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Trance

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
256
0
i got issues i can't explain, whenever i see my mbp is cluttered i lose control and reformat asap, enough about me. Could formatting my hdd cause long lasting damage or future failure?
 
There is no way you should be reformatting that often. Why not try to troubleshoot and diagnose your problems?
 
i got issues i can't explain, whenever i see my mbp is cluttered i lose control and reformat asap, enough about me. Could formatting my hdd cause long lasting damage or future failure?

It could cause lasting damage or future failure, yes. But to you, not the drive. Think of what other productive things you could be doing with that time. It's a huge waste of it! :p
 
It could cause lasting damage or future failure, yes. But to you, not the drive. Think of what other productive things you could be doing with that time. It's a huge waste of it! :p

LOL!

And agreed.
 
i know how you feel. I sometimes don't want to look for the issues, i just format from scratch.
i am not sure it will ruin the HHD, not likely.
 
no one answered my question :(


not sure about OS X but on Windows it only wipes out the database that points to the actual files. the data is only overwritten when you put new data on the hard drive. in effect most of your files are still there just no pointers to them.

only way to really wipe a hard drive is to use a special formatting program that flips each bit. for US government standards you have to run it 3-5 times because you can still figure out the data after running it only once or twice

even then i remember the people i knew who handled top secret info would take the PC apart, take out the hard drive, open it and wipe the platters with brillo or something similar
 
i got issues i can't explain, whenever i see my mbp is cluttered i lose control and reformat asap, enough about me. Could formatting my hdd cause long lasting damage or future failure?

Don't worry about it man. I repaint my entire house every time I see bird droppings on it. Also, I Roundup and reseed my lawn whenever the grass gets too long.
 
I formatted once a month or so back in my Windows days. But now, once a year maybe. Even that is overkill, but I just like a squeaky clean computer every now and then ;)

But no, no damage. Do it if you want.
 
Wtf?

I own multiple Macs and I do Mac tech support for private clients.

I cannot recall having to reformat a Mac drive since I switched to OS 10.3 years ago... And I have yet to come across a problem that requires reformatting a drive on a client's Mac.

Quit messing around with the drive; if reformatting a hard drive is normal when using Windows it certainly does not apply to Macs.

If you are having a problem with your Mac you need to trouble-shoot it. 99% of the solutions to Mac problems can be found using Google.
 
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