new hard drive- format now or wait?

[Diosoth]

I bought a new WD 1 GB blue as a backup should either drive in my PCs fail. I don't plan to use it now though, I put it in to verify the drive was working and plan to take it back out for storage.

So then- should I format/partition this drive now, or wait? While it will likely go into my W7 PC at some point(current drive is past 4 years of use), it could also end up used in my XP PC should that drive fail first for any reason. I know the OS will format/partition a new drive during install anyway, so is there any point to doing this now?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I'd format it and use it right now.


A certain non-trivial percentage of drives arrive dead or die early in life. If your drive is one of those, it's better you know this week rather than next year.

Your RMA privileges and warranty are getting closer to being useless every day. If you find out next March that it's broken, the retailer isn't likely to take it back.

Give it a good workout for a week or three and then put it in the closet.