[PUMPKINMAN]

I need to do a low level format on my dell xps lap top would anyone beable to help me out on doing this I'm not sure on how to do it any help appreciated steve

[blaze5874]

First off you need to realize a couple of things. One, a low level format will probably void any hard drive warranty you have. Another, a low lvl format is really a risky thing to do. How have you come to the conclusion that you need a low lvl format?

[benn11]

Please mind me for asking but what is a "low level" format? If you have to format a hard drive you'll have to wipe out everything and start over isn't it?

[blaze5874]

Ok, a lot of people think of hard drives as disks that just write the information anywhere. This is not the case. There are thousands of little sectors that are on your hard drive, the exact number depending mainly on your hard drive size. Every sector can take in so much data before the hard drive has to locate another sector to write to. Sometimes it will be writing to lets say sector 1, it will fill it up and then if sector 2 is open it will then write the following information in sector 2. But sometimes sector 2 is full, so it then goes to the next sector that would be open, which could be sector 83 or anything like that.

These sectors are originally placed there by the hard drive manufacturer. However, sometimes hard drives develop defects or problems where you need to do a low level format. A low level format takes longer than a normal format because it actually re-writes all of these sectors back to where they are supposed to be. Sometimes this can fix a serious issue you are having with your Hard Drive. But I'm pretty sure it voids most warranty's. I hope this answered your question.