Formatting the Install/Boot Partition - Low-Level vs. Quick ?

I noticed when I went about doing a fresh install of Win7 on the HDD that shipped with my laptop, and using the partitioning and formatting options included in the installation routine, that when I'd do a format, the formatting would complete very rapidly. From this, I deduce that the installation routine does not perform a low-level format.

Perhaps, from this I should conclude that a low-level format is completely unnecessary. Yet, I seem to remember reading somewhere online, at some point in time (note: this might have been back in the Win'95 days) that it's better to do a low-level format; to flip all the bits to zero.

If anyone can shed any light on this issue (i.e., is doing a low-level format a good idea, or simply overkill and completely unnecessary?), it'd be most appreciated -- especially since I may be starting (yet another) installation process in the near future.

Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts you can share on this.
--Thri

The data being written over the old installation has no cognizance at all of whether it's overwriting 1's or 0's so zeroing is a waste of time and only useful for making data irretrievable by most forensic methods.

If there is a performance or troubleshooting reason to wipe the disk at all it is occasional installation problems we can solve much more easily with the Diskpart Clean Command which zeroes possibly corrupt or conflicting code in the boot sector.

The XP full format incorporated a Disk Check to sequester bad sectors, not zeroing. It's a waste of time as we found here from long experience and much debate.

gregrocker said:

The data being written over the old installation has no cognizance at all of whether it's overwriting 1's or 0's so zeroing is a waste of time and only useful for making data irretrievable by most forensic methods.

Makes complete sense to me. Thanks, gr.
--Thri

cyclic said:

a low level format is far riskier which involves aligning all the CHS into the right place, usually best done by the manufacturer.

Now that you mention this, my memory is jogged... and I vaguely recall learning that there was something even lower than a "low level" format, and someone may have used a term like "factory-level formatting." Not sure... it's a vague memory. But I think you and that mystery source were talking about the same thing. Obviously you're being much more precise and detailed... and I'm glad to have the better understanding your post provides. However, what does "aligning all the CHS" mean? Thanks. --Thri

karlsnooks said:

Now I know that others may tell you not necessary and so on and so forth, but here is my approach:

• Run ChkDsk or the mfg's test program over the entire disk to make sure that all bad sectors are marked and recorded in the disks controller.
• Use DiskPart and its CLEAN ALL command to write zeroes to each and every byte on the disk.

If these steps fail, then the disk gets used as a door stop.
karl

Thanks, karl. In the event of using this approach, I'm assuming I'd need some kind of boot CD (or other media) that would contain the above commands (e.g., ChkDsk, DiskPart, CLEAN ALL). If so, would you recommend this method for building such a CD? Or is there another method you prefer? Thanks.

--Thri

Use this tutorial, which Greg linked you to in #2: Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command

For boot media you can use a Windows 7 DVD or a System Repair Disc.

System Repair Disc - Create