Does HDD Life get affected due to repeated partitioning and formatting ..I guess most of the partitioning programs (Gparted , fdisk etc) do only a quick format and not a Low Level format...

So theoretically by formatting it means only deleting right?

Other than the data loss , there is no need to worry abt wear and tear of the HDD (physical wear and tear due to repeated writing of the Head on the device which leads to Bad Blocks)

Pl correct me in my assumptions bcoz I am formatting and trying different distros left,right and centre almost 2 times in a week as I got a spare computer and I have installed a new HDD !

After many years of computing, both large systems and small, I don't think you should give it another thought. Most disk failures are due to the motor and bearings failing. I would guess the arm that holds the heads would be the next most common cause of failure. The surface materials today for the drives will long outlast the motor and bearings. Anyway, drives have never been cheaper. So, my advice is do what you want, format, partition as you like.

A format does not delete data files.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_fo...formatted_disk

The repeated act of formatting a hard drive does not increase the chance of a hard drive failure. Many drives last several years with 24/7/365 usage. Some fail sooner than others. A few fail right out of the new shipment box. Several online articles suggest 3 to 5 years is normal life span. I have drives that are over 5 years old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard-disk_failure

Depends on what you mean. Low level or high level. A low level may help increase it's useful life..


Devices fail based on MTBF calculations. Basically use, any use and degrade it along with time, emf/rfi or any number of small other factors like vibration or shock.

Thanks a lot ..I remember during the DOS days ( pre win period) , there used to be 2 options for formatting - "unconditional " and "quick"...The former used to take a very long time while using Norton Disk Doctor ...The understanding was that it completely re-writes the sectors ..

Also my old 540 MB HDD (not RAM!) used to develop bad blocks quickly despite shielding from power fluctuations and taking utmost care ..So I had to run scandisk oftenand mark the bad sectors. .I was advised not to format frequently..

I guess the new gen drives are more durable and resistant ..Also with Linux , I guess I need not check for the disk with utilities like scandisk..

Thanks again

I run a 'smartctl' long test once in a while to make sure the drive is not failing. Usually the motor fails first, but bad blocks are an early sign of a failing drive.

Modern hard drives should have a useful service life of many years. Format, overwrite, delete, etc to your heart's content. That said, make frequent backups.

Real low level formatting (that is erasing the sector structure and laying out a complete new one on blank disk material) doesn't exist anymore since MFM drives became obsolete. ALL other formatting/partitioning that you do only has impact on the logical contents of the disk, not on magnetical structure. It has no influence whatsoever on disk life.

jlinkels

I still use it all the time.
Every scsi drive we have on a hardware adapter has that feature.
Every hard drive maker uses it.

I might be wrong, but then in accordance with the wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_fo..._of_hard_disks

jlinkels

I don't disagree with this.

HDDs became routinely available pre-formatted with a compatible low-level format. At the same time, the industry moved from historical (dumb) bit serial interfaces to modern (intelligent) bit serial interfaces and Word serial interfaces wherein the low level format was performed at the factory.

On almost every scsi we have we can low level it. Almost every hard drive maker still offers some program to do a low level. Generic programs exist.

It is rare for most people since drives tend to be throw away items. We just have to keep some odd stuff running forever. I think any common user would simply throw the thing away since they really want to get a larger drive anyway.