Default Settings

[Flummoxed]

Bit for bit, the OS cd always has the same data on it... so why after I reinstall windows, the settings are never quite the same each time it's done, such as the default size an IE window opens?

[waldwolf]

Which OS are you reinstalling?

Are you:

...reinstalling over a previous version of the same OS?

...or a newer version over an older version?

...or a complete reinstall including HDD format?

???

[Flummoxed]

complete reinstall including fresh partitioning and format.

[stumonster]

so when you fdisk the drive do you get the same size drive offered to you to create partitions in?

[francois]

hi'

when you use fdisk to format a disk, you may think that your disk is clean ...

it's not, data are not erased ...

to get a real clean disk you need to make a "zerofill", called in a wrong way low level format.

it's not a low level format, it's simply an overwrite of 0's ...

then your disk is clean.

if you use fdisk to format, this means that your disk was in FAT32 ...

fdisk cannot format NTFS ...

if you suppress partitions, you'll have to recreate them.

if you install XP, you can still format partitions either in FAT or NTFS.

even if you used fdisk before, you'd better format them with the option you get before install (in choose a partition to install).

my 2B here

francois

[Flummoxed]

so when you fdisk the drive do you get the same size drive offered to you to create partitions in?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes. I start with a completely raw drive, put a single primary partition accross the whole volume, format, install the OS... but things are different every time, not major things but little things. I can't understand why this should be the case. Surely it should be the same each time?

[Flummoxed]

hi'

when you use fdisk to format a disk, you may think that your disk is clean ...

it's not, data are not erased ...

to get a real clean disk you need to make a "zerofill", called in a wrong way low level format.

it's not a low level format, it's simply an overwrite of 0's ...

then your disk is clean.

if you use fdisk to format, this means that your disk was in FAT32 ...

fdisk cannot format NTFS ...

if you suppress partitions, you'll have to recreate them.

if you install XP, you can still format partitions either in FAT or NTFS.

even if you used fdisk before, you'd better format them with the option you get before install (in choose a partition to install).

my 2B here

francois

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Francois. How do I zerofill?

[Firefoxx]

What's francois is saying is that a fdisk command only changes the allocation table, which is only a tiny part of the disk. The data on the drive is not actually erased (this also goes for doing a quick format).

However, this really doesn't have anything to do with what you're experiencing, since, for all intents and purposes, winXP DOES see a pristine drive with no information on it. Therefore, unless Bill Gates is a really sick SOB, a non-zeroed drive will behave the same as a pristine drive from the factory.

Could you list all the small changes you experience? I can understand IE's behaviour, since IE always opens to the last used position. You could try making an unattended install and seeing if the result is also different.

[waldwolf]

Re: Low-level formatting:

Important drive information (servo, sector layout, and defect management, etc.) is stored in the low-level format at the factory. This information is designed to last the life of the drive, therefore, it is not possible to low level the drive outside the factory.

Although some drive manufactures and BIOS's provided so-called "low level format utilities", they actually perform a write-read verify of the drive’s user data sectors, and do not actually perform a low-level format. In the event of a corrupted master boot record or boot block virus, use FDISK /MBR command to restore the master boot record.

If you need to low level format your hard drive then check the drive manufacturer and download such a utility from their website. Every drive manufacturer provides just such a utility. The following is a list of hard drive manufacturers with links to low level format utilities:

IBM(Hitachi)

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Seagate

http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/utils.html

Maxtor

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/index.htm

Fujitsu

http://www.fel.fujitsu.com/home/drivers.asp?L=en&CID=1

Samsung

http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDr...ities/index.htm

FAQ: Low level format

Western Digital

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp

Note:

If normal (high level) hard disk formatting is required, you can use DOS FDISK command to first erase and create partitions and then use FORMAT. It is also a good idea when your hard disk becomes inaccessible to see if it is just the system files that are corrupted. Most of the time, that is the case, and SYS will do the job of replacing those system files. Therefore, low level format is always of LAST RESORT when you encounter HDD problems.

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[Flummoxed]

I'm having strange problems. After re-mastering, my security software had problems on install, browser crashed while transferring backed up data from ext. HDD and now the ext. HDD has gone from the my computer page. I'm gonna start over again.

There goes another 4 hours Oh well, back later.

As far as I can gather, deleting partition and creating a new one, then a format should allow XP to view it as a fresh HDD. THanks for the advice guys 'n' gals.