Hi there.
I bought a new Western Digital Caviar green 2TB drive a few weeks ago, which is an advanced format drive.
I've only got around to installing it, and I have a question.
Firstly, I should explain that like many of you, I have multiple PCs in the house, running XP, Vista and Windows 7.
I wish to install the advanced format drive in my file/media server.
This is a machine built out of old parts, it's basically a Pentium 4, and runs Windows XP. This does the job fine, for the job it has, which is basically a NAS/DNLA server. It also runs IIS and hosts a small web page.
Now, I realise that XP isn't able to align these newer drives correctly, and what they recommend you do is to download an alignment tool and run that, or, put a jumper across if you're only using one partition, which I am.
The new drives work correctly under Vista and Windows 7.
Now, I thought that rather than muck about, it would be just as easy to temporarily connect the drive to my main system, which is running Windows 7, and format it with that. I did so, copied a few files over to test it, all seems to be working well.
I ran diskpart, and when I ran list partition, it said the offset is 1024kb.
This is compared to my other mechanical HDDs that have an offset of 32kb
So, that seemed to work fine.
I then thought, that if I now place the drive in the XP machine, already partitioned and formatted etc, that the drive would be set up correctly, no need to muck about with any alignment software or jumpers?
I've copied a few files onto it, all seems to be working well enough.
Hard to tell if the performance is up to scratch, as it's an old Motherboard with old SATA connectors.
Now, before I go and transfer the gig of files I want to dump on it, I thought there's no harm in making 100% sure about my idea, and phoned Western Digital direct, on their 0800 number.
I explained to the guy on the phone that I have an Advanced Format drive, and that I've partitioned and formatted it on a Windows 7 machine, and then placed it into my XP system as is, and carried on using it.
I asked if this is OK, and he said he'd check with his supervisor.
He came back to me and told me that this is not OK, and that I'd still need to put the jumper across.
I then re-explained, that I already set the drive up in Windows 7, and that Windows 7 knows how to align the drive correctly, so once it's set up, is it not set up for good? I thought this, because there's a WD Align software you can download to align the drive, which also means you don't need to use the jumper.
He checked with his supervisor again, and he told me that formatting in Windows 7 doesn't set the alignment, and that in the XP machine I'll still need to use the jumper.
If this is correct, then I've entirely misunderstood what the alignment process is, which I thought was taken care of at the partitioning level, which is why I thought that formatting on the Windows 7 system would do the job.
I told him that since formatting it in Windows 7, and installing in the XP machine, I've been using it a bit this morning, and copied a few folders of stuff onto it, without the jumper... would I now need to format the drive again, because the files haven't been written correctly?
He said no, no need to format it, the files are fine.
So then my thought is, if the files are fine, then why do I need the jumper?
I then brought up the subject of cloning software. I use Acronis, and I asked if I'd be able to use Acronis to clone the data from my 1tb drive to the new 2tb drive, as I'd read online that this can cause problems, by also cloning the alignment info from the source disk. He said I can use cloning software, no problems.
So I am a little confused.
I'm plainly no expert at all.
The only time I've had to think about alignment before is when I installed my SSD into my Windows 7 machine, and plainly, I didn't have to worry about it, as again, Windows 7 "knew" what to do, and did it.
So as I say, I'm a little confused now as to what to do.
I don't want to doubt Western Digital Tech Support, as they plainly should know a lot more about their own HDDs than I do, so I'm guessing it's me that's wrong.
I thought that misalignment meant that files weren't written correctly to the HDD, causing a performance hit. Also meaning that the files that are written while the drive is misaligned, stay written incorrectly? Which is why I asked the tech support guy whether I should delete the files I've already written.
Basically, I'm going to upgrade my main rig sometime later this year, with i7 kit. This C2D system will then become my server, and will probably be running Vista x64, just because I have an OEM copy here tied to this motherboard. So what I wanted to do, was to format the drive correctly to start with, and not have to bother with the jumper, so that later this year, I can just pull the drive off that Mobo, and connect it to the C2D system running Vista, and continue using it.
So anybody who's genuinely in the know, can you please tell me if my idea was sound... to format with Windows 7, and then connect to the XP machine... or if I have misunderstood the alignment issue and go connect the jumper before carrying on. Also, what about the files that have already been written?
I'll leave it for now, and stop transferring files onto it, until I hear something back on here.
Thank OcUK for this forum
It really comes in handy.
Also, what about OcUK tech support? Are those guys up on harddrive alignment issues? Would it be worth giving them a quick call?
Essentially, I just need a yes/no answer to my question, although an explanation of why would be nice and yes, I do realise that when I called Western Digital, they did give me a yes/no answer... and then I didn't believe it lol I'm not trying to tell them their job, I'd just like to understand exactly what's happening.... what the issue is, and then I'll understand WHY.
With thanks in advance, and sorry for being so long winded..
Cheers,
Vin.
EDIT: Just out of interest, I just ran the Everest random read disk benchmark on my drives.
The "old" 1tb drive was averaging 70-80mb/sec, and the new 2tb drive was showing 90-100mb/s.
I didn't run the test for long, just a quick test to see if it appeared to be struggling. It doesn't appear so.
I also read a thread on anandtech, where somebody was asking what to do on his dual boot system, with Windows 7 + XP accessing the same data drive, and the response to him was to format and partition it with Windows 7, and then just use it.
These is exactly the opposite of what Western Digital told me. Also, I saw the sticker that says NOT to add the jumper after formatting, yet the Western Digital guy told me to just add it now, and carry on. This must be wrong?
Again, I'm not trying to be a bighead or something, and assuming I know more than Western Digital... I just want to ensure I have my drive set up correctly. I was to be confident that the 1tb of files I'm waiting to move to the new drive are written 100% correctly, so that even if there is a performance hit in XP, that it will all be 100% when I install Vista on there. Naturally if the files are written incorrectly now, then they'll still be written incorrectly when I upgrade the OS... and moving 2TB of data elsewhere, to format a drive and move it back is... well, beyond my storage capability. A slight performance hit doesn't really matter overly, as it's just used as a network drive. My next job is to install a gigabit PCI card into my server, but still, it's not going to be used for anything speedy... just a network storage drive.
EDIT: For the record, this is what I read on anandtech
I bought a new Western Digital Caviar green 2TB drive a few weeks ago, which is an advanced format drive.
I've only got around to installing it, and I have a question.
Firstly, I should explain that like many of you, I have multiple PCs in the house, running XP, Vista and Windows 7.
I wish to install the advanced format drive in my file/media server.
This is a machine built out of old parts, it's basically a Pentium 4, and runs Windows XP. This does the job fine, for the job it has, which is basically a NAS/DNLA server. It also runs IIS and hosts a small web page.
Now, I realise that XP isn't able to align these newer drives correctly, and what they recommend you do is to download an alignment tool and run that, or, put a jumper across if you're only using one partition, which I am.
The new drives work correctly under Vista and Windows 7.
Now, I thought that rather than muck about, it would be just as easy to temporarily connect the drive to my main system, which is running Windows 7, and format it with that. I did so, copied a few files over to test it, all seems to be working well.
I ran diskpart, and when I ran list partition, it said the offset is 1024kb.
This is compared to my other mechanical HDDs that have an offset of 32kb
So, that seemed to work fine.
I then thought, that if I now place the drive in the XP machine, already partitioned and formatted etc, that the drive would be set up correctly, no need to muck about with any alignment software or jumpers?
I've copied a few files onto it, all seems to be working well enough.
Hard to tell if the performance is up to scratch, as it's an old Motherboard with old SATA connectors.
Now, before I go and transfer the gig of files I want to dump on it, I thought there's no harm in making 100% sure about my idea, and phoned Western Digital direct, on their 0800 number.
I explained to the guy on the phone that I have an Advanced Format drive, and that I've partitioned and formatted it on a Windows 7 machine, and then placed it into my XP system as is, and carried on using it.
I asked if this is OK, and he said he'd check with his supervisor.
He came back to me and told me that this is not OK, and that I'd still need to put the jumper across.
I then re-explained, that I already set the drive up in Windows 7, and that Windows 7 knows how to align the drive correctly, so once it's set up, is it not set up for good? I thought this, because there's a WD Align software you can download to align the drive, which also means you don't need to use the jumper.
He checked with his supervisor again, and he told me that formatting in Windows 7 doesn't set the alignment, and that in the XP machine I'll still need to use the jumper.
If this is correct, then I've entirely misunderstood what the alignment process is, which I thought was taken care of at the partitioning level, which is why I thought that formatting on the Windows 7 system would do the job.
I told him that since formatting it in Windows 7, and installing in the XP machine, I've been using it a bit this morning, and copied a few folders of stuff onto it, without the jumper... would I now need to format the drive again, because the files haven't been written correctly?
He said no, no need to format it, the files are fine.
So then my thought is, if the files are fine, then why do I need the jumper?
I then brought up the subject of cloning software. I use Acronis, and I asked if I'd be able to use Acronis to clone the data from my 1tb drive to the new 2tb drive, as I'd read online that this can cause problems, by also cloning the alignment info from the source disk. He said I can use cloning software, no problems.
So I am a little confused.
I'm plainly no expert at all.
The only time I've had to think about alignment before is when I installed my SSD into my Windows 7 machine, and plainly, I didn't have to worry about it, as again, Windows 7 "knew" what to do, and did it.
So as I say, I'm a little confused now as to what to do.
I don't want to doubt Western Digital Tech Support, as they plainly should know a lot more about their own HDDs than I do, so I'm guessing it's me that's wrong.
I thought that misalignment meant that files weren't written correctly to the HDD, causing a performance hit. Also meaning that the files that are written while the drive is misaligned, stay written incorrectly? Which is why I asked the tech support guy whether I should delete the files I've already written.
Basically, I'm going to upgrade my main rig sometime later this year, with i7 kit. This C2D system will then become my server, and will probably be running Vista x64, just because I have an OEM copy here tied to this motherboard. So what I wanted to do, was to format the drive correctly to start with, and not have to bother with the jumper, so that later this year, I can just pull the drive off that Mobo, and connect it to the C2D system running Vista, and continue using it.
So anybody who's genuinely in the know, can you please tell me if my idea was sound... to format with Windows 7, and then connect to the XP machine... or if I have misunderstood the alignment issue and go connect the jumper before carrying on. Also, what about the files that have already been written?
I'll leave it for now, and stop transferring files onto it, until I hear something back on here.
Thank OcUK for this forum
It really comes in handy.
Also, what about OcUK tech support? Are those guys up on harddrive alignment issues? Would it be worth giving them a quick call?
Essentially, I just need a yes/no answer to my question, although an explanation of why would be nice
and yes, I do realise that when I called Western Digital, they did give me a yes/no answer... and then I didn't believe it lol I'm not trying to tell them their job, I'd just like to understand exactly what's happening.... what the issue is, and then I'll understand WHY.With thanks in advance, and sorry for being so long winded..
Cheers,
Vin.
EDIT: Just out of interest, I just ran the Everest random read disk benchmark on my drives.
The "old" 1tb drive was averaging 70-80mb/sec, and the new 2tb drive was showing 90-100mb/s.
I didn't run the test for long, just a quick test to see if it appeared to be struggling. It doesn't appear so.
I also read a thread on anandtech, where somebody was asking what to do on his dual boot system, with Windows 7 + XP accessing the same data drive, and the response to him was to format and partition it with Windows 7, and then just use it.
These is exactly the opposite of what Western Digital told me. Also, I saw the sticker that says NOT to add the jumper after formatting, yet the Western Digital guy told me to just add it now, and carry on. This must be wrong?
Again, I'm not trying to be a bighead or something, and assuming I know more than Western Digital... I just want to ensure I have my drive set up correctly. I was to be confident that the 1tb of files I'm waiting to move to the new drive are written 100% correctly, so that even if there is a performance hit in XP, that it will all be 100% when I install Vista on there. Naturally if the files are written incorrectly now, then they'll still be written incorrectly when I upgrade the OS... and moving 2TB of data elsewhere, to format a drive and move it back is... well, beyond my storage capability. A slight performance hit doesn't really matter overly, as it's just used as a network drive. My next job is to install a gigabit PCI card into my server, but still, it's not going to be used for anything speedy... just a network storage drive.
EDIT: For the record, this is what I read on anandtech
anandtech-user1 said:I've bought this drive without knowledge of 4k technology and thus I've big problem because I'm using XP and W7 in my computer. I'd like to use this drive as single partition data drive, but will my data accesible from both OS? And then is it better to format it with W7 ( readable with xp w/out align software? ) or to format it with XP with the align software ( no trouble with W7 after? )? Or maybe I should change it for a normal 512bytes drive... If anyone can help I'd be very happy
anandtech-user2 said:
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