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Format a NTFS hard drive in 10.3
Authored by: LC on Apr 21, '05 05:32:45PM

When I use OS X to clear a disk device, I use Disk Utility's Erase command (on the entire disk or volume), single partition setup, and the format option of writing zeroes. I never used the 8-times random write, since I assumed that would take longer (than zeroes). How much of a security risk is associated with just writing zeroes?

Also, I myself get thrown off by the terminology at times. On a disk device, using OS X's Disk Utility you can "erase" one selected partition (slice) at a time. Or, you can select the entire device, optionally modify the partition map, and recreate/erase all of its slices. I'm pretty sure that Disk Utility won't let you do anything to (i.e. modify or repair) any filesystem on the same disk device that booted the currently running system, even if you want to touch a different one (i.e. I booted slice 10, but I want to erase slice 12).

The confusing thing (for me) here is that what OS X calls a "volume" is one partition of the disk device, i.e. a slice. I don't know whether they mean that a "volume" is the same as a "filesystem", but the way I see it is that the storage device (disk) can contain volumes, and each volume can contain a filesystem. OS X doesn't talk about filesystems per se (keeping the language simpler); Larry.



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Format a NTFS hard drive in 10.3
Authored by: Carnildo on Apr 21, '05 07:58:05PM

If you format by writing zeroes to the disk, an expensive (tens of thousands of dollars) data recovery company could get most of the data back. If you format with the "write eight times" option, a data recovery company won't be able to get any of it back, and it's unlikely that even the CIA would be able to do anything with it.

If you format by deleting the directory information (a Windows-style quick format), someone with a $50 piece of software could get the contents back.



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Format a NTFS hard drive in 10.3
Authored by: johnsawyercjs on Apr 22, '05 03:22:09AM

Though there may be different terminology with *nix-based systems, the terms "volume" and "partition" have, on the Mac, from what I've seen since 1984, been two interchangeable terms for the same thing--all formatters for the Mac have used these terms to mean the same thing. I don't know the answer to the question as to whether volumes/partitions can also be called "filesystems", or if that's a term that applies to some other characteristic of the whole disk mechanism itself.

Disk Utility WILL let you erase, repair, etc. secondary volumes/partitions that are on the same disk drive as the Mac is currently booted from (meaning, not the volume the Mac is currently booted from, naturally), but Disk Utility won't give you the options to "zero all data" or the "8-way random write format" on any individual volume, whether that volume resides on the currently booted disk drive or on another disk drive--these two options are available only when you select the entire disk drive. Disk Utility also won't let you remove or resize existing individual volumes on any disk drive, except by erasing the whole drive.



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Format a NTFS hard drive in 10.3
Authored by: jeremyp on Apr 22, '05 05:01:26AM

File systems and partitions are not the same thing. A partition is a block of space on a disk. A file system is a way of organising the data in a partition.



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Format a NTFS hard drive in 10.3
Authored by: LC on Apr 22, '05 01:53:09PM

Right ... the area within a particular partition (slice) may contain a filesystem, or may not. Also, there may be a logical volume in that partition, or not. In Mac OS, Disk Utility is employed to create HFS or HFS+ volumes, so there you have the "filesystem" (the "FS" in HFS).

In another case, in Unix when we use a disk device simply for paging (i.e. a "swap device"), since it's the entire disk then you don't need any partition map or label. But under LVM, we need to "initialize" (partition etc.) each disk device.



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Format a NTFS hard drive in 10.3
Authored by: numpins on Apr 22, '05 01:09:34PM

Section 2
http://www.usenix.org/publications/library/proceedings/sec96/full_papers/gutmann/



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