Is a truly clean wipe of an HHD possible?

[sawdust3d]

I have a fist full of HDDs that I'd like to reuse and release out into the world uncontrolled.

I have information on all of them that I'm obligated to destroy.

I can "Shred" the data using Avast & the reformat the drives, but I don't believe that's a truly safe wipe. Is It?

Is there a wayt I can be assured there is truly no recoverable data on the drives? Or do I just take them to the range and see how many HDDs it takes to stop a .45 round?

Thanks,

[Azza ☠]

Originally posted by POUusnavy:

you guys know i can plug a ntsf usb and transfer the 4gb file right? you guys arent smart in tech just becaus you have steam exp

Dude, just stop trying... come back when your done your 7 year course in IT Support scamming and learn how to run the 'tree' command to fake a virus warning. Then you can come play on my honey pot server and talk to my AI chat bot impersonating an elderly victim, in order to waste your time and efforts, rather than scamming a real person.

Here's an example, but currently Offline during an upgrading stage:
https://www.rescam.org/

I see you have also gone onto the Resident Evil discussions and told someone who's wondering why the game wants NTFS format instead of FAT32, not running due to, invalid information and zero help... just more confusion.

Why you get a kick out of it, I'm still trying to work out.

[UTFapolloMarine]

lies bro, hes asking how to get rid of the data, not how to transfer a 4gb file :) your drifting off man i told him how to get rid of data his pc wont read go help those who want to transfer 4gb files its not being asked here

delete the partitions simple as that you dont want corrupted partitions when people buy your hdds man

what if some one needs to format these hdd to fat32? you asked yourselves that yet? how do we know to trust his hdd when he hasnt even installed windows himself on them or even formatted them to alternate formats for my imac and consoles? let alone my pc

peace out

[Azza ☠]

To avoid confusion for the topic owner and to get back on topic...

- DONT use FAT32, use NTFS (which it probably already is). This doesn't have the limitations of FAT32, plus performance is faster. Just because that guy does, doesn't mean you have to.

- Deleting a partition is still recoverable. For example: "EaseUS Partition Master" provides Partition Recovery Wizard to help you recover deleted or lost partitions with ease.

- Deleting a file or merely formatting a drive is also recoverable. For example: "Recuva" from CCleaner offers file recovery from that. Unless that file has been overwritten multiple times already, you can recover it with a click of a button.

- You need to remove the file(s), overwrite with new data, then remove and repeat multiple times. At least 7, which is considered a government wipe.

Find something which supports "DoD 5220.22-M Wipe Method" (originally used by the Goverment, but no longer 100% secure if using SSD) or better, such as "NIST 800-88 Clear" and "NIST 800 88 Purge" (if you seriously want government security on Solid State Drives).

I personally consider U.S. DoD 5220.22-M(ECE) - 7 passes, ideal for personal usage on HDD (hard disk drives). Which is what "BCWipe" from Jetico can do, for commercial purchase.

Else you would be looking at something like "Blancco Drive Erasure".

Just understand these security tools are something you buy. Free versions might only do a single pass wipe (again just an illusion of removal, but not actually secure). Just avoid considering cracked / illegal versions of them as some likely contain a backdoor uploading your personal files before removing them.

If using Avast Shred, set it to "DOD (Department of Defense)" or even better "Gutmann method". Those will be slow to perform, but more secure.

[Washell]

Originally posted by Azza ☠:

or even better "Gutmann method". Those will be slow to perform, but more secure.

Gutmann himself says that the Gutmann implementation is wrong, silly, and overkill.

Assuming you're not hiding anything from governments or a company like Apple with bottomless funds for recovery, a single pass of writing zeroes or random will prevent anyone from recovering a single byte of data from the drive.

Originally posted by Gutmann:

“In the time since this paper was published, some people have treated the 35-pass overwrite technique described in it more as a kind of voodoo incantation to banish evil spirits than the result of a technical analysis of drive encoding techniques… In fact performing the full 35-pass overwrite is pointless for any drive since it targets a blend of scenarios involving all types of (normally-used) encoding technology, which covers everything back to 30+-year-old MFM methods (if you don’t understand that statement, re-read the paper). If you’re using a drive which uses encoding technology X, you only need to perform the passes specific to X, and you never need to perform all 35 passes. For any modern PRML/EPRML drive, a few passes of random scrubbing is the best you can do. As the paper says, “A good scrubbing with random data will do about as well as can be expected“. This was true in 1996, and is still true now. “

https://www.howtogeek.com/115573/htg-explains-why-you-only-have-to-wipe-a-disk-once-to-erase-it/

[Azza ☠]

Originally posted by Washell:

Originally posted by Azza ☠:

or even better "Gutmann method". Those will be slow to perform, but more secure.

Gutmann himself says that the Gutmann implementation is wrong, silly, and overkill.

Assuming you're not hiding anything from governments or a company like Apple with bottomless funds for recovery, a single pass of writing zeroes or random will prevent anyone from recovering a single byte of data from the drive.

Originally posted by Gutmann:

“In the time since this paper was published, some people have treated the 35-pass overwrite technique described in it more as a kind of voodoo incantation to banish evil spirits than the result of a technical analysis of drive encoding techniques… In fact performing the full 35-pass overwrite is pointless for any drive since it targets a blend of scenarios involving all types of (normally-used) encoding technology, which covers everything back to 30+-year-old MFM methods (if you don’t understand that statement, re-read the paper). If you’re using a drive which uses encoding technology X, you only need to perform the passes specific to X, and you never need to perform all 35 passes. For any modern PRML/EPRML drive, a few passes of random scrubbing is the best you can do. As the paper says, “A good scrubbing with random data will do about as well as can be expected“. This was true in 1996, and is still true now. “

https://www.howtogeek.com/115573/htg-explains-why-you-only-have-to-wipe-a-disk-once-to-erase-it/

Yeah well, I did say before it and I quote myself:
"I personally consider U.S. DoD 5220.22-M(ECE) - 7 passes, ideal for personal usage"

It's just that Gutmann method is available as an option on Avast Shred, if desired.

[Carlsberg]

Failing all that,... at 10 metres it will take two drives.

[UTFapolloMarine]

Originally posted by Carlsberg:

Failing all that,... at 10 metres it will take two drives.

exactly! whiping hdd of any data for me takes 9 seconds and good to go no complains. when this guy starts getting complains people are getting blue screen of death and defective hdd he will be like why? not to mention these days im all sdd anyway hdd are going under value and wont be relevant if i was him id study elsewhere

[emoticorpse]

Just load them with useless data one time.

[r.linder]

Originally posted by POUusnavy:

Originally posted by Azza ☠:

Deleting data from a Hard Drive isn't actually removed at all, but rather just marked. At that point any undelete app can actually recover it. When it's marked, it can be overwritten with new data, but there's still a trace of that old data. More advance tools are needed to recover it, but still possible.

When I was a kid, at school, they use to just throw out old hard drives. Some smart kids got them and recovered the data, undeleting it to find exam answers and other stuff. The same deal can happen with companies or even your own personal drives being sold 2nd hand on eBay. Therefore they actually government wipe or even smash the old hard drives to prevent that.

Government 7 Pass Wipes can blur it enough to avoid recovery.

Consider something like Jetico - BCWipe Total WipeOut. Which is a commerical military-grade file eraser tool. Wipe the free space with 7 passes or more. It does cost however.

thats all non sense

No it's not. You need software like that if you have something to hide, because anyone with such a program can extract anything from a drive that was simply wiped the "normal" way.

Government agencies use such software to salvage data that was intended to be erased, as you can't truly wipe a drive clean without any kind of aforementioned software that makes it basically impossible to salvage. If you have something to hide or just don't want data falling into someone else's hands, it's best to use that or completely destroy the drive platter.

[[☥] - CJ -]

Linus did a video on this not long ago, should probably check it out.

[Azza ☠]

Originally posted by Escorve:

Originally posted by POUusnavy:

thats all non sense

No it's not. You need software like that if you have something to hide, because anyone with such a program can extract anything from a drive that was simply wiped the "normal" way.

Government agencies use such software to salvage data that was intended to be erased, as you can't truly wipe a drive clean without any kind of aforementioned software that makes it basically impossible to salvage. If you have something to hide or just don't want data falling into someone else's hands, it's best to use that or completely destroy the drive platter.

You don't even need something to 'hide' as such. It's a good privacy and security measure, if you are planning to sell the hard drive on 2nd hand. It could be emails, bank details, personal or business files, and family photos, etc. Same deal with smartphones.

For example: https://www.computerworld.com/article/2476496/data-privacy/think-you-deleted-your-dirty-little-secrets--before-you-sell-your-android-smartphone---.html

That's why some smartphone will even encrypt the entire storage space for you.

[UTFapolloMarine]

Originally posted by Escorve:

Originally posted by POUusnavy:

thats all non sense

No it's not. You need software like that if you have something to hide, because anyone with such a program can extract anything from a drive that was simply wiped the "normal" way.

Government agencies use such software to salvage data that was intended to be erased, as you can't truly wipe a drive clean without any kind of aforementioned software that makes it basically impossible to salvage. If you have something to hide or just don't want data falling into someone else's hands, it's best to use that or completely destroy the drive platter.

i do it without a software via windows 10 in 9 seconds all partions gone ready for ps4 and pcs

you guys know i can plug a ntsf usb and transfer the 4gb file right? you guys arent smart in tech just becaus you have steam exp

Originally posted by POUusnavy:

Originally posted by Escorve:

No it's not. You need software like that if you have something to hide, because anyone with such a program can extract anything from a drive that was simply wiped the "normal" way.

Government agencies use such software to salvage data that was intended to be erased, as you can't truly wipe a drive clean without any kind of aforementioned software that makes it basically impossible to salvage. If you have something to hide or just don't want data falling into someone else's hands, it's best to use that or completely destroy the drive platter.

i do it without a software via windows 10 in 9 seconds all partions gone ready for ps4 and pcs

the company i work with doesnt even complain have not one yet

these guys are simply sturring up a whole bunch of mess man seriously just format then and delete the partitions nothing never been so simple haha, this went from showing him how to get rid of what you call a partition to some government conspiracy hiding stuff yall tripping

[_I_]

some data can still be recovered beyond re-partiton and quick format
that just removes the partiton/file tables, not data area
by looking at file contents you may lose its name, but not what was stored in it

if a file is marked for delete, and not overwritten its the same effect as removing its file name entry, and all data is still on the drive
but once each area is re-written with new data, the old data is no longer recoverable
thats how drives work, if you could pull the old data after new writes, the new data would be corrupt

re-writing the entire drive once with dban is enough to destroy all data on the drive

[UTFapolloMarine]

Originally posted by _I_:

some data can still be recovered beyond re-partiton and quick format
that just removes the partiton/file tables, not data area
by looking at file contents you may lose its name, but not what was stored in it

if a file is marked for delete, and not overwritten its the same effect as removing its file name entry, and all data is still on the drive
but once each area is re-written with new data, the old data is no longer recoverable
thats how drives work, if you could pull the old data after new writes, the new data would be corrupt

re-writing the entire drive once with dban is enough to destroy all data on the drive

right! those corrupted partitions will give blue screen of death and not allow digital installation of most apps as well i been there and done that these guys obviously havent

[_I_]

if you want to recover a drive, do not use it to re-install an os
use a seperate install/build, and add the drive then use recovery tools on the drive to recover

if they really wanted unrecoverable drives, they could have done raid config with parity
then data would either be parity or data, and not all there for any desired file