The software is only needed if your partitions are aligned on a boundary not a multiple of 4KiB. All it does is move partitions and is not required for any other purpose.
If you created the partition using Windows XP or earlier, it is likely aligned on 63 sectors, or 31.5KiB, and therefore needs modified. If it was created by Windows Vista or later, it will have an alignment of 1024KiB (1MiB) and therefore requires no adjustment. Most other 3rd party tools also used--until perhaps very recently--a 63-sector offset and would have similar alignment issues as XP-created partitions. The best way to determine your current offset, if you're running Vista or later, is to run msinfo32. Navigate to Components >> Storage >> Disks, and look for the "Partition Starting Offset" for Partition 0 of the disk in question. That should be divisible by 4096 for optimal performance on AF / 512e disks. Greg -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thane Sherrington Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 6:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [H] Advanced Format ? How does one get the Advanced Format software from WD? I keep clicking the link, and it keeps taking me to a support portal and I don't see a spot to download it. T At 07:37 PM 09/08/2012, Tim Lider wrote: >Hello, > >Yup! > >Faster Access, Larger sizes :) > >Regards, > >Tim Lider >Sr. Data Recovery Specialist >Advanced Data Solutions, LLC >http://www.adv-data.com > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] [mailto:hardware- > > [email protected]] On Behalf Of FORC5 > > Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 9:08 AM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [H] Advanced Format ? > > > > Any advantage to AF in a platter drive ? Understand ( more or less in > > SSD ) > > > > thanks > > fp > > > > > > -- > > Tallyho ! ]:8) > > Taglines below ! > > -- > > ****************************** > > * CAUTION! Tagline thief. > > > > "George Orwell was an optimist." > > ~Barrack H Obama > >
