Formating of pc

[kaede]

Every 3-4 mth i format my os drive .. heard from other that regular formatting will kill the hdd ? Is this true ?:confused:

[gajajakr]

Hi Kaede,
From all that I have "read and suggestions" on HHD maintenance in different forums they format HHD religiously, to keep system running smoothly. I haven't seen any mention of ruining a HHD this way. I am just starting this practice with my own machines. I am trying to learn how to do it without complicating my life too much.:)
I need to organize my data files so I can backup and restore those critical files without too much hassle!
I am interested in other folks opinions/experiences in response to your question!

[kaede]

thank for the reply

[HeadachesAbound]

It is my understanding that the average life cycle of an HDD is roughly 5 years. Based on this, I have had a Maxtor 10GB Drive for around 5 years and have repeatedly formatted the drive every 6 months at the minimum. I have so far experienced no issues with the drive.

If it is a good name-brand drive then you shouldn't experience any issues by performing formats unless you experience a fatal failure during the format. By fatal failure I mean something like power outage / spike, etc.

I have also found that most people tend to use Maxtor / Western Digital drives as they tend to provide the best hardware and the best tools for troubleshooting the drives themselves.

[Budfred]

Do you know where you heard this idea? From what little I know of HD mechanics, it doesn't make sense that formatting would cause a problem since it is simply another way of writing to the HD. I takes a little more time than most things to do during which the writing is going on furiously, but defragging usually takes even longer and is even more active.

Did the person that told you this also tell you that they had a great deal on HDs if you buy in the next 10 minutes???:D

Budfred

[mjc]

You want to keep a hard drive for a very loong time...never take it out of the box.

It doesn't matter if the write operation is a format or updating a database or playing you favorite game (sving the current level), it is a write and it puts the same amount of stress on the drive. Although there may be a lighty greater chance of the the database doing physical damage...because generaly it doesn't move around the drive. That makes it kind of like carpet in a high traffic area, more likely to wear out first, but since the heads never really contact the surface of the drive the chances are really low.

[kaede]

thank for all the reply =)