What is low-level formatting and how is it produced?

For all new hard drives, low-level formatting has already been implemented by manufacturers, so it does not require reinitialization. It is unlikely that under normal circumstances you will actually have to do this yourself in practice, since technically only the manufacturer can perform this type of procedure.

Low-level formatting essentially represents the initialization and testing of the disk surface, because during this process, a record is performed with reading verification in all its sectors. In the absence of any problems, there is no need for a second check and initialization of the surface. You can first understand the difference between the formatting process at a low and high level.

Low-level formatting is an operation in which the magnetic surface of the disk is covered with servo marks, which are special information labels used to position the read head. It is produced using special equipment at the stage of physical manufacture of the hard disk. The first time you start this procedure, the plates are completely clean, that is, they do not contain any information at all. The information that is recorded as a result of this process is never changed again.

High-level formatting exists in two forms: fast formatting and formatting in the normal mode. If the device is formatted quickly, the device is not checked for defective sectors. In normal mode, it creates a master bootstrap, which contains the partitions and structure of the file system, installs the boot sector, and so on. The integrity of the media itself is checked for defective sectors, which are then blocked.

Concerning the term low-level formatting at the moment there are several myths. While many of them are already dispelled, there are still problems with formatting old disks ATA and SCSI. There are special programs that can do this. Since the ATA specification was created for the unique commands of specific manufacturers, there is a set of special commands for many of these devices that do not allow unauthorized formatting. All these commands are created by device manufacturers, so you need to find them before you begin the process. Very often they are intended not only for drives from a specific manufacturer, but also for individual HDD models.

Since modern disks are constantly in conversion mode, they are protected against the possibility of changing the defect map or the bevel factor. Devices that have the property of zone recording are in this state constantly, so they are completely protected. For most models, there is a special command set used in the formatting process. For some manufacturers, you can see a proposal for programs for low-level formatting. It is recommended, first of all, to test the program offered by the manufacturer, especially since all of them are provided free of charge. If a special program for initialization has not been released from the manufacturer, you can use the very convenient Drive Fitness Test application. It perfectly copes with any disks, offering a detailed full testing of the hard drive.

If you are more concerned about the issue that affects the low-level formatting of the flash drive, then the application HDD Low Level Format Tool is great for such a case. The peculiarity of this program is that it allows you to restore not only flash drives, but also hard disks. This tool is universal. A user-friendly interface allows the user to quickly learn the operating principles and try out the low-level formatting of USB flash drives.