# 500gb hdd taking forever to format - normal?



## 3xploit (Sep 6, 2008)

Im reformatting my western digital 500gb sata hdd right now from the windows cp cd, its doing the normal format (NOT the quick format). It's been going for more than half an hour and only done 30%. Is this normal or is something wrong with the hdd?


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## Fastmix (Sep 6, 2008)

That is not normal..even normal format shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.


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## mullered07 (Sep 6, 2008)

3xploit said:


> Im reformatting my western digital 500gb sata hdd right now from the windows cp cd, its doing the normal format (NOT the quick format). It's been going for more than half an hour and only done 30%. Is this normal or is something wrong with the hdd?



only difference between the normal format and quick one is the normal one will also check for errors iirc, imo theres no need to use it, i remember formatting 40gb hdd's for win98 taking 20 mins so i would say that time is normal, although it doesnt format it any better, i would just use a quick format and scan the hdd for errors afterwards


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## Azazel (Sep 6, 2008)

im pretty sure thats normal.


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## kyle2020 (Sep 6, 2008)

I only ever quick format, gets the job done in under a minute usually.


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## mullered07 (Sep 6, 2008)

Fastmix said:


> That is not normal..even normal format shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.



wrong 

a format should only take a matter of seconds 30 at best i would say, however not choosing quick format it will basically scan the whole hdd sector by sector (which can take a considerable amount of time) for errors/bad sectors as it does it, so i wouldnt say that time is not normal.

personally i always use a quick format theres no need not too, unless you want to wait upto an hour+ to do a detailed sector by sector scan


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## flashstar (Sep 6, 2008)

Just get your computer up and running and then run a check for SMART errors. That should rule out any major issues.


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## kenkickr (Sep 6, 2008)

At work we always do the normal format when installing XP on a new hard drive for a custom build and it takes about 30-40min on a 500Gb drive.


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## francis511 (Sep 6, 2008)

You should format properly the first time you buy a hdd and then just use quick format after that. And yes a big hdd (500/750) can take hours (literally)


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## 3xploit (Sep 6, 2008)

Thanks for the help guys, just finished installing windows and everything seems alright


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