Format Vs Quick Format
 

Is there any difference between Format and Quick format especially for hard drives besides format takes a helluva longer?

google found this -

i always do a quick format, and if i am concerned about the integrity of the hdd, i'll run chkdsk or other such type util.

:)

And I thought all the quick format did was erase the MBR and Fat Tables

I always use the full format on disk, I used the quick format on a 3.5 and lost 35 pictures that could not be replaced.

i think that the quick format only deletes the first letter of the files on the disk.

so, it is pretty easily recoverable.

if you really wanna format.. do a zero fill - replaces every bit with a zero - ensures that everything is erased if you're paranoid about that kind of thing

Actually, a skilled person with a STEM (scanning tunneling electron microscope) could still extract the data.

The tried-and-true way to get rid of data permanently is to write 00 and then FF (hex digits - two is one byte).. 7 times in a row. Why the magic number 7? Not sure...

Well, if you want to be extremely paranoid... you can melt the drives. :D :D

7 isn't really a magic number, it's the government specification for data shredding.

hrdwareguy I believe that you are correct sir. In the DOS Days all a format /q did was wipe FAT and MBR. I believe that the XP/2k holdover is very similar. Wipe out the File Table and Boot record and Whammo, clean drive.