HDD overwriting is bad?

[SmirGel]

Not sure if this question is suppose to be asked here but I'd think so.

I was wondering all these programs like Eraser, BCWipe, File Shredder etc that overwrite deletes files by X amount times from 1 to 35 overwrites to make it impossible to recover by any program or at least MUCH harder. My question is does this overwriting actually reduce to life of my HDD by overwriting?

[Godlygamer23]

No. You're always overwritng data whether you know it or not.

[Guest GRRigger]

states 0 and 1 are changing all the time when you write files, its just putting all 1s to 0. and you defenitly dont need more than 3 passes, well depends on the erasing method.

[SmirGel]

So I can safely use any secure erase program and overwrite 7 times much as I want to if I like ?

[Godlygamer23]

Yes. You can overwrite to platters infinitely. Nothing bad will happen to the platters.

[alpenwasser]

HDD life spans are not much affected by loads. There's a nice study (pdf) Google

did a few years back on the life span of HDDs and how it's affected by different

factors, it's quite an interesting read IMO.

I haven't read it in a while, but IIRC, old age is the primary killer.

EDIT: So, yes, what they've said, no need to worry.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Yep, no need to worry at all.

[SmirGel]

Does it matter which secure erase program you use to do it? Logically thinking all of the programs should do the same thing but I've read some are not apparently working but I haven't personally tested so..

[Guest GRRigger]

Does it matter which secure erase program you use to do it? Logically thinking all of the programs should do the same thing but I've read some are not apparently working but I haven't personally tested so..

ofcourse, there are different methods or algorithms. i dont know much about them, i used it only once, i made 5 wipes and i used the one inclosed in Linux i dont remember then name of method.

you can write ON states 

you can write OFF states

you can write random data 

you can write data that is specifically designed

you can write on recurring patterns

etc.

 

if you are worried use one method cuple times.

 

its worth noting, i used it on an old hard drive. new drives apparently dont need so many wipes. on most programs so there is still selection how many times you want drive to wipe. because there can be data on it after wipe, bad areas/ sectors etc...

 

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_erasure this should give you confidence

[SmirGel]

ofcourse, there are different methods or algorithms. i dont know much about them, i used it only once, i made 5 wipes and i used the one inclosed in Linux i dont remember then name of method.

you can write ON states 

you can write OFF states

you can write random data 

you can write data that is specifically designed

you can write on recurring patterns

etc.

 

if you are worried use one method cuple times.

 

its worth noting, i used it on an old hard drive. new drives apparently dont need so many wipes. on most programs so there is still selection how many times you want drive to wipe. because there can be data on it after wipe, bad areas/ sectors etc...

 

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_erasure this should give you confidence

 

I forgot to mention I'm talking about secure deleting a file not entire HDD if it matters..

 

 

 

In the time since this paper was published, some people have treated the 35-pass overwrite technique described in it more as a kind of voodoo incantation to banish evil spirits than the result of a technical analysis of drive encoding techniques. As a result, they advocate applying the voodoo to PRML and EPRML drives even though it will have no more effect than a simple scrubbing with random data. In fact performing the full 35-pass overwrite is pointless for any drive since it targets a blend of scenarios involving all types of (normally-used) encoding technology, which covers everything back to 30+-year-old MFM methods (if you don't understand that statement, re-read the paper). If you're using a drive which uses encoding technology X, you only need to perform the passes specific to X, and you never need to perform all 35 passes. For any modern PRML/EPRML drive, a few passes of random scrubbing is the best you can do. As the paper says, "A good scrubbing with random data will do about as well as can be expected". This was true in 1996, and is still true now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutmann_method

 

I suppose that means everything over 3 times is enough.

[Guest GRRigger]

I forgot to mention I'm talking about secure deleting a file not entire HDD if it matters..

 

 

I suppose that means everything over 3 times is enough.

I guess, it depend on algo. Even 1 time is probably enough. But just to be safe, on HDD and in your mind

 

If you're using a drive which uses encoding technology X, you only need to perform the passes specific to X, and you never need to perform all 35 passes.

[SmirGel]

I guess, it depend on algo. Even 1 time is probably enough. But just to be safe, on HDD and in your mind

 

If you're using a drive which uses encoding technology X, you only need to perform the passes specific to X, and you never need to perform all 35 passes.

 

What are the differences between Jetico BCWipe and Eraser ? for example does it matter that BcWipe claims it can:

 

 

• Wipe File Slack
• Wipe MFT Records and Directory Entries
• Wipe Directory Slack Space on NTFS Drives
• Wipe Temporary Data Stored in NTFS Log Filea

 

While Eraser can't do any of this while it overwrites the file. The only real difference is that Eraser is open source and BCwipe is paid and marketed that many military services are using and etc. So I don't know which one I really trust. I don't know how much those even matter in the end?