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This technique is not a privacy tool
Authored by: klktrk on Dec 26, '02 11:51:14AM

The option to "zero all data" while formatting is not designed as a privacy tool; it is intended simply to ensure that a platter is free from all previous data images before formatting. Contrary to popular belief, reformatting a drive does not erase all data, it simply re-writes all the meta-data (directories, etc.), which pretty effectively eliminates all casual access to what was on that disk before.

If you want a privacy tool, use a privacy tool. If you have UNIX fileutils installed, for example, you have access to the "shred" command, which will overwrite a folder, or volume as many times as you want. (And, yes, there are many other similar tools, among them PGP or GPG.)

Much simpler, quicker, and more effective to use the right tool for the job. Save the "zero all data" feature (welcome as it is), for when you're actually reformatting a troublesome disk.



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