need to destroy data on drive

syx · 09-30-2004, 12:33 PM

Hey guys,

I used a tool in the past that was based on linux and was in the form of a bootable floppy disk. This tool allowed you to destroy data using sequential or random writes of Zeros and Ones.

If its sound familiar to any of you please let me know....
its kind of urgent

Regards,
Syx

J.W. · 09-30-2004, 01:22 PM

I'd suggest checking the manufacturer's website for any utility programs, many of them offer "all zero" blanking programs.

You can also do it in Linux using the dd command. Man dd for more info, but the basic format is

Code:

dd if=/dev/zero of=<target> bs=<blocksize> count=<iterations>

Similarly, you can use /dev/urandom to write a random series of ones and zeroes. -- J.W.

mikedeatworld · 09-30-2004, 01:28 PM

J.W. is there a way to repeat this dd process several times in a row?

I'd think you'd be able to write a prog easily using this utitlity....

J.W. · 09-30-2004, 01:34 PM

Sure - you could just manually re-run the command, or read this page from Rute which describes things in more detail. -- J.W.

Not now, John! · 09-30-2004, 01:35 PM

man shred

David_g17 · 09-30-2004, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Not now, John!
man shred

===============================
CAUTION: Note that shred relies on a very important assumption: that
the filesystem overwrites data in place. This is the traditional way
to do things, but many modern filesystem designs do not satisfy this
assumption. The following are examples of filesystems on which shred
is not effective:

* log-structured or journaled filesystems, such as those supplied with

AIX and Solaris (and JFS, ReiserFS, XFS, Ext3, etc.)
===============================

mikedeatworld · 09-30-2004, 02:04 PM

I just noticed that a lot of shareware/licensed software that claims to do this.

Are they simply using this function of unix and adding a fancy GUI???

2damncommon · 09-30-2004, 02:49 PM

I like this one.

jonthelam · 09-30-2004, 02:58 PM

I use wipe on Knoppix.

mikedeatworld · 09-30-2004, 03:00 PM

is wipe the command???

jonthelam · 09-30-2004, 03:02 PM

yup...

Code:

man wipe

for more info. I use this before I recycle all my HDs.

Not now, John! · 10-01-2004, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David_g17
===============================
CAUTION: Note that shred relies on a very important assumption: that ...

Didn't know that... interesting.