Secure deletion of data

[desura]

So is there a fast way of completely deleting a hard drive that does not involve physically over-writing each sector? Or is that the only way?

 

[nightspydk]

No not really.

You need to do a 0 fill a good deal of passes to make sure it's gone with eg active killdisk.

When you format a drive in windows you are just erasing the 'headers' so that the data don't know where it belongs. (Still present on the drive.)

Hope that made sense.

edit
Yes I know how a harddrive works and no if you do not do what I said, the data will be recoverable. It becomes apparent when you try use recovery software.

 

[desura]

well, I guess teh fastest way is partitionmagic and using wipe and fill w/zeros.

Still looks like it's gonna take an hour or so per disk

 

[Berryracer]

yeah I do it using Parted Magic's boot CD. just do it before you go to bed man

 

[nightspydk]

Yep the more passes the better. Don't hold your breath.

Used PM before but didn't see that option. Active Killdisk has got a bunch of certificates, so that might be the better choice. The version if present on Hiren's boot cd is the shareware version and the other costs money. Don't want to decide for you and do not want to do PR so your choice and good luck. A 0-fill should be just that no matter the program methinks.

Right run app while you sleep.

 

[ch33zw1z]

If you want it secure, then take the time to make it a secure erase. I prefer to use DBAN...just my preference.

 

[nightspydk]

I've noticed so do a lot of other people mate. Hope that's not spam.

 

[hanspeter]

If the drive is encrypted, you can overwrite the master key. The data will still be there, but no one will be able to read it.

 

[desura]

here's a thought:

turn on bitlocker for a drive.

then do a quick reformat.

would that do the trick?

 

[bryanl]

For unencrypted drives, just write each sector. Once is enough, and there is no benefit to doing multiple rewrites.

For all practical purposes, the quickest method of making a drive unreadable is by drilling a few holes through the case and all the platters. The data won't be destroyed but will be unreadable to every data recovery company.

 

[marcplante]

What about applying a strong magnetic force to the drive? I've got, "Breaking Bad," on the brain.