Frequently Asked Questions

on the Paragon Alignment Tool (PAT)

for Toshiba AF 512e Drives

1. How often should I run the PAT on my Toshiba AF 512e hard drive?
The PAT utility generally needs to be run once in the lifetime of the PC. However, in the event that the OS or hard
drive is changed, additional partitions are created on the hard drive, or applications that bypass the OS are used, it
may be beneficial to rerun the PAT utility to help maximize performance from your system and/or Toshiba 512e hard
disk drive.

2. Will my software applications be affected by AF 512e hard drives?
Toshiba employs industry-standard methods for emulation in our AF 512e hard drive products. These standards
enable compatibility between AF 512e hard drives and applications coded for 512 byte-per-sector architectures.
However, responsiveness of data which has been written to the AF 512e hard drive by software, virtual environments
and other computer programs that issue un-buffered writes or otherwise bypass the OS may also be enhanced when
optimally aligned by using PAT.

3. How much time does partition alignment take using PAT for Toshiba AF 512e Drives?
Run time can vary based on data conditions and drive configuration; this includes the amount of data fragmentation,
the type and file sizes of stored data, as well as cache size and rotational speed of the drive itself. In general, one
minute per stored gigabyte (GB) is needed to complete partition alignment, or about 20 minutes for 20GB of data
stored on the drive. Toshiba places emphasis on data integrity and therefore has enabled Safe Mode (with Total Data
Protection) as the default PAT setting. Run with no data protection in Very Fast Mode, 20GB of stored data will align
in about 10 minutes, or approximately 30 seconds per GB.

4. The faster alignment speed sounds very attractive. How important is it to run PAT with Data Protection
enabled (i.e. Toshibas default setting for PAT)?
Toshiba does not recommend using Very Fast Mode since no data protection is provided under this setting. However,
before running PAT in any mode, Toshiba strongly recommends backing up the drive and all user data. Usage of
PAT in Data Protection after data back-up helps Toshiba PAT users protect their data.

5. What happens if power is interrupted while PAT is running and the alignment operation on my Toshiba
hard drive has not fully completed?
Several alignment modes are offered by PAT. Toshiba recommends using the Total Data Protection mode to guard
against data loss event in the event of a complete power outage during the realignment process. Toshiba is not
responsible for any failure to back up data or data loss.

6. If I use either of the other alignment mode selections in PAT, can I lose data if power is interrupted?
Depending on the point at which power was interrupted, there is a potential that data on the hard drive could have
been corrupted or otherwise compromised. Toshiba strongly recommends backing-up all data before starting the
alignment operation. Toshiba offers the Canvioseries of external storage solutions for purchase that are particularly
suited for this purpose.

7. What is the maximum number of drive partitions that can be aligned?
There are no known limitations to the number of partitions that can be aligned.

8. Are extended partitions supported? Are logical partitions supported?
There is no need for PAT to support extended partitions. Extended partitions serve as containers for logical partitions.
Logical partitions are supported.

9. Are GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks supported?
Yes, GPT disks are fully supported by PAT. GPT disks are used in MicrosoftWindows operating systems; see the
Table -- Operating Systems and Paragon Alignment Tool Usage Recommendations for PAT usage guidelines with
Toshiba AF 512e hard drives.



The Paragon Alignment Tool (PAT) for Toshiba AF 512e Drives Frequently Asked Questions Page 2

10. Is the alignment on the drive affected when drive partitions are reformatted?
No, all partitions on Toshiba AF 512e hard drives will remain aligned if an already created and aligned partition is
reformatted.

11. Does PAT work with NTFS and FATxx-version (i.e. FAT16, FAT32) file systems?
Yes, PAT supports these file systems. The file system used by the OS does not change the way PAT functions. See
the Table - Operating Systems and Paragon Alignment Tool Usage Recommendations for specific OS-related
guidelines.

12. Does PAT align all Logical Block Addresses (LBAs) or only those which are mapped to a file in the file
system?
PAT aligns all sectors which belong to files as well as file system metadata during the alignment process on Toshiba
AF 512e hard drives.

13. Does the PAT utility require a Master Boot Record (MBR) to operate?
No, an MBR is not required for PAT to run. PAT works on UEFI-based (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)
systems and understands GPT partitioning schemes.

14. Does partition resizing affect the alignment of a Toshiba 512e drive on which PAT has been run?
This largely depends on what application is used to perform the resizing. Any 4K-aware application will have no
affect on the partition alignment of an aligned, 512e drive. If the application does not change the Start partition
location during the re-sizing, partition of an aligned drive will also not be affected.

15. If there are partition(s) that are deleted and recreated on an aligned drive, will the partition alignment be
affected?
This also depends on what application is used to recreate the partition(s). Usage of 4K-aware programs and
applications will automatically align the drive partitions properly. However, if legacy applications are used that
assume the drive sector to be 512 bytes in length, PAT should be run to maintain optimal system performance.

16. What is the function of the Recovery CD (RCD), and what is its role in drive alignment?
The LinuxRecovery CD (RCD) is an important tool to recover the OS, drive partition(s), system boot functionality,
and/or data in the event of an issue during drive alignment. The RCD can be used to recover from any of these
issues. The RCD checks for operation completion status and automatically completes any operation that was in
process prior to the interruption event.

17. Can PAT be used to align multiple systems and the hard drives installed in the target systems?
No; PAT for Toshiba 512e Hard Drives is only intended for usage on single, licensed systems. Utilities for drive
alignment across multiple systems are available from several vendors.

18. Following the drive alignment, what is the start address of the first partition?
The start address will be set at sector 4096. This is the industry-standard start address for AF 512e hard drives.

19. How can I use the Recovery CD if my system does not have a CD/DVD device installed?
If your system is not equipped with a CD/DVD device, the Recovery CD any be run on an external USB-enabled
CD/DVD device that is plugged into the computer systems USB port. For those instances where alignment is
operating within a virtual environment, the virtual system can boot directly from the Recovery CD ISO file.

20. I frequently download files from the internet and store them on my hard drive. Do I need to run PAT in
order to get the maximum performance from my Toshiba AF 512e drive?
This largely depends on what application is used to write data to the drive. For PC applications, the OS will direct how
the downloaded data is written to the disk drive; (see Table Operating Systems and Paragon Alignment Tool Usage
Recommendations.)







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21. Is the PAT utility safe to run on Toshiba AF 512e drives in systems which encrypt the data before being
stored on the hard drive?
Running PAT to align an encrypted hard drive is not recommended due to the possible exposure to unrecoverable
data loss. For this reason, PAT should always be run prior to encrypting the Toshiba AF 512e hard drive. To align a
Toshiba AF 512e hard drive that has been previously encrypted, the drive should first be decrypted before the
alignment operation is performed. The drive can then be re-encrypted and the data stored on the aligned Toshiba AF
512e drive. It is important to follow this process to avoid exposure to an unrecoverable data loss situation when the
data stored on the AF 512e hard drive is encrypted.


22. Can I use the Paragon Alignment Tool for Toshiba AF 512e Drives on other manufacturers hard drives?
No, the utility Toshiba offers on its web site is specifically designed to operate on Toshiba AF 512e hard drives.





Subject to Change: While Toshiba has made every effort at the time of publication to ensure the accuracy of the information provided herein, specifications, configurations,
system/component/options and availability are all subject to change without notice.

ALIGNMENT FAQ 03/07/2011