[Khattab]

السلام عليكم ..

جزء من رد ..

I have also used ezbios with WD drives with good luck and moved the drives to other computers by using the WD "write all zeroes" which is basically a low level format

[Khattab]

السلام عليكم ..

ما المقصود بهذا ..

Has anyone found a really good low level format tool that works on all types of Ide hard-drives?



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Most hard drive manufacturers have a program that can be downloaded. If you want a script to run try the following, however, once done you have nada. This should only be run by someone who wants to nuke thier harddrive.

debug.exe on a floppy in your a: drive

What you type is boldfaced:

DEBUGF 200 1000 0
a cs:100
mov ax,301
mov bx,200
mov cx,1
mov dx,80
int 13
int 20
(hit enter for a blank line)
g
then reboot and run fdisk

[الذهبي]

اسمحلي اخي خطاب يعلم الله اني اريد مساعدتك والآخرين متى ما وجدت إلى ذلك سبيلا ، ولكن سؤالي البسيط لماذا تريد عمل التهيئة المنخفضة المستوى ؟

انت كمثل الذي يريد تصميم برنامج تجاري بلغة الاسمبلي ( لغة برمجة منخفضة ) ؟ وهذا صعب .

[Khattab]

1- I have 15 GB hardisk which has many problems cannot be solved.

2- Great trying.

[الوليد]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

سهل الأمور على نفسك أخي خطاب

هذا البرنامج الذي ستحتاجه

http://ctweb01.wdc.com/datalifeguard...ls/dlgdiag.zip

هذا البرنامج مخصص لأقراص WD. استعمل اختيار Write Zeros to Drive فهو يقوم بعمل Low Level Format.

[Khattab]

Alssalm Alaikum ..

Thank you very very much my brother Alwaleed.