Initializing drive w. ATTO PT express

[Bookerv12]

Hi,
When using ATTO PT express to initialze my audio drive......,,,,
Should I select 'Low level format', or 'Erase Disk'?


Thanks,

Booker.

[Rob Macomber]

Low level reformat can take as long as 20 minutes on an 18 gig drive. I suggest doing this when you initially get the drive, or if you change drivers ( FWB or ATTO ) Erasing takes a few seconds....but does not totally wipe the drive of all code.

Rob

[dhuk]

From the SCSI64 Kit FAQ:

"10.When formatting drives with ATTO Express Pro -Tools, should I do a High-Level Initialization or Low-Level format?

It is not recommended to Low-Level format your drives, under most circumstances all that is necessary is a High-Level Initialization. Note: Low-Level formatting can do more harm than good"

Low-level formatting is only neccessary when bad sectors appear on the drive and data can't reliably be stored there. This happens rarely and can be detected quite easily by Techtool, Norton etc.