Implementing Hard Drives

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Implementing Hard Drives

• Chapter 5

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Overview

• In this chapter, you will learn to
• Install a hard drive
• Partition a hard drive
• Format a hard drive
• Maintain and troubleshoot a hard drive

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Installing IDE Hard Drives
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Hard Drive Interfaces

• Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) / Enhanced IDE
  (EIDE) interfaces dominate todays market
• Parallel ATA (PATA) drives dominate the industry
• Serial ATA (SATA) since 2003
• Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) interfaces
  are fading away

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IDE / EIDE

• Integrated Drive Electronics and Enhanced IDE
• Hard drive controller is integrated with the
  drive
• Uses the AT Attachment (ATA) interface and a
  40-pin ribbon cable
• Everyone calls PATA drives IDE
• EIDE added some enhancements to IDE
• Higher capacities
• Support for non-hard drive devices like CD-ROMs
• Support for up to 4 hard drives
• ATA, IDE, and EIDE are used interchangeably today
  to describe all ATA devices

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IDE/EIDE

• EIDE drives connect to the computer via a 40-pin
  cable and a controller
• The controller acts as an intermediary between
  the hard drive and the external data bus
• When the BIOS talks to the hard drive, it talks
  to the circuitry onboard the hard drive
• But we still call the connection on the
  motherboard the hard drive controller (a
  misnomer)
• Most PCs provide two onboard EIDE controllers to
  support up to four hard drives
• Use the primary controller if you are only
  connecting one device
• The other controller is the secondary controller

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Controller Cards
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Primary and Secondary Controllers
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IDE/EIDE

• Cabling EIDE Drives
• EIDE drives connect to the controller via a
  simple 40-pin cable
• A single cable can connect up to two hard drives
  master and slave based on the jumper settings.
• Cable-select may be set on both drives if you
  have a cable-select cable

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Jumpers and Labels
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ATAPI

• Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface
  (ATAPI)
• Extension to the ATA specification
• Enables non-hard drive devices to connect to the
  PC via ATA controllers
• Same rules on jumper settings
• Hard drives get BIOS thru the System BIOS and
  CMOS
• Non-hard drives get BIOS thru an option ROM or
  software driver

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Serial ATA

• Serial ATA (SATA) creates a point-to-point
  connection between the device and the controller
• Data is sent serially
• Thinner cables resulting in better air flow and
  cable control in the PC
• Maximum cable length of 39.4 inches compared to
  18 inches for PATA cables

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Serial ATA

• More on SATA
• Hot-swappable
• Throughput of 150 MBps (with potential of 600
  MBps)
• A parallel ATA device (PATA) my be connected to
  SATA using a SATA bridge
• Add SATA functionality via a PCI card
• Only one device per controller

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BIOS

• Every physical device needs basic input/output
  services (BIOS) to teach the CPU and the OS how
  to communicate
• BIOS comes in three ways
• Programs stored on the System ROM chip on the
  motherboard (firmware)
• Programs stored on a ROM chip attached to the
  external controller card (option ROM)
• Software device drivers

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Autodetection

• To set up a PATA drive just enter the geometry of
  the drive into CMOS
• Geometry refers to the physical components inside
  the drive like cylinders, tracks per sector, and
  heads
• Techs used to have to set up the geometry
  manually in CMOS, but now theres either an Auto
  type or an autodetection menu option to let the
  CMOS and the drive work it out

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Autodetection
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Serial ATA and BIOS

• Setting up a SATA drive
• Load the drives for an external SATA controller
• Configure the controller Flash ROM settings for
  your specific hard drive

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Partitioning Hard Drives
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Partitioning

• Partitioning is the process of electronically
  subdividing the physical hard drives into groups
  of cylinders called partitions
• Windows assigns these partitions names like C or
  D
• A hard drive must have at least one partition
• Partitioning enables organization of a drive that
  suits your personal taste
• Modern partitions may be as large as 137 GB

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Partitioning

• It enables a single hard drive to store more than
  one operating system
• The boot sector is the first sector of the
  physical drive and contains information regarding
  the master boot record (MBR) and the partition
  table
• MBRs job is to look for valid operating systems
• Up to four bootable partitions only one is
  marked active at a time and contains the OS that
  is booted

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MBR and Active Partition
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Partitioning

• Primary partitions
• Store the operating system
• A hard drive can have up to four primary
  partitions
• An active partition is a partition on which the
  MBR finds the operating system
• Only one primary partition can be active at a time

• Extended partitions
• Extended partitions are not bootable and one hard
  drive can have only one extended partition
• Optional
• They can be divided into many logical drives
• Make the partition extended and then create
  logical drives within it

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FDISK

• FDISK is used to partition hard drives by DOS,
  Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows
  Me
• Boot to a floppy and then type FDISK to start the
  program
• Win95 ver 2 and later support FAT32
• When the long message comes up saying you have a
  disk larger than 512 MB
• Choose Yes to use FAT32
• Choose No to use FAT16
• If you dont get the message you are using an
  older version of FDISK that only supports FAT16

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FDISK Opening Screen
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FDISK Main Menu
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FDISK Main Menu Option 4
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Main Menu Option 1
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Submenu Option 1
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Size of Primary Partition
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Creating Primary Partition
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Deleting Partitions

• Delete all logical drives in the extended
  partition
• Then delete the extended partition
• Then delete any primary partitions

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Multiple Hard Drives

• If you have more than one hard drive in your
  system, you will have an option 5 in FDISK

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Dealing with Multiple Partitions

• A primary partition is necessary to boot the hard
  drive
• A drive only needs a primary partition if you
  wish to boot from it
• Primary partitions always get drive letters
  before extended partitions
• Partitions receive their drive letter at every
  boot

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Drive Letter Assignments

• Primary partition of the
• Primary master drive
• Primary slave drive
• Secondary master drive
• Secondary slave drive
• Then all logical drives in the extended partition
  of the
• Primary master drive
• Primary slave drive
• Secondary master drive
• Secondary slave drive

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Disk Administrator

• Windows NT 4.0 uses Disk Administrator to
  partition hard drives
• It looks and functions almost identically to Disk
  Management used by Windows 2000 and XP
• Therefore, well just look at Disk Manager in
  detail.

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Disk Management

• Used by Windows 2000 and XP to manage partitions

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Creating a New Partition

• Alt-click on some Unallocated space and choose
  New Partition

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New Partition Wizard
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Creating a Logical Drive

• Once an Extended partition is created, you may
  create logical drives in it

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Dynamic Disks

• Dynamic Disks are a new and improved type of
  storage unique to Windows 2000 and XP
  Professional (not the Home edition)
• Regular drives are known as basic disks
• Dynamic disks are divided into volumes instead of
  partitions

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Volume Types

• Volume types
• Simple volume like a primary partition
• Create a dynamic disk
• Then alt-click any unallocated space and choose
  New Volume
• Spanned volume
• Extend the size of a simple volume to include any
  additional unallocated space even from other
  hard drives
• If you grab space from another drive, it becomes
  a spanned volume
• Alt-click the volume you want to extend and
  choose Extend Volume the unallocated space can
  be anywhere
• Striped, Mirrored, and Striping with Parity
• All of these RAID levels may be created thru
  software in Disk Management on Windows 2000 and
  2003 Servers

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Mount Points

• Your system partition drive (the primary master
  C drive) may be made dynamic but cannot be
  extended or spanned
• But you could create a mount point which is a
  drive that functions like a folder mounted into
  another drive
• That is, you can extend the size of the hard
  drive by creating a folder that is really another
  whole hard drives worth of space!

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Creating Mount Points

• Alt-click an unallocated space on a dynamic disk
  and select New Volume
• The second screen in the wizard lets you create a
  mount point instead of another drive letter

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Formatting Hard Drives
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High-level Formatting

• Formatting involves configuring a partition, in
  order to enable it to hold files and folders in a
  form suitable to the operating system
• Major functions of formatting are creating and
  configuring the
• Volume boot sector
• File allocation table (FAT)
• Root directory

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File Systems in Windows
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File Allocation Table (FAT)

• Every operating system has a File Allocation
  Table (FAT) that keeps track of the sectors that
  store the various parts of a file
• 16-bit FAT (FAT16) uses 4 hexadecimal digits to
  number the sectors
• 0000 thru FFFF
• 216 65,536 or 64K -- 64K x 512 bytes per sector
  32 MB maximum size
• FAT is like a 2-column spreadsheet
• Column one numbers the sectors
• Column two contains the status of the sector
• Bad sectors FFF7
• Good sectors 0000
• Format creates the FAT and then writes and reads
  from each sector to see if it is good

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Clustering

• Clustering means to combine a set of contiguous
  sectors and treat them as a single unit in the
  FAT called a cluster or file allocation unit
• Instead of numbering the sectors, we number the
  clustersyielding partition sizes up to 2 GB
• DOS, Windows 3.1, and the first version of
  Windows 95 all use FAT16
• Newer operating systems also support FAT16

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FAT16 Cluster Sizes
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How FAT Works

• Windows looks for the first cluster marked 0000
  (good and available for use)
• If the file fits in that cluster, FFFF is put in
  the status column
• If the file is larger than the cluster, Windows
  finds the next open cluster. That open clusters
  number is put in the first status field in order
  to know where to link. This process continues
  until the file is fully stored. The last
  clusters status field is marked FFFF
  (end-of-file)

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Example of FAT Storage
1
3
2
4
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Fragmentation

• Fragmentation is a common phenomenon on FAT16
  systems
• Individual files are broken into pieces that fit
  into a sector or cluster
• The various pieces are stored on the hard drive
  but may not be stored in contiguous clusters
• Excess fragmentation slows down the system during
  hard drive reads and writes
• Programs like Disk Defragmenter or Speed Disk
  could be used for defragmenting files, folders,
  or both

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Disk Defragmenter
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FAT32

• FAT32 was introduced with Windows 95 OSR2
• Supports partitions up to 2 terabytes
• Uses 32 bits to describe each cluster
• Allows the use of small clusters

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FAT32 Cluster Sizes
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NTFS4

• New Technology File System (NTFS) version 4
• Powerful, robust, and flexible file system
• High level of security for files
• Less prone to fragmentation
• Enables adjusting cluster sizes
• Supports partitions up to 2 terabytes
• Uses an enhanced file allocation table called the
  Master File Table (MFT)
• NTFS keeps a backup copy in the middle of disk
• Enables compression of individual files or
  folders
• Allows for extending and spanning volumes and
  striping volumes with parity

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NTFS5

• New Technology File System (NTFS) version 5
• Available in Windows 2000 and Windows XP
• Using the encrypting file system (EFS) you can
  encrypt files and folders
• Alt-click the file in My Computer, choose
  Properties, and then the Advanced button on the
  General tab
• Disk quotas may be set
• Alt-click the drive letter, choose Properties,
  then the Quota tab
• Cluster sizes may be adjusted
• Supports partitions up to 16 exabytes with
  cluster size tweaking (thats 18 billion millions)

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Compression and Encryption
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Disk Quotas
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NTFS Cluster Sizes
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Formatting Drives

• Windows NT/2000/XP use the Disk Administration
  program
• DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Me
  all use FDISK

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Formatting the Drive
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Lost Allocation Units
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Formatting in Windows 98

• Alt-click on the drive in Windows Explorer and
  choose Format

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Maintaining and Troubleshooting Hard Drives
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ScanDisk

• ScanDisk checks for bad clusters on hard drives
• Also checks for invalid file names and tries to
  fix them
• Looks for lost clusters or chains that do not
  have a filename associated with them and deletes
  them
• Checks the links between parent and child folders
• Works automatically just start it!

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Defragmentation

• You should defragment your hard drives frequently
  (weekly) using the Disk Defragmenter
• Start ? Programs ? Accessories ? System Tools ?
  Disk Defragmenter

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Disk Cleanup

• The average hard drive is full of unnecessary
  files
• Recycle Bin when you delete a file it goes there
• Temporary Internet Files
• Control Panel ? Internet Options ? General tab ?
  Settings ? View Files
• Downloaded program files
• Temporary files
• Disk Cleanup will get rid of the above types of
  files
• Start ? Programs ? Accessories ? System Tools ?
  Disk Cleanup

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Troubleshooting Installation

• Connectivity
• Hard drive error
• No fixed disks present
• HDD controller failure
• NO boot device available
• Drive not found
• Solutions include
• Checking the cables to make sure they connected
  properly
• Reseating the hard drive controller (if an
  expansion card)
• Use autodetection in CMOS
• Check the jumper settings
• Some EIDE drives are incompatible on the same
  controller

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Troubleshooting Installation

• CMOS
• CMOS configuration mismatch
• No boot device available
• Drive not found
• Missing OS
• Solutions
• Always run autodetect in CMOS
• Always select LBA

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Troubleshooting Installation

• Partitions
• Failing to partition
• Invalid drive specification error
• Making the wrong size or type of partition
• Format
• Failing to format
• Drive is not accessible
• Invalid media type
• Trying to recover lost allocation unit
  indicates the drive is dying

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Troubleshooting Installation

• Data Corruption
• Caused by many things such as power surges,
  accidental shutdowns, viruses, and corrupted
  install media
• Show up as
• File is missing or corrupt
• Download location information is damaged
• Unable to load file
• Cannot find command.com
• Error loading operating system
• Invalid boot.ini
• Try running ScanDisk

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Troubleshooting Installation

• Extract/Expand
• If you need to copy a specific file from an
  installation CD, it is probably located inside a
  CAB (cabinet) file. To remove it use
• Bad boot sector
• Show up as system lockups, missing drive letters,
  invalid partition ,or bad or missing command
  interpreter errors
• An antivirus program needs to be run to ensure
  that the boot sector is not affected by any
  virus.
• Restore the boot sector from a backup
• If not available, you might try FDISK /MBR

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Troubleshooting Installation

• Corrupted data on bad sectors
• The built-in error correction code (ECC) checks
  the drive for bad sectors
• Disk checkers can be used for fixing problems
  pertaining to corrupted data (such as the one
  that comes with Windows in the Tools tab under
  the drive properties)

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Troubleshooting Hard Drives

• Dying hard drive
• The following sounds indicate a drive about to
  die
• Continuous high-pitched squeal
• Series of clacks, a short pause, and then more
  clacks
• Continuous grinding or rumbling
• Boot drive issue would show up as no boot device
  present
• Second drives simply do not show up

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Third Party Partition Tools

• Third-party partition tools allow you to create,
  change, and delete partitions without destroying
  the data
• PowerQuests Partition Magic
• VCOMs Partition Commander

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