Secure erase/wipe for external drive suggestions
Page 1 of 1
Mikey5449
Superdad



Posts: 3402

PostPosted: Mon, 11th May 2020 19:13    Post subject: Secure erase/wipe for external drive suggestions
Hey all. Any recommendations for a free secure wipe/erase for an external drive? I recently upgraded a NAS drive and would like to give the old drive away to a friend but just want to clean it up before I do so. The ones I've used in the past have pointed to or been for internal drives. Appreciate any feedback. Thank you.


couleur wrote:
Everything I don't understand is a mental disorder. Laughing

couleur wrote:
If the illegals are drowning its their fault for attempting to cross the river in the first place. Especially the children. /s

russ80 wrote:
Who cares about gameplay. It's one of the few next-gen looking titles out there so BRING IT ON.
Back to top
scaramonga




Posts: 9800

PostPosted: Mon, 11th May 2020 21:20    Post subject:
Back to top
paxsali
Banned



Posts: 18352

PostPosted: Mon, 11th May 2020 21:21    Post subject:
⁢⁢


Last edited by paxsali on Thu, 4th Jul 2024 23:14; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
Mikey5449
Superdad



Posts: 3402

PostPosted: Mon, 11th May 2020 21:26    Post subject:
@scaramonga - Thank you!

@pax - I am wanting to keep the drive operational after the erase hehe. I have a couple of others that are bogus that I'm going to put some rounds thru when I get the time. Smile


couleur wrote:
Everything I don't understand is a mental disorder. Laughing

couleur wrote:
If the illegals are drowning its their fault for attempting to cross the river in the first place. Especially the children. /s

russ80 wrote:
Who cares about gameplay. It's one of the few next-gen looking titles out there so BRING IT ON.
Back to top
paxsali
Banned



Posts: 18352

PostPosted: Mon, 11th May 2020 21:29    Post subject:
⁢⁢


Last edited by paxsali on Thu, 4th Jul 2024 23:14; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
Janz




Posts: 13998

PostPosted: Mon, 11th May 2020 22:07    Post subject:
normal format (not quick format) is enough to destroy the files beyond reparation (for normal users). if you are paranoid let it override every sector once, more than enough to get rid of your pony porn
Back to top
shimec




Posts: 1214
Location: Serbia
PostPosted: Mon, 11th May 2020 22:13    Post subject:
Janz wrote:
normal format (not quick format) is enough to destroy the files beyond reparation (for normal users). if you are paranoid let it override every sector once, more than enough to get rid of your pony porn


Heck, even quick format, filling hdd with stuff and quick format again will make original data mostly unreadable to avarage user.
Back to top
Mikey5449
Superdad



Posts: 3402

PostPosted: Mon, 11th May 2020 22:27    Post subject:
Hmm. Good points. Thanks all! I was just being lazy and looking for mostly hands off is all.


couleur wrote:
Everything I don't understand is a mental disorder. Laughing

couleur wrote:
If the illegals are drowning its their fault for attempting to cross the river in the first place. Especially the children. /s

russ80 wrote:
Who cares about gameplay. It's one of the few next-gen looking titles out there so BRING IT ON.
Back to top
VGAdeadcafe




Posts: 22230
Location: ★ ಠ_ಠ ★
PostPosted: Tue, 12th May 2020 04:40    Post subject:
Ccleaner has a Drive Wiper function. And it's free, just be careful when installing it not to install any of the optional adware.
Back to top
Guy_Incognito




Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Tue, 12th May 2020 09:28    Post subject:
Janz wrote:
normal format (not quick format) is enough to destroy the files beyond reparation (for normal users). if you are paranoid let it override every sector once, more than enough to get rid of your pony porn


Normal format is surface scan + quick format, it doesn't delete data.

Most SSDs support "secure erase" ATA command which will actually delete block data without long overwrite, but for mechanical drives, I don't know any method beyond overwriting.
Back to top
scaramonga




Posts: 9800

PostPosted: Tue, 12th May 2020 09:52    Post subject:
Guy_Incognito wrote:
but for mechanical drives, I don't know any method beyond overwriting.


Opening the drive and swapping out the platters. Wink
Back to top
Janz




Posts: 13998

PostPosted: Tue, 12th May 2020 11:24    Post subject:
@Guy_Incognito: Not completely correct. try it yourself. due to the complete new toc which gets created during a normal format its difficult to recover data. while quick format just cleans the toc, which makes it easy to recover data

as i said just use an eraser (like eraser) with one pass zeros and the chances to get any complete filechunk back is almost zero
Back to top
Page 1 of 1 All times are GMT + 1 Hour
NFOHump.com Forum Index - Applications
Signature/Avatar nuking: none (can be changed in your profile)  


Display posts from previous:   

Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB 2.0.8 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group