CompuServe Messages

Please excuse me for butting in here. I have been attempting to follow this thread hoping a particular question would be answered, but if it has I did not notice. If any of you folks could provide an answer it would be appreciated. I had always assumed that you could "optimize" a hard drive by backing up your files using something like Quarterback, then doing a low level format, then doing a regular "restore" from Quarterback. I use this method about every 6 months on my GVP controller, ST-251N1 SCSI drive for just that purpose – "optimization". I certainly may have misunderstood this thread, but I thought you folks were saying that a routine (1) backup, (2) low level format, (3) restore, DOES NOT optimize the hard drive. Could you folks "in the know" please leave at least one message explaining what optimization benefits, if any, are gained by the backup-format-restore routine, and what type of improvements we could expect with a REAL optimization program. Thanks.