![]() Make sure the drive is completely backed up before proceeding. Zero Filling a SATA or ATA (IDE) drive destroys 100% of the data on the drive. ![]() Similarly, when a disc drive writes data (like a zero fill erase procedure) and encounters a problem, the drive firmware retires the problem sector and activates a replacement before giving successful write status. In this situation the actual data bytes in the sector are preserved and transferred to the new spare during a sector reallocation. Usually, sectors become difficult to read long before they become impossible to read. To scan for bad sectors that can be detected and replaced with good spare sectors when writing to the sectors.īy design, modern disc drives maintain spare sectors for reallocation purposes. To erase confidential information for privacy reasons. To change from one operating system to another and wish to remove everything from the drive. To remove a virus that cannot be removed without destroying the boot sector. The most common reasons to Zero Fill a SATA or ATA (IDE) hard drive are: This is a simple process of writing all zeros (0's) to the entire hard disk drive. The only safe method of initializing all the data on a Seagate device is the zero fill erase option in SeaTools for DOS. The low-level process first used years ago in MFM hard drives bears little resemblance to what we now call a "low-level format" for today's SATA and ATA (IDE) drives. You may wish to make a note of this code and pass it onto Seagate when you raise a RMA/Warranty request/tech support query with them.What does "low level format" a SATA or ATA (IDE) drive mean?Īctually the term "low level" is a bit of a misnomer. If you plan on seeking a manufacturer’s warranty replacement directly with Seagate then you will find a Seagate error code in this section. There is also other information displayed in the ‘Selected Drive information’ area. Pass – Your hard disk is functioning normally and there is nothing wrong with it.įail – There is a fault on the hard disk and we recommend that it is replaced When the test finishes a result will display in the test results column The long test can take anywhere between half an hour to several hours to run, depending on how big your hard disk is, so you may wish to leave it for a while. The progress bar will then start to fill up and you may hear plenty of hard disk activity. This is a non destructive test which means it should not erase any data on the hard disk however we do recommend you backup your data if possible, just in case. This will then begin the long test which will then find, and repair, any bad sectors of the hard disk. In the ‘Model ID’ column you should see any hard disks that are connected to your system, simply highlight the disk you wish to test and then in the menu at the top click BASIC TESTS and then select LONG TEST. It’s the top table you are interested in. You should now see something that looks the same as above. Your motherboard manual will show you how to correctly set this.Ī Licence agreement will load, simply click accept. If Seatools does not start, or give you prompt, and the system boots as normal then make sure your first boot device is correctly set in your BIOS. On some systems Seatools may start on its own and you won’t need to push anything. Provided your system is set to boot from the USB port your PC may display a message, when booting, to ‘push any key to boot from CD/DVD’ simply push any key and Seatools will begin to load. If you are using the bootable version you simply insert a blank USB stick and run the installer to make the bootable USB stick and then insert it to the PC in question/reboot and Seatools bootable should then start. If you are using the Windows version simply install it like you would and other program. Seatools is quite a small file (A few MB) so it won’t take long to download. You may not be able to boot to windows for example which would render the Windows version about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike!Įither way, both versions can be found here: 2 – Get it going Seatools bootable is the version we recommend as it is not dependant on a windows Operating system to function. There are two versions of Seatools, "Seatools bootable" and "Seatools for Windows". It is also not limited to just testing Seagate hard disks it will also test SSD’s such as Corsair, Samsung, Kingston and other hard disk brands like Western Digital. Seatools is a fantastic program the scans your hard disk for errors, it can even correct hard disk errors. 1 – Get the softwareĪs UK Gaming Computers generally uses Seagate hard disks we recommend the official Seagate tool, Seatools. Thankfully, it’s a relatively easy task to diagnose. A Failing hard disk can cause a number of problems for custom built computers such as software blue screening (BSOD), odd software behaviour, data loss or even stopping the system from booting.
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