Help with formatting a Seagate HD

Hi

Could anyone advise on how to format a Seagate external HD
Do I use the Computer Management or Right Click on the HD in My Computer to format?

• What Do I set the allocation size to?
• Do I put a check mark against "perform a quick format" or Enable File and Folder compression"

Thank You

Do I use the Computer Management or Right Click on the HD in My Computer to format?

You CAN do it either way. In XP, I like to open 'computer management' and use 'disk management'.

If the drive is listed in Disk Management, it may already BE formatted, and it will say so if it is, (file system type, size and free,) or you can right click on the partition you wish to format on that drive, (in the lower section,) choose -format- and follow the steps.

What Do I set the allocation size to?

As a rule you should leave the ' default ' selection made by the computer alone.
It's decision is based on the size of the volume you are formatting. Yours will likely be 4096 which is 4k.

Volume size NTFS cluster size
7 MB–512 MB 512 bytes
513 MB–1,024 MB 1 KB
1,025 MB–2 GB 2 KB
2 GB–2 TB 4 KB

Do I put a check mark against "perform a quick format"…

If you've never used it before, I would do a full format so NTFS can spot any sectors that may be 'bad' BEFORE they are used for data. If you've used it before and have run a full format previously, then a ' quick ' one would be fine.

…or Enable File and Folder compression

I wouldn't you will likely never need it, and that can always be ' activated ' later, if needed.

Tallon41

Hi Tallon41

Thanks for helping me out .

I have another question please if anyone can help.

On my computer I have a partioned Hard Drive (C:/ & D:/), where D:/ is used for backups so if my computer gets a virus I can restore the computer to the state in which I backed it up.
My question is can ACER's e-recover back up utility/application currently installed on my C:/ Drive be installed on my ext HD to serve the same purpose as mentioned above?

Or is there a better way of safegaurding the ext HD?

EDIT:(22:10 GMT)

I think my question actually extends beyond the ext hard drive i have just bought and more to do with My Computer's Hard Drive its partitions and recovery functions which I have never fully understood.
If there is anyone who could take the time to help me understand the questions I have about this I would be most grateful.


Kind Regards,



Manic D

Hi Manicd,

Thanks for the PM and for your kind words.

Since I see that Tallon41 has already begun helping you with these questions, I imagine he'll be stopping by again soon.
I'll follow along with this thread in case there are additional thoughts and strategies to contribute.

In the meantime, please be patient.
You know we are all volunteers and contribute our time and assistance when we can.

Best Regards,
Doug

No worries Doug and I really appreciate the reply. I just think you offer the most informative & reliable advice experienced so far (no offence to other contributors out there ). Im at work at the moment so I will start firing away with my questions this evening LoL.

My question is can ACER's e-recover back up utility/application currently installed on my C:/ Drive be installed on my ext HD to serve the same purpose as mentioned above?

Acer's utility ? Not likely, but there are plenty of such out there.

the utility you mentioned uses a bootable ' image ' or ' snapshot ' of the c: partition, within the D: partition, to "restore," if you will the c: drive to the time when that Image was created. The first day of ownership. This provides you with what is called "disaster recovery", while RAID1 and 5, (and others,) can provide what's known as Fail-over, in order to limit any down-time as much as possible.

Disaster Recovery – Bootable Imaging of the OS partition or entire drive (can also be called cloning when copied directly to a replacement hard drive.)
Fail-Over — any RAID (other than 0)
Data Security – Simple back-up of data.

all of these provide solutions to different problems, though some try to use them for one of the other problems.

There are as I said a number of tools out there that will do this. Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image to name the two that I've used. These images can be on a hard drive or CD / DVD media.

There are an even larger number of "backup" utilities. Beware of utilities that "compress" the backup and or divide it into files readable only by it's tool. You either will NOT be able to 'browse' your backups for a file, or you must use their 'resore' utility to do so, and often that will not show you the file contents, only the name-date-time. Those have a purpose, but are better suited for business applications, and I do not recommend them for residential home users.

That said, the preferred usage for external drives, is for holding data Back-ups, or image files as mentioned. They should not be plugged-in and spinning all the time. There is a limited number of spins in each drive, and that limit is an unknown quantity. If a user needed add'l storage space, then a second hard drive installed inside the tower is usually recommended. Unfortunately, most laptop PC's do not have space for more than one, (though some do,) and in those instances, I would recommend 2.5" external enclosed drives, as they are far more portable.

Or is there a better way of safegaurding the ext HD?

It is only data. If you image it, then it is 'static', as in it will not change even though you may add files and folders to your ext drive.
Best Practice is that you regularly 'back-up' the data you wish saved to another location. A different hard dive, or re-writeable CD / DVD media perhaps.
If you have a tower PC, then this would be akin to making a back-up of a back-up, if the ext drive is indeed primarily used for backing-up data from the tower.

I hope that answered your question(s),

Tallon41

Hi and thanks for your continued support.
Ive tried to understand and take in as much information as possible from you have furnished me with.

But I'm still unsure how this stuff works:

My laptop has one physical Disk and three drives, i think, which are C:(Acer) D: (Data) and a hidden one called PQSERVICE

The PQSERVICE as I understand it is the "hidden Partition" that allows me to restore my C:drive to either its "Factory" state or to the "user(me)" state. This PQSERVICE also holds the the files/images(?) of my OS when restoring my C: Drive to its "Factory State"?????
When I run the "Factory Restore" option the computer reboots & on start up I'm presented with the XP setup (you know to set up language, time zones etc) - is this coming from the stuff stored on PQSERVICE or the D: Drive???

This is what my Backup Utility looks like in images:
[attachment removed]
[attachment removed]

When my computer gets infected with malware I use this restore function to wipe(?) my C: Drive and restore it to either "My Backup" or the "Factory Backup" -

- How does the this back up and restore function work? Is it just one file that contains this information on the state of the computer like an ISO

- Which Drive are these files backed up to?

- How are these files protected from malware so that they can be used to restore the Drives to clean state?

On my laptop:

What is the D: Drive for If I have the PQSERVICE to restore my C: Drive?

What are these files on the D: Drive For? (Image Below)

[attachment removed]
[attachment removed]

What I want to do, if possible, is to store files and install programs on my ext HD and have it all backed up here as well like it is on my laptop with the internal HD. So if the ext HD drive did get infected I could, like my computer restore to an earlier state with out having to reformat it and wipe everything of it.

Is this viable? If so how can this be done? Does it involve partitioning the EXT HD and having one half to be updated with files constantly etc (*awake) and the other half to store a snapshot of the EXT HD(*asleep) for restoration for the half I constantly update

I hope this all makes sense, phew, and let me know if I have completely missed the point.

*these markings are just to convey the ideas I'm trying to put across lol

The PQSERVICE as I understand it is the "hidden Partition" that allows me to restore my C:drive to either its "Factory" state or to the "user(me)" state.

Factory state = yes
User(me) state = depends on what you think that means. Above I mentioned that you could use drive imaging software to image a hard drive and that is what this option will do. It will allow the 'user' (you) to use the Acer software to take another 'image' of the c: partition, a more current image and put it somewhere….likely in the D.

This PQSERVICE also holds the the files/images(?) of my OS when restoring my C: Drive to its "Factory State"?????

yes, as well as the program files used to run those commands.

When I run the "Factory Restore" option the computer reboots & on start up I'm presented with the XP setup (you know to set up language, time zones etc) - is this coming from the stuff stored on PQSERVICE or the D: Drive???

Well at that point in the windows setup, the OS has been copied already, so you'd be already booted on the c: partition and executing the windows installation program.

When my computer gets infected with malware I use this restore function to wipe(?) my C: Drive and restore it to either "My Backup" or the "Factory Backup" -

Well unless you create a 'user' image while infected, there would only be a few reasons you would WANT to go back to the Factory image. All of the programs you installed and your files would be gone.

How does the this back up and restore function work? Is it just one file that contains this information on the state of the computer like an ISO

Yes I said that in previous post. it has an Image of that partition, compressed for space.

How are these files protected from malware so that they can be used to restore the Drives to clean state?

they are different partitions and are restricted against tampering.

What is the D: Drive for If I have the PQSERVICE to restore my C: Drive?

You mentioned it said Data, so likely it is where it stores the "user" created image(s) Depending on how large the partition is and how large a single image is, it may allow more than one image, or it may not and overwrite itself each time.

What are these files on the D: Drive For? (Image Below)

not clear enough. It is possible that the whole show is run from the D drive and PQService holds the 'image' files. knowing how large the D and PQService partitions are would help, or if about equal…wouldn't help at all. The larger (if significantly so,) should be the partition that holds the 'images'.

What I want to do, if possible, is to store files and install programs on my ext HD and have it all backed up here as well like it is on my laptop with the internal HD. So if the ext HD drive did get infected I could, like my computer restore to an earlier state with out having to reformat it and wipe everything of it.

well you can't do it 'the same' You won't be able to use the Acer software to take images of your ext hard drive. As I said previously, you would have to purchase drive imaging software, then create an image of your ext drive's partition, (I would put it on DVDs,) and then store the disks. If you store user files on it, then you will want to also periodically back them up seperately.

You can install programs on the ext drive. The only issue will be if you have to restore the c: to Factory settings, then you will have to re-install them again.

Is this viable? If so how can this be done? Does it involve partitioning the EXT HD and having one half to be updated with files constantly etc (*awake) and the other half to store a snapshot of the EXT HD(*asleep) for restoration for the half I constantly update

viable, no not really. the asleep half would not recognize or record any changes to the awake half. An 'image' file is "static" it does not change. You have to create a new image if you expect to bring it up to date.

That said there ARE "live" backup software programs out there, but they are usually Enterprise-level (business,) and typically very expensive.

Hope that helped answer some of your questions.

Tallon41

Hi Tallon41

I going to try some of the things you suggested.
Ive just purchased a copy of acronis and as you've said I cant do it with Acer's utility.
So can I now partition the ext HD into two and have the backups/snapshot of the ext hard drive and the internal drives on my computer( C: | D: | PQSERVICE ) on one side and leave the other side free to add files etc.
I think there would be too much information to store on DVD's. Plus the ext HD has a capacity of 700GB, so I might as well make use of it what do you think?
Thanks for your time and patience, most appreciated


Kind Regards,


Manic D

edit:

When I first plugged in the ext HD it was represented by this icon [attachment removed]

I then when I formatted the ext HD and it changed to this icon[attachment removed].

Ive since disconnected and reconnected the ext HD and its gone back to the original Seagate icon along with some seagate files.
What does this mean?

I think there would be too much information to store on DVD's.

Actually, the only image files that are large would be partition images where 'compression' is not selected. When a compression level is chosen, the size will shrink dramatically. This is particularlly true of partitions that are mostly empty space, none of that will be "copied".

Plus the ext HD has a capacity of 700GB, so I might as well make use of it what do you think?

Use DVD media. Check it, but your DVD burner is likely able to burn Dual Layer,(DL) DVDs, and that would further reduce the number of disks needed. Keep them in a drawer / box and not on a desktop or cubby. Use sleaves, not the clear hard plastic holder to somewhat avoid CD / DVD rot. This describes the tendency of CD or DVD disks to become unreadable due to physical or chemical deterioration. The causes vary and have known to occur from : oxidation of the reflective media layer; ultra-violet light damage (sunlight, flourecent lighting;) and de-bonding of the adhesive used to stick the layers of the disc together. Treated with care, there is a good chance they will last 10years or more. I would recommend updating images about once a year.
I do NOT recommend the storage of image files on external hard drives, that are on basically all the time. Either disconnect when not in use, or if it has an On/Off button as most do, keep it off until it is needed. I recommend the first, as most will forget to do the second.

When I first plugged in the ext HD it was represented by this icon [attachment removed]

I then when I formatted the ext HD and it changed to this icon[attachment removed].

Ive since disconnected and reconnected the ext HD and its gone back to the original Seagate icon along with some seagate files.
What does this mean?

did you Partition the drive as you said you were going to (into two partitions?)
When you "format" a volume, you have the option to give the volume a "name". For hard drives "Local Disk" is default in XP. Removable disks in XP can be named, (CD/DVDs devices(not volumes,) can not be named/renamed for some reason.)

Tallon41

Hi Tallon41 nice to hear from you.

Actually, the only image files that are large would be partition images where 'compression' is not selected. When a compression level is chosen, the size will shrink dramatically. This is particularly true of partitions that are mostly empty space, none of that will be "copied".

Ive just done an estimation with acronis to how much space required to back up my partitions - Disk 0 > C:/D:/PQSERVICE. It works out at about 25GB which is equivalent to six 4GB DVD's, too many surely??

The single factory restore Disc that I received with the computer is only about 4GB in size.

Use DVD media. Check it, but your DVD burner is likely able to burn Dual Layer,(DL) DVDs, and that would further reduce the number of disks needed.

Yes it is, its a "DVD-Super Multi double layer"

did you Partition the drive as you said you were going to (into two partitions?)

No I didn't but that's what I wanted to do

When you "format" a volume, you have the option to give the volume a "name". For hard drives "Local Disk" is default in XP. Removable disks in XP can be named, (CD/DVDs devices(not volumes,) can not be named/renamed for some reason.)

Tallon41

- When I fist plugged it in it was just called "Free Agent Drive" and had this icon: [external image: Posted Image]
- After formatting it then appeared as H:/ with this icon: [external image: Posted Image].

Disconnected then reconnected and now appears as Free Agent Drive (H:) back with this icon:[external image: Posted Image]

Kind Regards,


Manic D


PS I like your avatar lol

Ive just done an estimation with acronis to how much space required to back up my partitions - Disk 0 > C:/D:/PQSERVICE. It works out at about 25GB which is equivalent to six 4GB DVD's, too many surely??

Your call really. That number would not bother me. I would however not copy the entire disk, but rather three seperate jobs, each copying a different partition. You need to ensure that the "boot track" is copied with the C: backup job. Using what compression level was that estimate given ? If you did not change it, then I understand TI sets it to 'none'.

The single factory restore Disc that I received with the computer is only about 4GB in size.

There is some question as to what that will actually "restore." I believe that disk will only restore a blank c: partition with an automated Windows XP installation. There may also be bloat-ware and / or trial-ware programs added for free.

Yes it is, its a "DVD-Super Multi double layer"

If you use that type, then they will hold twice as much, (about.)


FreeAgent pro is software from seagate. You should read the manual to see if you want it at all, (my brief read of it's description would be "no" but I have not read it fully. You do not have to use it.

Hi Tallon thanks for all your info and assistance, you've really helped my out. I presume the question about the Icons for the ext HD is nothing to worry about. Kind Regards, Manic D

Only if you do want to use the FreeAgen Pro software. It is getting the icon from that software, and when you do not see it, there may be a problem with it. You may not want to use it, in which case, "no" it does not matter. enjoy !