There are three steps in preparing a hard disk for use. First is the
low-level formatting. Think of this as putting survey marks on the disk
surface - similar to the major survey of land before being subdivided into
lots. Next is partitioning of the hard disk - this tells the computer how
the disk is to be used. You can divide the disk into as many as four
separate partitions (use assignments). FDISK is the program that is often
used for the partition assignment. The last step is the regular format.

Low-level formatting is done by the manufacturer, and the user rarely needs
to do it these days. Years ago, it was different and the user had to do
low-level formatting using a special program. Today, the rule is "don't do
low-level formatting" - unless you know what you are doing and have a need
to do so.

Peter Shkabara, P.E.
____________________________
Computer Science Instructor
Columbia College - Sonora, CA
209 588-5156
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http://pesh.what.cc
-----Original Message-----
What is the difference between low level formatting, and the regular format
Rosanne

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