Re: totally wiping harddisk using Knoppix

Bill U writes:
I have heard arguments that just filling it with 0 is good enough. The
reason is that the disk manufacturers try to squeeze the max data storage
out of the disk, and if there were enough slop in a bit on the disk to
show that a zero was recorded before even if covered by a 1 say, then
that slop could be used to increase the storage density on the disk. Ie,
there is no redundancy on modern disks' physical media since if there
were it could be used to increase the storage density.

The manufacturer needs to read the bits reliably with a flying head at 5400
RPM. The NSA can take all day to scan it with an electron microscope and
can tolerate quite a few errors.

All zeros is probably good enough to stop the local cops or your opponent's
experts, though.
--
John Hasler
john@xxxxxxxxxx
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA
.

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