Question about testing and formatting large quantity of hard drives - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

xaneidolon · 07-11-2004, 10:42 AM

I recently acquired about 100 hard 3.5” IDE drives and a few laptop drives, too. I need to test and format them.

For the first few, I’ve powered down a computer, attached the drive (as the slave on the ribbon), created a partition and quick formatted using an application called Swissknife. Then rebooted and ran the error-checking from the disk’s properties.

This takes forever and I know that there is a better way. Beyond that, the Swissknife program won’t let me format using NTFS – only FAT 16 or 32.

I’d like to set up a sort of assembly line to process these disks.

I have 3 computers and a laptop that I can use. I also have 3 USB 2.0 enclosures and I’ve ordered a couple of 2.5 to 3.5 IDE adapters for the laptop drives.

I guess what I need is some advice – I’d rather not have to power down the systems for each drive – would like to do a hot swap if possible. I also need some different or better software for formatting, diagnostics, and repair (in case…er, when, there are bad sectors).

I’m not averse to buying good software, but would rather use freeware if you know of any.

Thanks in advance. Just looking to save time and frustration in this process.

merkerguitars · 07-11-2004, 09:54 PM

well for formatting them you could ghost them...that would be the quickest way...no real way to quickly test hard drives...

Coronaboy72 · 07-11-2004, 10:07 PM

A friend of mine told me about Active@ Kill Disk. You can download it here... www.killdisk.com This is a limited version, but still works, just not able to format the drive multiple times at once. The full version is about 30 bucks, not sure if there are any other alternatives out there.

My apologies if this is not what you were looking for.

07-11-2004, 10:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
xaneidolon Tilted	Question about testing and formatting large quantity of hard drives I recently acquired about 100 hard 3.5” IDE drives and a few laptop drives, too. I need to test and format them. For the first few, I’ve powered down a computer, attached the drive (as the slave on the ribbon), created a partition and quick formatted using an application called Swissknife. Then rebooted and ran the error-checking from the disk’s properties. This takes forever and I know that there is a better way. Beyond that, the Swissknife program won’t let me format using NTFS – only FAT 16 or 32. I’d like to set up a sort of assembly line to process these disks. I have 3 computers and a laptop that I can use. I also have 3 USB 2.0 enclosures and I’ve ordered a couple of 2.5 to 3.5 IDE adapters for the laptop drives. I guess what I need is some advice – I’d rather not have to power down the systems for each drive – would like to do a hot swap if possible. I also need some different or better software for formatting, diagnostics, and repair (in case…er, when, there are bad sectors). I’m not averse to buying good software, but would rather use freeware if you know of any. Thanks in advance. Just looking to save time and frustration in this process.

07-11-2004, 09:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
merkerguitars Buffering......... Location: Wisconsin...	well for formatting them you could ghost them...that would be the quickest way...no real way to quickly test hard drives... __________________ Donate now! Ask me How! Please use the search function it is your friend. Look at my mustang please feel free to comment! http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=26985

07-11-2004, 10:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
Coronaboy72 Upright	A friend of mine told me about Active@ Kill Disk. You can download it here... www.killdisk.com This is a limited version, but still works, just not able to format the drive multiple times at once. The full version is about 30 bucks, not sure if there are any other alternatives out there. My apologies if this is not what you were looking for. __________________ ~Coronaboy72~