WD Align ?

[V3]

I've got this WD Advance Format hdd sitting next to me and I am going to install it into XP machine. Just for data drive not OS drive.

I am confused as to when I am suppose to run WD Align. Do I initialise, partition and format first under XP than run WD Align to correct the partition, or can I just let WD align initialised, partition and format the drive correctly to begin with ?

I know there is a jumper solution, but I think it'll cost me headache when I actually shift this hdd to Win 7 machine.

Anyone got experience with WD Align ?

 

[Grall]

Isn't there any instructions for that thing? Check WDs website if you can't find anything.

Anyway, I believe you run the align program first and it'll create/align your partitions for you. Then you format and install normally from the OS install disc...

 

[V3]

Their instructions are rather confusing. And I've been looking through the web but no answer. I am just confused as to what this WD Align do beside aligning. I mean I can see the need of aligning if there is already data on the hdd but new and empty hdd, why not just do it right to begin with.

Anyway, I managed to get the WD Align powered by Acronis, it looks more friendly than the crude command line I was looking at earlier. Will try to install this hdd later tonight maybe. Thanks Grall.

 

[Malo]

If it's a fresh hard drive, can't you just jumper 7&8 and format under XP? Or are you doing multi-partition?

http://wdc.com/en/products/advancedformat/

Seems everything you need is there.

I mean I can see the need of aligning if there is already data on the hdd but new and empty hdd, why not just do it right to begin with.

"right" for windows Xp you mean? XP doesn't support 4k sector sizes so the align software I believe changes it to the old 512 byte sectors. You lose some disk space. AFAIK all manufacturers will be moving to 4k sector size as all new OS's support it natively.

 

[V3]

Yes I could jumper the 7&8 but I heard using that method, when I moved this PC to Win 7 (Whenever that is), the alignment would be wrong. Anyway I just installed the hdd into the PC. And it seems I need to initialise, partition and format first under Win XP, using the wrong method for this advance format and only then the WD Align able to fix it. I was hoping WD Align can partition and format the right way the first time so I don't have to do it twice. Formatting 2TB Hdd is a pain and I have to re-align afterward too. It's formatting now, hopefully it'll be done before I go to sleep so I can let the WD Align run over night. I've no clue how long that will take. Hoping it'll be done by the morning.

You know when I was choosing the options under format, I can choose default, 512 bytes and various other sector sizes like 4k or 8k, I just choose default, like I normally do which I guess is 512, I wonder if it can do it correctly if I choose 4k instead. I am not all that versed with this advance format.

 

[Npl]

dont ever use the jumper, it causes the whole drive to be misaligned, albeit fitting aslong you only have 1 partition and let WinXP partition it.

What you should do is:
1) dont use the jumper
2) partition the drive with Linux / Vista / Win7 / other partition tool that correctly aligns. Run a LiveCD or connect the drive to another system for partitioning.
3) use sector sizes >= 4K (4K is standard with NTFS so you can let WinXP format it)

 

[Albuquerque]

Yeah, NPL has the right idea. That's what I did with my WD 1TB EARS drive -- partitioned it with Win7, and then let Windows Home Server (Server 2003 based, so it too has problems with 4K sectors) format it.

 

[V3]

Yep Thanks guys, the Arconis WD Align is actually quite a lot faster than the command line one. Good thing it doesn't take too long. It took two minutes to re align an empty 2 TB hdd, (I think it's basically a repartition) and from the looks of things I don't have to re-format afterward (Thank Goodness).

So for future reference to anyone that is in the same shoes as I was,
1. Like Npl said don't used the jumper solution.
2, Init, partition and format under XP using >= 4k sector size.
3. Download the Arconis version of WD Align.
4. Install and run it, if empty the align process is less than two minutes for 2TB.
5. It's ready for use.

This all assuming its not your OS drive. I think you'll need an ISO of this WD Align if you want to install Win XP into an Advance Format drive. Probably shouldn't be installing XP anyway at this stage.

 

[Grall]

Probably shouldn't be installing XP anyway at this stage.

Yeah, it's kinda obsolete by now...

 

[Npl]

YThis all assuming its not your OS drive. I think you'll need an ISO of this WD Align if you want to install Win XP into an Advance Format drive. Probably shouldn't be installing XP anyway at this stage.

WD Align cant create partitions AFAIK. Safest would be to just use a Linux Live CD (or -USB Stick).

And XP is far from obsolete looking at how much slower Win7 is under many light stress conditions. The few good interface improvements (Thumbs in Tab-Switcher and Jumplists) dont add enough value to make a switch comfortable.

 

[Davros]

why would the align jumper miss align the drive ?

 

[Npl]

why would the align jumper miss align the drive ?

cause it maps sector n to sector n+1. its a crudely-fix-WinXP jumper.
WindowsXP creates the first partition on sector 63, so it ends up as sector 64 on disc. if you do anything else than partition the drive with a single partition under WinXP and dont modify anything afterwards it will end up misaligned. If you remove the jumper afterwards you lose your partition table (MBR gets written to the physically wrong sector aswell).

Is that simpler to you than just partitioning the drive correctly before feeding it to the WinXP installer?
Im not sure, but its quite possible you even can correctly partition the drive under a running WinXP, I think its just the installer thats borked. But dont quote me on that