Wipeing drives (zero-fill) takes forever on 1TB platter drives on USB 2.0...

[Robotron2k84]

The shredder, such as above, consumes one 3.5” drive in 15-30 seconds. Much faster than any other method.

[Epaphroditus]

3 seconds and a sledge hammer. Done.

[Fastattack]

I take mine to the range.

[Fizz]

Some drives are basically encrypted by default, and you can secure instant erase them by issuing the command from the manufacturer software. It changes the encryption key so that it can't be written.

If your drive supports this do that.

But yeah secure erasing a drive with 0s with USB 2.0 interface is going to take forever, and isn't that secure.

You're better off booting to the drive manufacturer's erase utility and plugging the drive direct to the machine, or using a faster interface like USB 3.0.

[dms1]

When I worked at BOA, the contractor they hired used a nail gun and put a nail thru the platters.

[the86d]

...
But yeah secure erasing a drive with 0s with USB 2.0 interface is going to take forever, and isn't that secure.
...

We have discussed this many times here in this Tech. and Internet subforum.

If you can list even "JUST ONE" example of where data has been successfully carved from a zero-filled platter-drive, in all of human history, I will eat my words (and maybe medium-rare pork, too)... ... ...

Carving data manually from a platter-drive that has been zero-filled is just a theory, and has never successfully been done, even with an electron microscope, AFAIK
It would be too costly to even think about, as the data density on the platters is too great these days (or even after IDE started to be a "thing", after MFM/RLL).

A quick format is different, but a zero-fill flips all bits to 0's AFAIK.

[Fizz]

We have discussed this many times here in this Tech. and Internet subforum.

If you can list even "JUST ONE" example of where data has been successfully carved from a zero-filled platter-drive, in all of human history, I will eat my words (and maybe medium-rare pork, too)... ... ...

Carving data manually from a platter-drive that has been zero-filled is just a theory, and has never successfully been done, even with an electron microscope, AFAIK
It would be too costly to even think about, as the data density on the platters is too great these days (or even after IDE started to be a "thing", after MFM/RLL).

A quick format is different, but a zero-fill flips all bits to 0's AFAIK.

For practical purposes a 0 fill is secure enough. It will miss data in 'hidden' areas of the disk related to sector remapping etc. Nobody is going to dumpster dive for your HDD at random to see if they can get good info on the drive.

When you're talking about 'security' the perspective is always from if a breach event is LOW probability but HIGH impact, it's a high risk.

The probability of recovering meaningful data from a 0 filled drive, by a nefarious party having access to ultra specialized equipment analyzing the magnetic fields off the main track to detect the minute magnetic field changes to infer the original state of the main track.... Is pretty low. However, if that happens to a company would result in millions worth in intellectual property being leaked to a competitor, or leaking classified data... Then it doesn't make sense to not spend extra time on secure erase processes relative to the worst possible scenario.

Also, you have to remember that tools get better and cheaper all the time. The reason your common street criminal isn't perusing the dump for drives is because it's too cost prohibitive for equipment and specialized education to perform data recovery. But in 50 years you can probably get magnetic recovery tools on eBay for $30.

The drive is also more or less permanent, notwithstanding the laws of physics. Meaning, someone has unlimited time, with a drive in hand to wait for new tools and procedures to break in when it's more convenient or cost effective.

Chances are you may be dead and no longer care. But, if there's a reason you're wiping a drive it's because you don't want someone to find something. It could even be that you don't know what data there is to find.

So, yeah. Leaving a drive to overwrite for several days, is low cost, for a low probability of an incident, but precludes a high impact in the 1:100000000000 chance.

[Mesa Defense]

Big hammer and a boat ride....

[the86d]

Carving random remapped 512 byte sectors (or does it remap 4k blocks, with a physical sector size of 512 bytes?) isn't going to yield much, if anything useful.
A new Oraface Excel 365, saved empty spreadsheet is 8k+, 12k on disk, Windows says... as a test I just did.

This is really wiping defunct data, originally from my former employer's user/Sales Rep. machines I got to take home, and this data is no longer relevant anyways (YEARS defunct), just to do my part, before the eWasting.

I decided to give the drive to my son as his secondary 1TB, since it wiped w/out issue.

I "Windows non-quick formatted" a 40GB 2.5" IDE drive, and it pushed 30 MB/sec over the same cable and drive when the Slackware VM was only pushing like 20MB/Sec on...

I'll have to try speeds on a modern Distro, like Knoppix, or *Buntu, as a test.

[lordmorgul]

We have discussed this many times here in this Tech. and Internet subforum.

If you can list even "JUST ONE" example of where data has been successfully carved from a zero-filled platter-drive, in all of human history, I will eat my words (and maybe medium-rare pork, too)... ... ...

Carving data manually from a platter-drive that has been zero-filled is just a theory, and has never successfully been done, even with an electron microscope, AFAIK
It would be too costly to even think about, as the data density on the platters is too great these days (or even after IDE started to be a "thing", after MFM/RLL).

A quick format is different, but a zero-fill flips all bits to 0's AFAIK.

[the86d]

I had one notebook drive that wouldn't power-up, I put a pellet through the casing above the platter, and the platter shattered, and it sounds like glass rattling around. Taped the holes (to prevent the shards from falling out) and calling it good.

[the86d]

Went to go sledge-hammer 2 that wouldn't work (spin-up tick, spin-up tick), and I just found 2 more drives in the garage , sledge-hammed the platters through the thinner-side of the case/housing, in at LEAST 2 places, pinning the case to the platters. This should be good enough for the girls I went out with...

One popped up and almost hit me in the face, so I made sure to keep downward pressure for the rest of the procedure...

NOW to find an eWaste day, and location... as I have computers I want to get rid of too.

[HibikiR]

Big hammer and a boat ride....

Recycling is better. Now that China's getting its talons into Afghanistan the supply of rare earth minerals for electronics is less stable for America.

[Robotron2k84]

Rare Earth materials are not rare. California used to produce a significant amount.* We no longer produce market quantities, because we have lost the will to be self-sufficient, as a country.

Until that changes, recycling of Chinese materials would seem to be the best option.

*https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_mine

[madjack956]

I'm far from a techy, but Hillary would seem to be the clear solution to me.