Questions about WD10EARS Green - 64Mb Cache?

WD Internal Drives Desktop & Mobile Drives
1

Hello,

I just bought this new model WD10EARS Green - 64Mb Cache few days ago.

I have three questions about this new hard drive

  1. First of all,I am willing to partition the new hard drive into 3 parts

C: OS

D: Data 1

E: Data 2

I am willing (right now) to install clean version of Windows XP, so this means I need to use the WD Align utility, right ?

okay after using this technique on windows Xp, I read on this link (the question that is before the last two questions)

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/advancedformat/

that EVEN after reformatting the hard drive again or multiple times late on, there is no need to do the WD align method again as the drive will remain aligned.

so now the drive is aligned even after multiple formats. So does this mean that once the hard drive is aligned, we can not go back to the original state (which is not aligned) ?

If yes , then what if I am willing to use Windows 7 instead of Windows XP on the same aligned hard drive, will there be a problem of confilct or something ? (Yes or No)

since on the same previous link it says:

  there is NO Need to to align the hard drive if you are willing to use windows 7. It is okay if my new hard drive is new and not aligned yet, however in my case, I’ve used first windows xp (which means WD align was necessary), then the drive will be used for Windows 7. So will there be a problem (confilct, inconsistency, etc…) ?

  1. My second concern is what If I am willing to use multiple OS (XP and 7) ?

Do I need to do the alignment ?

  1. If I am willing willing to use the drive ONLY for storage (not for OS) big file sizes on Windows XP environment but WITHOUT WD Aligned method ?

Will I face slow or problems ?

Thanks in advance

2

Your questions are little convuted with all your explanations.

#1  You will need to run WD Align, if you want 3 partitions.  Then you can do your XP install.  Once the drive has been partitioned, you can reformat it all you want and it stays aligned.  However, if you delete the partition then you will need to reuse WD Align.  Of course, if you want to be safe, you can use WD Align to do your formatting.  Once aligned, by any means, you shouldn’t have any issues going from XP to 7.

#2  Depends on which OS you start with.  If 7, then no.  If XP, then yes.

#3  If you’re going to have to format the drive on XP, then you will have problems unless you either: 1) jumper the drive for a single partition; or, 2) partition and format using WD Align for multiple partitions.