What process writes sector markings to a hard drive? Is it partitioning, low-level formatting, high-level formatting or sector provisioning? Find answer here!

1. Title: Solved: What ProcessWritesSectorMarkings to a Hard Drive?
Keywords: whatprocesswritessectormarkingstoahard drive, whichprocesswritessector
markingsto a hard drive,diskpartitioning,low-level formatting,high-levelformatting
Description: Whatprocesswritessectormarkingstoahard drive? Isit partitioning,low-level
formatting,high-levelformattingorsectorprovisioning?Findanswerhere!
URL: https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmanager/write-sector-marking-to-hard-drive.html
Summary: What processwritessectormarkingstoa hard drive? Thisarticle will analyze the 4
optionsforthe answerindetail andfinallygive youthe rightoption.Learnmore knowledgeabout
diskpartitioningandformattingon MiniTool partitioneditorwebsite.
The Background
There isa questionthatispopularamongthe studywebsiteslike Quizlet,Course Hero,StudyBlue,
BrainScape,andso on. The questionis“whatprocesswritessectormarkingstoa harddrive?”,and
there are four optionsfor the answer:
A. Partitioning
B. Low-level formatting
C. High-level formatting
D. Sectorprovisioning

2. Alt=Which ProcessWritesSectorMarkings to A Hard Drive?
Before tellingyouthe answer, thoughmanyof youmay alreadyknow the result, let’sdive deepto
the relatedknowledge of thisquestion.
About the Question: What Process Writes Sector Markings to a Hard Drive?
There are still some people,especiallypeoplewhoknow littleaboutcomputertechnology,who
can’t evenunderstandwhatthe questionmeans.Tofigure outwhatthe questionrefersto,let’sfirst
of all learnsomethingabout“sectormarkings”.
Sectormarkingsmeanthe marks that divide aharddrive intosectors.Then,let’sgofurtherto
discusssomethingaboutharddisksectorsandtracks.
Olderdisksadopta straightforwardmethodologytowrite tracksand sectors onthemselves.They
have 26 or 17 sectorsoneach track overthe whole diskplate.The trackthatlocateson the centerof
the drive determinesthe numberof bytesthatatrack can contain,andit forcesall othertracks
followingthe same restriction.Therefore,the largertrackslocatednearthe outside of the plate
have the same numberof sectors andbytesas the smallertracksnear the centerof the platter.This
methodology makesdiskformattinganddataaccessingsimpler;yet,itwastes alarge amountof disk
space.

3. Alt=Old Drive Track SectorArrangement
Modernhard drivesabandonthatmethodologyandthe numberof sectorspertrack isn’tthe same
overthe entire plate.Theyuse anewformattingsystemcalledzone bitrecording.Accordingtothe
newsystem,tracksnearthe centerof the platterhave fewersectorsof eachtrack than that of tracks
nearthe outside.

4. Alt=Modern DiskFormatting
Each track onan IDE diskisdesignedtohave the mostpropernumberof sectorsappropriate tothe
size of the track. To make thisarrangementpossible,there is afact that hardlychanges– Every
sectoron the hard diskstill has512 bytes.Withoutthisconsistency,there hastobe a much more
complex interfaceforthe operatingsystem(OS) toreachthe datasavedon the drive.
Since eachtrack of a moderndiskhas a differentnumberof sectors,the OScan’tcommunicate with
the diskcontroller(firmware) relyingonsectorandtrack coordinatesasitdoeswitholderharddisks
or floppydrives. So,forthe currentdrive formattingsystem,the OSandBIOS make use of a simple
sequentialnumberingsystemknownas logical blockaddressing(LBA) toaddressall the sectorson
the hard drive withoutregardtowhere those sectorsare located.
About the Options
There are all 4 optionsforthe question of whatprocess writessector markings to a hard drive.To
figure outwhichone isthe answer,youshouldknow whatare the fouroptionsare about.
Partitioning
Partitioninghere meansdiskpartitioningthatalsoknownasdiskslicing.Diskpartitioningrefersto
create one or more regionsonsecondarystorage of computerstorage.Those regionsare called
partitions,whichcanbe managedseparately.
Diskpartitioningisthe firstthingyoushoulddotoa new harddrive before creatingany file system
to the disk. The drive savesthe partitions’locationsandsizesinformationinasectioncalledpartition
table,whichwill be readbythe OSin advance and before readingotherareasof the disk.Withthe
partitiontable,eachpartitionisregardedasa distinct“logical”diskbythe OS,and a “logical”disk
(e.g.diskC,D, E, etc.) actually occupiesonlypartof the actual hard drive.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/diskpart-create-partition.html
Disk PartitioningAdvantages
Systemadministratorsrelyonaprogram, partitioneditor,tocreate,resize (extendorshrink),delete
as well asmanipulate the partitions.Diskpartitioningpermitsthe usage of differentfilesystemsto
be installedfordifferentkindsof files.Toseparate userdatafromsystemfilescanavoidsystem
partitionfrom lowdiskspace problems.Also,diskpartitioningisable toease backupprocessesby
sortingdifferentkindsof dataintodifferentpartitions.
Disk PartitioningDisadvantages
One disadvantage of partitioningis thatitcan be difficulttocreate a partitionwithapropersize.
Usually,computerusersencounteraproblemthatone partitionisnearlyfull (usuallyasystem
partition) whileanotherone isalmostempty.
Fortunately,there isthird-partydiskpartitioningsoftwarethatcan solve thatproblemby resizing
partitions.Thatis,to reallocate the free space fromthe emptypartitiontothe full partition.
Therefore,to make a balance of available storage space amongall existingpartitionsaswell asthe
unallocatedspace.
Disk Formatting
Diskformattingisa processof preparingadigital datastorage device,like aharddiskdrive (HDD),
solid-state drive (SSD),floppydisk,USBflashdrive,etc.,forinitialusage.Insome situations,the
formattingprocessmaycreate one or more new file systems.

5. The firststepof diskformattingisoftenreferredtoas“low-level formatting”,whichperformsthe
basicmediumpreparation.The secondstepforformattingadiskispartitioningthatwill enablethe
visibilityof the storage devicetothe OS.Finally,the thirdstepof the formattingprocess,usually
called“high-level formatting”,will create anew file systemtothe storage device.
In some OSes,all orsome of those three stepscanbe combinedorrepeatedatdifferentlevels.So,
the term “format”meansa task withinwhichanew diskmediumiscompletelyreadyforsavingfiles.
Besides,some formattingallowsdistinguishingbetweena quickformattingand full formatting,with
the laterwill erase all existingdata.
Generally,diskformattingbydefaultwillleavemostif notall existingdataonthe hard drive,though
those data are invisibleandseemlost.Those “lost”data,some of mostof themmightbe recovered
by special toolsorprivileged.Yet,the special toolscanalsoremove databysimply overwritingall
filestogetherwithfree space.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/what-does-formatting-a-hard-drive-do.html
Low-level Formatting(LLF)
LLF marks the surface of the driveswithsectormarkersindicatingthe startof a recordingblockand
otherinformationsuchasblockCRC to be usedby the diskcontrollertoreadand write data.Low-
level formattingisintendedtobe a permanentfoundationof the diskandisoftencompletedbythe
manufacturers.
Tip: Until now,you get theanswerfor“what process writes sector markingsto a harddrive?”. That
is low-level formatting.Yet,wewill still continuewith ourarticle.
Hard diskmanufacturerswill use autilityprogramtoperformlow-level formattings,suchasthe OS,
systemBIOS,or utilitysoftware.
Since sectorand track markingswill eventuallyfade,aharddiskwill eventuallyreportmanybad
sectorerrors.In the past, the solutionisto back up all diskdata andperformlow-levelformatting
againto get a newstart. If a harddrive isperiodicallylow-level formatted,itcanlastdecades.
Nowadays,since the drivesare low-level formattedinthe factory,theirsectorandtrack markings
are expectedtolastforthe lifespanof the disk.Thus,moderndrivesare consideredmore disposable
than olderdrives.Whensector&track markingsfade,diskswill warnof “badsectoror sector not
found”error or become unavailable.Then,youshouldtake outwhateverdatayoucan from the disk,
thenthrowit into a garbage can and buya new hard disk.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmanager/bad-sector-repair-007.html
Modernhard diskmanufacturesinformtheiruserstonevercarryout low-level formattingtotheir
drives,forusingthe wrongformattingtool candestroythe drive permanentlyunlessthe drive
controllerissmartenoughto ignore the orderfromthe wrongformat application(thisisalmost
impossible).
High-level Formatting
High-level diskformattinggeneratesfilesystemformatwithinapartitionora logical volume of a
dynamicdisk.This formattinglevel buildsthe datastructure usedby the operatingsystemtoidentify
a logical drive orpartition’scontents.Itmayhappenduringthe processof systeminstallation,or
newdrive adding.Disk&distributedfile systemmayspecifyanoptional bootblock,various
volumes,anddirectoryinfoforOS.

6. High-level formattingisaprocessto setup an emptyfile systemonapartitionorvolume,andto
install aboot sectorfor computers.Itisa fast operationthatissometimesreferredtoasquick
formatting.
Manage Hard Drives Without Writing Sector Markings to Them
Justas mentionedinthe above,onlylow-levelformattingisthe answertothe question which
process writessector markings to a hard drive.On the contrary, itmeansthat partitioning,high-
level formattingandsectorprovisioningdon’twrite sectormarkingsto harddisks.
And,the low-level diskformattingisnow performedbydiskmanufacturersandcommonusersare
not recommendedtoconductit.Then,how aboutdiskpartitioningand high-level formatting,can
general usersperformthem?Of course,youcan,but shouldrelyona professional andreliable
software like MiniToolPartitionWizard,whichcanhelpyoucomplete high-levelformatanddisk
partitionquicklyandeasily.
To performeitherorbothtasks,you needtoconnect the target hard diskwitha workingcomputer,
downloadthe high-level formattinganddiskpartitioningsoftware andinstall itonthe PC butnot on
the target hard drive.
Pw-free
Partitioning with MiniTool Partition Wizard
You can create a partitiononthe unallocatedspace of the targetdisk. Duringthe diskpartitioning
process,youcan format itwithproperformat.
Step 1. Launch PartitionWizard.InitsmainUI, right-clickonthe unallocatedspace onthe target
drive andselect Create.

7. Alt=Create NewPartition
Step 2. Specifythe PartitionLabel,Drive Letter,FileSystem,ClusterSize,partitioncapacity,etc.for
the newpartition. Thisstepcanalso be calleddiskformatting.
Alt=SpecifyNewPartitionParameters
Step 3. Previewthe changesthe pendingoperationwillbringtothe targetdiskand click Applyto
save the changes.

8. Alt=ApplyNewPartitionCreation
If there is something thatyouaren’texpected,youcan Undothe pendingoperationsandrecreate
the newpartitionagain.
High-level Formatting by MiniTool Partition Wizard
If there are alreadypartitionsonthe targethard drive,youcan directlyformat themtochange their
file systems, clustersizesaswell aspartitionlabels.
Step 1. Right-clickonthe partitionyouwantto formaton the target diskandchoose Format.

9. alt= Format a Partition
Step 2. Define newpartitionlabel,filesystemandclustersize forthe targetpartition.Note that
formattingthe partitionwill destroythe dataonthe partition.

10. Alt=AssignNewFormatsto TargetPartition
Step 3. Viewthe pendingoperationandthe changesitwill bringtothe targetpartitionandconfirm
the changesby clicking Apply.

11. Alt=ApplyPartitionFormatting
Wait until the formattingfinishes.If the partitionyouformatis asystempartition,itmaycause the
systemunbootable afterformatting.So, be careful of systempartitionformatting.
Click to tweet
Bad Sector Check via MiniTool Partition Wizard
Also,youare allowedtocheckwhetherthere are badsectorson the target diskunderthe helpof
the free partitioningandformattingprogram.
Step 1. Right-clickonthe targetdrive andselect Surface Test.

12. Alt=Surface Test a Disk
Step 2. In the pop-upwindow,click StartNow.
Step 3. Wait until itfinishesandgive youthe testresult.Itwon’ttake youmuchtime.

13. Alt=Disk Surface Test – No Error Found
You can furtherrecoverylostpartitions ordataon the target diskwiththe helpof MiniTool Partition
Ward. These functionsare incharge.Yet,the price is as low as mostuserscan afford.Inotherwords,
youcan paylittle butgainmuch more powerful utilitieslikeconvertingNTFStoFATfile system,
copyingsystempartition,convertingsystemdisktoGPTpartitiontable,migratingOStoSSD/HDD,
creatingWin-PEbasedbootable device aswell asmanagingdynamicdiskvolumes.It’sworthbuying!
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To Wrap Things Up
OK,that is all aboutthe hot question –what processwrites sectormarkings to a hard drive.Until
now,everyone of youwhohave read throughthisarticle mustknow the answer.If you furtherhave
doubtsrelatedtothe contentsof thisarticle,feel free toeitherwrite themdownin the below
commentpart or email usat support@minitool.com.
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