Do I really need to format/delete my HDD in order to short stroke it?

[Rafael Mestdag]

I have a 1TB HDD and half of it is empty right now. I don't wanna lose my data on it and I can't back it up, I don't have a spare HDD. Is there a way to short stroke it without formatting/deleting this HDD?

 

[atljsf]

short stroke? what do you mean, know how good is doing or something like that?

 

[DSzymborski]

I have a 1TB HDD and half of it is empty right now. I don't wanna lose my data on it and I can't back it up, I don't have a spare HDD. Is there a way to short stroke it without formatting/deleting this HDD?

There are many free online solutions for backing up your important data, depending on how much space is required. Any data on a hard drive that isn't backed up is already lost, you just don't know exactly when yet.

I would not tinker with partition testing of this type on a hard drive that has important data that hasn't been backed up. It's a basic part of PC ownership, like changing the oil in your car or the air filter in your furnace.

 

[USAFRet]

I have a 1TB HDD and half of it is empty right now. I don't wanna lose my data on it and I can't back it up, I don't have a spare HDD. Is there a way to short stroke it without formatting/deleting this HDD?

You're back on the short stroking thing again?
Why?

To properly do it, you need to wipe the drive.
Make a partition at the beginning of the drive.
This is the outer portion...spins faster, theoretically faster access
You can create another partition in the rest of the drive.

Then...move your data into that first partition.


However, these statements do not go together:
"I don't wanna lose my data on it "
"and I can't back it up, "
"I don't have a spare HDD."

You are one misclick or head crash away from losing it all.