Patent ID: 7633802

Claim:
A method for operating non-volatile storage, comprising: programming a block of non-volatile storage elements via a plurality of word lines in an initial programming, the initial programming is performed in a word line order staffing from a first word line of the block and proceeding successively to each next word line until a last word line of the block is reached; and after the initial programming of the block is completed, performing further programming of at least some of the non-volatile storage elements, the further programming is performed in the word line order of the initial programming, staffing from the first word line of the block and proceeding successively to each next word line until the last word line of the block is reached; where: the first word line is a source side word line of the block; the last word line is a drain side word line of the block; the initial programming proceeds one word line at a time from the source side word line to the drain side word line; and the further programming proceeds one word line at a time from the source side word line to the drain side word line.