On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:35:11 +1000, Franc Zabkar
wrote:


"You cannot format the disk drive at low level. The servo, sector
layout and defect management information contained in the low level
format is designed to last the life of the drive. As such, this
information cannot be overwritten outside of the factory."


That's very true. In fact, using a bulk tape eraser on a working
drive is a very effective way of rendering it useless. As soon as the
low level format has been erased it will start clunking like a drive
with a crashed head.
Andy Cuffe