A Proposal for "Efficiently" Formatting Large Drives
Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:52 pm
As HDDs get larger, the longer time it takes to do a full format on the entire drive often puts a crimp on my computer use. For example, it typically takes at least 24 hours (sometimes longer, depending on the interface) to format a 4 TB drive, which means that my computer is effectively "held hostage" (no reboots) until the format is complete. This can be massively inconvenient and requires a LOT of planning ahead (be sure to do a fresh boot before starting the format, delay installation of new software which may require a reboot, etc.).
Note that I want to do a FULL format, so that all the sectors of the drive are tested (and if an error is discovered, locked out). Quick formats simply rewrite the header information on the drive, so if any bad sectors exist elsewhere, they aren't encountered until it's possibly too late. While I want to make formatting my large drives more convenient, I don't want to increase the chances of putting my data at risk by only using a quick format.
So, with the above in mind, what I propose is the following: Do a full format on multiple consecutive smaller sections of the drive (for example 500GB each), then once the entire drive has been formatted/tested in this way, do a final QUICK format for the total drive, effectively creating a partition the size of the entire drive, where such drive has been completely tested for bad sectors at least once before being put into actual use. Other than the extra effort on my part to follow these multiple steps (and the increase in overall time, since there may be delays in between each subsection format). Does anyone see a problem with this strategy (and if so, what)?
Note that I want to do a FULL format, so that all the sectors of the drive are tested (and if an error is discovered, locked out). Quick formats simply rewrite the header information on the drive, so if any bad sectors exist elsewhere, they aren't encountered until it's possibly too late. While I want to make formatting my large drives more convenient, I don't want to increase the chances of putting my data at risk by only using a quick format.
So, with the above in mind, what I propose is the following: Do a full format on multiple consecutive smaller sections of the drive (for example 500GB each), then once the entire drive has been formatted/tested in this way, do a final QUICK format for the total drive, effectively creating a partition the size of the entire drive, where such drive has been completely tested for bad sectors at least once before being put into actual use. Other than the extra effort on my part to follow these multiple steps (and the increase in overall time, since there may be delays in between each subsection format). Does anyone see a problem with this strategy (and if so, what)?