Solved Can files be properly erased from a drive?

[Tomtom111]

So I saw this video: Where Do Deleted Files Go? - YouTube

And wondered if you run the 'clean all' command in diskpart would that properly erase the data on the drive, or does it just make the space appear available in the same way deleting a file does when deleting in Windows? This isn't to help me or anything I was just curious if there is anyway whatsoever to properly erase data without destroying the physical drive.

Thanks for reading.

 

[x BlueRobot]

Clean All completely overwrites the sectors on a hard drive with 0's, making the data very difficult to recover (I'm not sure about impossible), whereas, deleting the file simply hides the file from the file system. The Clean switch just overwrites one sector where the file resides with one 0, simply hiding the file again.

 

[whs]

'Clean All' writes zeros into the space. That does not make the data 100% unrecoverable, but it is a good start. A normal delete only switches a bit in the Master File Table but leaves the data intact.

There are various military strength programs that will do better.

 

[Tomtom111]

Ok, so the 'clean all' command doesn't rewrite everything to zero as I believed? Would it just corrupt the majority of the files, and then making them worthless? Is there no way to write everything to zero, making it completely unrecoverable?

 

[MilesAhead]

One feature of CCleaner is a deleted file overwrite. It writes 0s and you can set how many times it repeats the process. Likely it's not up to military security requirements. But it's probably good enough for the basic home user.

 

[x BlueRobot]

Ok, so the 'clean all' command doesn't rewrite everything to zero as I believed? Would it just corrupt the majority of the files, and then making them worthless? Is there no way to write everything to zero, making it completely unrecoverable?

Clean All does rewrite everything to 0's, but this doesn't make it impossible to recover the data. What are you trying to delete?

 

[MilesAhead]

Along with overwriting the file in question one must be cognizant of "previous versions of files" in restore points.

 

[Tomtom111]

Clean All does rewrite everything to 0's, but this doesn't make it impossible to recover the data. What are you trying to delete?

NOTHING!!! As I said in the first post, this is just about finding out if clean all would actually erase everything on a drive, as it wasn't mentioned in the video I linked.
I'm ignoring previous version in this question and just going on the assumption that there is only one version of every file, even though that would be true in a real world situation.
Is there any public software, ie not military, that completly erases data? Again, I'm not trying to delete anything to that extent, I just want to know to what extent normal home users can delete files.

 

[MilesAhead]

Clean All does rewrite everything to 0's, but this doesn't make it impossible to recover the data. What are you trying to delete?

NOTHING!!! As I said in the first post, this is just about finding out if clean all would actually erase everything on a drive, as it wasn't mentioned in the video I linked.
I'm ignoring previous version in this question and just going on the assumption that there is only one version of every file, even though that would be true in a real world situation.
Is there any public software, ie not military, that completly erases data? Again, I'm not trying to delete anything to that extent, I just want to know to what extent normal home users can delete files.

I don't know how you could determine this other than trial and error. Every drive media, controller and driver is likely to be a bit different. An omnicient guess wouldn't really help you much.

 

[Layback Bear]

How clean is clean? How secure is secure?
It all depends on who is trying to retrieve the information.
For normal use one or maybe two passes with zeros would be more than enough.
The Department of Defense uses seven over wrights.
You could also use the Gutmann's method.

Gutmann method - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clean All will work quiet well for most of us.

Now if you have something very very special on a hard drive like old files from the KGB I would just through the hard drive in a furnace. Drink some Vodka and watch it turn into a puddle.

 

[LMiller7]

The Cleanall function erases the entire partition. That means all files, folders, and the file system itself - everything.

A mentioned previously, Professor Gutmann wrote a paper outlining how data might be recovered from an erased disk. But the paper was written in 1996 and there is considerable doubt whether the method is of any relevance to modern hard drives. Gutmann himself has acknowledged this. It is also unknown how much data was ever recovered by this method.

In any event this method is far beyond the capabilities of any home user. The organizations that might be able to do this will not discuss it.

There are programs that will erase a drive with multiple passes but for most users this is clearly overkill. If the drive contains secrets that might be a threat to national security then this is justified - just in case. But for the rest of us it is just a waste of time.

Many organizations are requiring physical destruction of the drive before disposal. But this isn't because erasing the data isn't good enough. Physical destruction is quick and easy and the results are easily verified by simple observation.

 

[d00p98uy]

...but if you want freeware to do this, IOBit Toolbox has a file shredder that uses gutmans method to erease file with it's file shredder, but i dunno if it's any good if you want to try it out, but just search around if you really want something to do this, there's always freeware that can do everything paid apps can, google's your best friend

 

[mitchell65]

Darik's Boot and Nuke is as good as anything I have used in the past!

 

[x BlueRobot]

...but if you want freeware to do this, IOBit Toolbox has a file shredder that uses gutmans method to erease file with it's file shredder, but i dunno if it's any good if you want to try it out, but just search around if you really want something to do this, there's always freeware that can do everything paid apps can, google's your best friend

In my opinion, I don't trust IObit software, especially their Malware Fighter, it is a frequent cause of BSODs from my experience.

 

[Layback Bear]

Totally agree with x BlueRobot. IObit anything fits well in a dumpster.

 

[mjf]

CCleaner>Tools>Drive Wiper will do multiple passes up to 35! if you have the time. It will wipe a whole partition or simply those files marked deleted by the file system. This last capability can be very useful if you only want certain files fully wiped.

 

[torchwood]

no prob for me

Been running that prog for years on a 32 and 64 bit comp/laptop no problems at all.

but going back the OP question deleted files have just the first digit changed so they are ignored

 

[Layback Bear]

With todays large drives more than one pass would give you time to grow a beard long enough to trip on it.

 

[Thonk98]

I work in IT support for a large government. I was talking to a guy who had a F.R.E.D. (Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device). He told me he was capable of recovering data from drives that had been wiped (zero filled or other write over) up to seven times. I have no way of verifying this but that's what I was told. The Feds may have additional capabilites. I believe destruction of the drive is the only way to fully ensure confidentiality.

I've included a link to an awesome shredder:

SSI's Shred of the Month: E-Scrap - Hard Drives Shredding (Q) - YouTube

For some real fun check out them shredding metal shopping carts

 

[Layback Bear]

Yes their some special people and programs that can do some super snooping.

My post #10


It all depends on who is trying to retrieve the information.

Now if you have something very very special on a hard drive like old files from the KGB I would just through the hard drive in a furnace. Drink some Vodka and watch it turn into a puddle.