Hard disk sad?

[James McNeill]

| As I understand it, it is no longer possible to low level format a hard
disk.
|  But I'm probably misinformed.

You can low level format any hard disk, but it's not something done very
often these days. That's because in most situations it's a /realy/ bad idea
to do this.

reminder: Low level formating will not only destroy all the data, but the
very sectors and tracks aswell. It will draw in new sectors and tracks, and
if you get it wrong the *whole* disk can become unusable.

eg. LL formatting while the disk has been running for a while is bad 'coz
the platters can contract when it cools down, and the heads won't read the
correct blocks when it starts up again. Vice versa for doing it when the
disk is cold.

HDD coys are good at doing it so that the disk is reliable, So only low
level it if it's /really/ necessary. That said, it can help get past bad
blocks in some cases.

Try to get it back on waranty first hey :~)

-James