For full functioning of a disk with Advanced Format technology under WinXP, it is advisable to align it - these are the official recommendations and test results. For XP there are utilities posted on the WD website. Vista/7/2008 Server also has no problems - Advanced Format is supported out of the box. As for Win2003, there is no official information about the use of disks with AF, neither from WD nor from MS. Moreover, the partition alignment utility (WD Align) refuses to work in Win2003.

The purpose of this small study was to experimentally confirm the need to align disk partitions with Advanced Format technology operating under Windows Server 2003. And also identifying ways of this alignment. Below the cut is some theory, practice, conclusions and instructions.

1. Theory

1.1. Advanced Format

WD Advanced Format technology uses so-called “long sectors” of 4kb in size per physical level disk. While the traditional sector size is 512 bytes. Modern operating systems can work with 4kb sectors, but WinXP and Win2003 are not one of them. For feedback support cunning WD made hardware emulation: “inside” the disk information is stored in 4kB sectors, but “outside” the OS works with it through 512-byte sectors.
You can read more about the technology, for example, or. I'll give you a little summary.

The first problem with this type of emulation is that when writing a 512-byte sector, the disk has to read the 4KB sector, modify the 512-byte sector, recalculate the ECC, and write the modified 4KB sector back. But this problem fades into the background when formatting a disk in WinXP/Win2003 - in this case, the beginning of the partition does not coincide with the boundaries of physical 4Kb sectors. Because of this formatting feature, the created partition is shifted by one 512-byte sector.

As a result, when the operating system requests, the disk in some cases has to work not with one physical 4Kb sector, but with two adjacent ones. This, of course, reduces productivity.

To resolve this problem, WD suggests aligning the partition sectors along the boundaries of physical sectors. For this, two solutions are offered: hardware and software. The hardware solution is to install jumper 7-8 on the hard drive. To align partitions programmatically, a utility called WD Align has been made publicly available.

The hardware solution has some limitations: WD does not guarantee normal operation when the disk is divided into several (>1) partitions. In addition, the hardware solution (jumper) is not visible either in the utility or in the operating system. This means that, theoretically, you can first insert a jumper, and then perform the alignment programmatically (or create a partition in a modern OS) - and as a result get a “double” shift.
For these reasons, software alignment will be considered next (but hardware alignment will also be tested).

1.2. WD Align and Windows Server 2003

At the above link, WD offers two utilities for software sector alignment: from Paragon and from Acronis. The version from Paragon generally refuses to install on Win2003 (and, by the way, it’s honestly not in Supported Operating Systems). The version from Acronis installs in Win2003, but the disk is defined as “Not a Western Digital Advanced Format disk”, and the partition as “Not optimally aligned partition”. It is impossible to align the partition using the utility in this situation.

There are no official statements about support for Advanced Format technology in Windows Server 2003, nor about the use of WD Align. According to theory, Win2003 has almost the same kernel as WinXP. This means that they should work (almost?) the same way with disks. To test this possible "almost" performance tests were carried out.

2. Practice

It’s worth saying right away: the purpose of the tests was not to measure the maximum performance of the disk and, especially, not to compare it with other disks or other tests. The purpose of these tests was to identify the relative difference in the speed of a disk with aligned and unaligned partitions.

The test subject was a 2TB WD20EARS, and the test tool was Iometer 2006.07.27. The program is accompanied by a fairly detailed one. In Russian, a description of the basic settings can be found, for example, .
Many tests have been performed with different access specifications, including the following variations:
- Read/Write - read/write
- Sequential/Random - random/sequential disk access
- Transfer Request Size - different size blocks when accessing disk (512/2k/4k/16k/64k)
- Outstanding I/Os - different number of simultaneous disk requests (1/4/16/64/256)

From the entire set of data obtained, I present the results that are necessary and sufficient to show whether there is a difference between aligned and unaligned sections. The access specification parameters are as follows:
- Read/Write: 50%/50%
- Sequential/Random: 100% Sequential
- Transfer Request Size: 512/2k/4k/16k/64k
- Outstanding I/Os: 1
In this case, the disk was tested in the following formatting options:
1. Unaligned, unallocated disk. Unallocated.
2. Unaligned marked disc. Unaligned.
3. Aligned (by jumper) marked disk. Aligned (hard).
4. Aligned (WD Align) marked disk. Aligned (soft).
To reduce the influence of random factors on the system under test, all “unnecessary” services were disabled and the network connection was disabled.
Each access specification was tested for 5 minutes with a Ramp Up Time of 15 seconds.

The test results are as follows:

Verdict: It is necessary to align partitions on Advanced Format disks under Windows Server 2003, which is consistent with the theory. Of course, a disk with unaligned partitions will work, but the performance will be poor.

3. Alignment Instructions

As already mentioned in the theoretical part, you won’t be able to use the WD Align utility under Win2003. Therefore, you will have to perform the alignment in another environment, and then give it to Win2003 for use. You can choose from:
- Creation of partitions by staff using Windows Server 2003 and then WD Align with boot disk.
- Creating partitions regular means Windows XP and then WD Align in the same XP.
- Creating partitions using standard tools Windows Vista/7/2008.
- Modification of the WD Align installer from Paragon so that it can be installed in Win2003.

In most cases, having Win2003, the first option is simpler and more reliable (I have not personally tested the other options). Therefore I bring detailed description option with boot disk:
0. Don't forget to remove jumper 7-8 if you inserted it.
1. Download and install WD Align from Acronis (

Designed to work with most modern operating systems such as , + , MacOS. These provide support at the software level.

For those who use :

– if the hard drive contains one partition ( single partition), you need to install a jumper on pins 7 and 8 ( jumper pins 7 – 8):

– if the hard drive contains several partitions ( multiple partitions), you need to download from the site Western Digital special one and use it to “align” the disk.

***

How to use WD Align?

– transfer data from the “aligned” disk to another medium;

– go to the page Advanced Format Hard Drive Download Utility;

– select the desired one from the drop-down lists ( On which OS will you be running the Advanced Format hard drive?; Are you using a cloning utility?; Will this be the primary drive or a secondary drive in your system?; How many partitions do you intend to create on the drive?), click Submit;

– register (a very tedious procedure: first you need to register yourself, and then register your hard drive, indicating Serial Number, Place of purchase, Date of purchase, – only after this you will receive the desired download link...);

– download and install the program following the installer’s instructions;

- run ;

- in the window WD Align click Next;

- in the window Protect your data before aligning the partitions click OK;

- in the window Select partitions you want to align check the box next to the disk to be aligned (pay attention to the icons that mark the disks: if the disk does not support Western Digital Advanced Format, you won’t be able to “level it up”) –>Next;

- in the window Summary click Proceed;

– wait until the operation is completed (depending on the size of the disk and the presence of files on it, it can last up to 20 minutes);

- in the window Fix partition alignment operation succeeded click Back to wizard if you want to return to the window (otherwise click Quit to exit);

– please note: upon completion of the operation, the disk icon in the window changed from Non-optimally aligned partition on Optimally aligned partition:

Notes

1. If If you installed a jumper on pins 7 and 8 of the hard drive, then before starting the jumper must be removed. It is IMPOSSIBLE to start with the jumper installed!

2. If you want to use an “aligned” hard drive in an external USB-box, first connect the hard drive to SATA-motherboard connector (with the switch turned off) , the jumper on pins 7-8 must be REMOVED!). Run , “align” the hard drive, after that you can use it externally USB-box.

In this not entirely scientific, but hopefully popular article, we will talk about how to make friends hard disks from company Western Digital brands: WD20EARS, WD15EARS, WD10EARS, WD8000AARS, WD6400AARS, WD25EZRSDTL, WD30EZRSDTL with operating system Windows XP. Their specifications will be given at the end of the article. We will consider the procedure using the example of a disk WD15EARS, but all other models are installed similarly. Surely happy buyers/owners of this device We saw a sticker on the white packaging (as in the picture) and on the disc itself, which reads:

Below is the translation with some comments:

Extended format hard drive (nonsense, of course, but that’s what they called it). To achieve full performance:

• Windows® XP, if it is necessary to split the disk into several partitions, or to use a duplicate software- use the WD Align program available at www.wdc.com/advformat (below you will be offered links to the necessary software)
• Windows® XP, if you intend to use only one partition that takes up the entire disk space, set jumper 7-8 before installing the disk (it’s a mystery what this jumper does, but it’s better not to use it) or use WD Align (and also better way, which will be described below as “optimal”)
• For all other operating systems - the disk is ready for use "as is" (and now attention - the question - how has it ever occurred to anyone after reading this phrase to install this disk on a computer running under Windows control 95, and then sue the developers for moral damages).

Here are the accessories. Well, now let's get down to business.

What is Advanced Format Drive and why is it needed?

Without going into details, we can say that this is a special organization of data arrangement on high-capacity disks, which allows the implementation of sectors that can accommodate 4096 bytes, versus the standard 512 bytes. It is quite possible that this is achieved through optimization of the so-called perpendicular organization of recording to disk. Plus, the following technology is used: each sector consists of two parts Sync/DAM (input record), and ECC (recovery information), there is one gap between the two sectors (not 8). It also allows you to read a lot and quickly with minimal spindle speeds (5400 - in accordance with current industry standards), and hence energy savings, silence and a temperature several degrees lower than other models. Here in a nutshell is what can be said about the advantages of this technology.

Why is adaptation to Windows XP necessary?

The fact is that the specifications of this technology are known to operating systems such as Windows Vista/Seven. It is not included in Windows XP and, apparently, may never appear there. In principle, everything will work without any fuss, however, if you carry out a series of manipulations, the read/write speed will increase, and, as a result, the performance of the system as a whole. Therefore, you should not neglect the manufacturer’s recommendations and do everything you need. Here we will describe the fastest, optimal and effective method How to fully prepare within 10 minutes HDD to work without the hassle of installing WD Align on your Windows XP.

All the ways to tame a WD15EARS hard drive and similar ones to Windows XP?

Let's start in order:

The first method we have already seen is installing the WD Align program, which can be downloaded at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/advancedformat/, having first answered the questions with right side pages or from our website, because on the manufacturer's website now there are some technical problems;
- the second way is to put jumper 7-8- cheap and cheerful, but it’s better not to, - after all, it’s not clear how this disk can then behave in Windows environment 7, and someday a mass transition to it or its successor will probably begin;
- the third way is to simply drive properly prepare it for work.

Preparing the WD15EARS hard drive for operation in the correct way

First of all, download the Acronis True Image WD Edition program in Russian version, although if it is subjectively more convenient for you to work in a version in another language, then you can make your choice using the link Acronis True Image WD Edition in 11 languages. It's possible that this program is hardwired to work only with WD devices, although this is just a guess. But in this case this is what we need. To work, we also need a WD Align CD boot disk image file, which should be downloaded and burned by any in an accessible way to disk. Moreover, the recommendation here is that it is better to write to a rewritable CD, because if you do not plan to format it regularly, this program will be needed very, very rarely.

Installing Acronis True Image WD Edition

In principle, there is nothing complicated in installing this program, however, taking into account that some may experience sacred awe before the ritual of installing hardware and programs into a computer, we present all the stages in pictures and descriptions.

Select "Install Acronis...".

Reading these laudatory epithets, we are imbued with love and respect for the developer. However, today we only need one function from this program - creating a partition. It is better to do it using the tools of this program, and not the built-in tools of Windows XP. Click "Next".

We read the End User License Agreement very carefully ( license agreement, for those who do not understand English), you must agree with him no less carefully, otherwise everything is lost! Check the box next to “I agree to the terms of the agreement” and click “Next”

Here we select “Custom” - after all, we are experienced users today, aren’t we? And click "Next"

In principle, there will be no crime if we select both components for installation, so we leave everything as it is and click “Next”

If you are the only user of this computer, then you can leave everything as is. If not, then look at the situation. In fact, in order not to confuse you, we clarify that the number of computer users in this case means the number of accounts used on your computer. If for you the phrase " Account"akin to an ancient Indian spell, then we don’t change anything and click “Next”

Now, to the sounds of fanfare and drumming, we press with all our might... No, not “Next”, but “START”!

If you see such a window, it means everything worked out and the installation started!

We say “Yes” and wait for the reboot, being amazed along the way high speed loading the Windows XP operating system in comparison with Windows 2000 and Windows Vista.

After restarting the computer, press the button Start>All programs>Acronis> and launch accordingly Acronis True Image WD Edition. And immediately a message pops up:

Here you need to click "YES"

Here we select our new disk and click the "Next" button

Don't forget to check the "Create" box. new section in the unallocated area" and click "Next"

Selecting a file system. In fact, it makes sense to choose only NTFS. Although the program writes a warning (it is standard, regardless of what size disk we are going to mark), regarding the inability to understand it by previous Windows versions- we still choose NTFS, because... Using the disk in the above operating systems is not possible purely technically. Yes, and Fat16 has restrictions - the maximum partition size is 2GB, Fat32 has 32 Gigabytes and not a byte more, but NTFS has no such restrictions, and even file system much more reliable and safe. Click "Next".

If you are not going to create more than 4 partitions on this disk, or even limit yourself to just one (like us, for example), then the first option (Primary partition) is also suitable. If the disk is always inside system unit and is never extracted from it, then you will not feel any difference - Windows will work approximately the same with such a partition and with this one, but if you want to check your disk for viruses on another computer by connecting it to this computer via a USB mobile rack, then in the case of a “Logical” partition (in the Windows environment it is also called a “Dynamic disk”) problems will most likely arise and your plans will fail. Click "Next"

The disc label can only be regarded as some kind of decorative element, no information function not load-bearing for the system. Therefore, you can safely leave this field empty and click “Next”

Click the "Proceed" button and wait... Although, despite the large disk space, the procedure takes a matter of seconds

This is the reward for our military labors... But that’s not all. Remember about the disk image that you had to download and burn to disk?

Adapting the disk for use with Windows XP - the last stage

For those who do not know how to burn discs at all, we have posted an article (opens in a new window or tab) that can help you with this, and we will move on, according to the main topic of our article.

We insert a freshly burned disc and restart our computer. Don’t forget to set the BIOS to boot from CDROM (if you don’t know how, then refer to the instructions for your motherboard) and loading from the disk begins.

This window warns us, they say, save all your data before starting. But, since our disk is pristine, click "OK"

Check the box "I accept this agreement" and click "Next"

The program itself detected our new drive, so we can safely click “Next”

This window contains a list of actions that the program will perform. Click "Proceed".

The process has begun, and we can only wait. It is short and also only takes a few seconds.

Well, that's all, if you please, rejoice! Click "Quit", reboot the computer and begin to use the new device in its tail and mane, because According to the manufacturers (and this is true), these drives have reduced heat generation, so they perform quite well even in cases that are not very well ventilated. However, this is by no means a guide to action, because well-designed cooling is the key to stable and long-lasting operation of your computer, and you should not skimp on it. A vacuum cleaner is also a computer’s friend, but you just shouldn’t scrape the vacuum cleaner tube against radio components. Even though they are securely soldered, such familiarities also tend to fly off.

Promised disk specifications

Physical specifications, disk performance
Claimed capacity of formatted drive 1	2,000,398 MB	1,500,301 MB	1,000,204 MB	800,204 MB	640.135 MB
Capacity	2 TB	1.5 TB	1 TB	800 GB	640 GB
Bus type, communication speed	SATA 3 Gb/s	SATA 3 Gb/s	SATA 3 Gb/s	SATA 3 Gb/s	SATA 3 Gb/s
Number of sectors	3,907,029,168	2,930,277,168	1,953,525,169	1,562,824,368	1,250,263,728
Cache capacity 3	64 MB	64 MB	64 MB	64 MB	64 MB

Environmental Specifications
Volume	2 TB	1.5 TB	1 TB	800 GB	640 GB
Maximum performance
Operational (reading)	65G, 2ms	65G, 2ms	30G, 2ms	30G, 2ms	30G, 2ms
Non-operative	250G, 2ms	250G, 2ms	300G, 2ms	300G, 2ms	300G, 2ms
Acoustic performance
Idle mode	24 dBA (avg)	24 dBA (avg)	24 dBA (avg)	23 dBA (avg)	23 dBA (avg)
Search mode 0	29 dBA (avg)	29 dBA (avg)	33 dBA (avg)	27 dBA (avg)	27 dBA (avg)
Search mode 3	25 dBA (avg)	25 dBA (avg)	29 dBA (avg)
Temperature characteristics
Working	32° F to 140° F (-0°C to 60°C)	32° F to 140° F (-0°C to 60°C)	32° F to 140° F (-0°C to 60°C)	32° F to 140° F (-0°C to 60°C)	32° F to 140° F (-0°C to 60°C)
Storage	-40° F to 158° F (-40°C to 70°C)	-40° F to 158° F (-40°C to 70°C)	-40° F to 158° F (-40°C to 70°C)	-40° F to 158° F (-40°C to 70°C)	-40° F to 158° F (-40°C to 70°C)

Electrical Specifications
Volume	2 TB	1.5 TB	1 TB	800 GB	640 GB
At rated voltage (12 VDC)
Read/Write	296 mA	296 mA
Simple	243 mA	243 mA
Standby mode	3 mA	3 mA
Dream	3 mA
At rated voltage (5 VDC)
Read/Write	503 mA	503 mA
Simple	172 mA	172 mA
Standby mode	160 mA	160 mA
Dream	160 mA	160 mA
Rated power consumption
Read/Write	6.00 Watts	6.00 Watts	5.40 Watts	4.86 Watts	4.86 Watts
Simple	3.70 Watts	3.70 Watts	5.40 Watts	4.85 Watts	4.85 Watts
Standby mode	0.80 Watts	0.80 Watts	0.40 Watts	0.38 Watts	0.38 Watts
Dream	0.80 Watts	0.80 Watts	0.40 Watts	0.38 Watts	0.38 Watts

1 Assuming as units that one megabyte (MB) = one million bytes, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes, and one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. The total available capacity is determined by the type of operating environment.
2 Taking as units that 1 megabyte per second (MB/s) = one million bytes per second, one megabit per second (Mb/s) = one million bits per second and one gigabit per second (Gb/s) = equal to one billion per second.
3 Taking the cache unit as one megabyte (MB) = 1,048,576 bytes.

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WD Align - a program for drives with Advanced Format technology

About drives with Advanced Format technology

WD drives with Advanced Format technology are optimized to work with operating systems Mac OS and new versions of Windows (Windows Vista and Windows 7), installed from scratch. Advanced Format technology used by WD and other manufacturers hard drives in order to increase the efficiency of using magnetic media and thereby produce more capacious drives.

For proper functioning hard drive with Advanced Format technology, you may need to run the WD Align program after installing an operating system on it or when using it as an additional drive. WD Align software optimizes the placement of partition boundaries on Advanced Format technology drives to ensure optimal performance in certain configurations. (More details about configurations are in the table)

When installing Windows XP from scratch on one partition, close pins 7-8 with a jumper. If you select this option, DO NOT run the WD Align software. To ensure full performance, it is enough to install this jumper, but this must be done before installing and marking the drive. If you are partitioning your drive when installing Windows XP from scratch, DO NOT install a jumper, but run the WD Align program.

If you intend to copy any operating system (Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7) to a WD drive with Advanced Format technology, then you will need the WD Align software. Many cloning programs have not yet been updated to support drives with Advanced Format technology. Therefore, in order to ensure full performance of these drives, you must use the WD Align program.

What does Advanced Format technology do for me?
Advanced Format technology allows hard drives use the capabilities implemented in new operating systems. Thanks to it, hard drive manufacturers can create larger drives, both today and in the future.

What are the benefits of Advanced Format technology?
Advanced Format technology allows you to store more data on the same hard drive surface area.

Can I install a drive with Advanced Format technology in my computer?
New WD drives are optimized to work with Windows 7, Windows Vista and Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard. If you intend to install a drive with Advanced Format technology in a computer running one of these operating systems, then install it as usual. Those using older operating systems, such as Windows XP, and cloning programs should run the WD Align program to ensure these drives perform at full performance. (see table with configuration options)

What is WD Align software used for?
WD Align software allows drives with Advanced Format technology to run at full speed on older operating systems.

Will I need to run WD Align every time I reformat my drive?
No, you only need to run the WD Align program once, after the initial Windows installations XP. After the partition boundaries with Windows XP are optimized, they will remain in the same place even if the disk is reformatted or the composition of the files on it changes significantly.

Which drive models use Advanced Format technology?
Advanced Format technology is used in some models of the WD Caviar Green family. Over time, it will be implemented in models of other families and other capacities. WD drives with Advanced Format technology have specific installation instructions printed on the labels. Please read them before installing the drive.

Where can I get the WD Align software?
You can download the WD Align software from the website download page Western Digital .