Does zero filling a HDD really delete all data on it?

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kittyhawk

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Sep 28, 2007
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I know of HDD utilities that can recover data that has been deleted from the recycle bin. Does zero filling a hard disk drive really make all data on it totally unrecoverable?

 
No.
The more times you do this the harder it is to retrieve the data.

If you do this a couple of times, you should be relatively safe.
However, the Gov't if it really wants to can do amazing things to get at the data.

Most ordinary hackers will not get past the 0 wiping.
 



If you really need to make the data unrecoverable then get a program called Darik's Boot and Nuke. It's free. Just be careful with it... I never boot up DBAN on a PC unless I want the data on EVERY DRIVE permanently deleted.
 
The data may still be accessible with very high end tools (think of Mission Impossible 3), but will a single zero fill make the data inaccessable via most data recovery software in the market today?
 


Yes. It will be safe from normal recovery tools.
 


With the data density on modern disks it's probably safe from anyone; but overwrite multiple times with 0, 255 and random values if you're paranoid. Took about ten minutes to write a C program to do that.
 
Take a hammer to the printed circuit on the bottom of the drive.

No one will ever find it cost effective to recover the data.
 



Unless you robbed a bank and kept your check list, get away plans on the disk. :pfff:

But they would likely see you viewed this page as they would contact THG for people logging in and out of the board.

There's not much you can do that doesn't track you in some way or another. :heink:

Absolute best way is zero fill several times and deep six it somewhere... but zero filling takes a long friggin time. 😴
 
what you dpo is you unscrew wthe case off the disk, then you get an industrial electomagnet, wave it over it a few time and no-one will ever get any data back...
 
if u want ur data delete there is only one way to ensure its gone and completely unrecoverible. i served in the military and know first hand about this. you need the disk destroyed and when i say destroyed i have some specifics...first you need a super strong magnet or electomagnet....you need to place the magnet physically on all disks...think thats enough...well its not even that can be undone with the right tools. after your done demagnitzing the platters you need to either sand/sandblast them down at least a half milimeter and or use a welder on every square inch warping the disk and melting the platters. and of course if ur doing this to military/ govertment spec (for classified material)before you do any of what i said you have to reformat refill the drive entirely with "filler" data at least 15 times....think i am joking....i am not laughing. even than its possible to recover minute amounts of data. but its the best way there is...cousre down side is ur hdd is toast. all depends how bad u want to get rid of the data.
 
Writing over it with 0's once can still be recovered, even with some of the tools available to normal users now. It may be fractured, and unsorted, but you can still get info back.

I 2nd the Derik's Nuke and Boot, they have a couple different programs on there, including the DoD(Department of Defense) standards, as well as one even more aggressive. I believe it wipes and rewrites this disk like 27 times.

It takes a few hours.
 
An industrial furnace cooking along at 2000F does a pretty good job of destroying most evidence. What is not destroyed is easily manipulated into something else. Good luck finding something on a sheet of metal that has been reshaped into a pretzel or a Borg cube.

Don't have an industrial furnace in your backyard? Well if your Aunt has a glass or ceramic kiln then you already have access to a furnace.
 
Take the platters and mutilate them, if you have the capability, drill holes all over them, run industrial electromagnets over them and scatter the pieces. No one is going to get your data then.
 
to OP:
um.. you tryin' to sell your ol' hdd on ebay or somethin'?
if that's so, then don't
(not to mention some used hdds sold on ebay are not properly formatted at all...)

*walks away whistling*
 
what every u have thats so bad on ur disks u don't want to get caught with it. chances are the right computer foresentic tech will get some of the data no matter what unless the platters are utterly destroyed...and even then u may not be out of the woods. what ever that data is u don't want anymore...i wouldn't the jail sentance that would come with it, or wife/gf's wraith that comes with it.
 


Define totally, and also mention if you want the drive to be usable afterwards.

If you want the drive usable you can't ever 'totally' remove the possibility of data recovery. The DOD method of wiping media is very effective in making it extremely(and I mean extremely difficult) to retrieve data. You'd need multi-million dollar pieces of equipment and a team of engineers to attempt to recover your data afterwards. However, if you need to protect some of the military's nuclear secrets then buying a new drive is safer(and required as complete destruction of the media is sometimes required).

If you need complete and total impossible data recovery destroy the drive.

Me personally, if I had some kind of data on my drive that I wanted to make sure nobody could possibly recover and I had intentions of giving it to a friend or family member, a DOD wipe is plenty safe for me. Generally speaking, nobody in their right mind is gonna spend countless hours and millions of dollars to attempt to recover your 'possible' data in an attempt to see if they caught you doing something illegal(or whatever you are trying to protect).

My piece of advice.. ALWAYS disconnect ALL drives you do not want erased. It would suck to accidentally chose the wrong one.
 


What are your sources on that information? I've seen no such tools. I've seen recovery companies say that even they cannot recover from a zero-filling
 
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