App to wipe files off HD

14 January 2006, 16:25

Hi,
I'm looking for an app to wipe files off a HD. Idealy something that would overwrite the file a few times with 1's and 0's.
Thanks,
Mr.Grinch

thomas · 14 January 2006, 18:57

This is quite a difficult task because you have to write a different algorithm for each existing file system. If you just open the file for update and write 1's and 0's to it, the new data written might end up in a complete different area of the HD than the original data. So your file will consist of 1's and 0's but the old data is still there in the old place.

The app you want has to know the file system structure, read the directory blocks, check which blocks are used by the file and then access the HD directly to overwrite these blocks. Of course the file system structure differs between different file systems.

It's easier to just format the entire HDD.

Bye,
Thomas

14 January 2006, 16:25	#1
Mr.Grinch Posts: n/a	App to wipe files off HD Hi, I'm looking for an app to wipe files off a HD. Idealy something that would overwrite the file a few times with 1's and 0's. Thanks, Mr.Grinch

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14 January 2006, 18:57	#2
thomas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 7,001	This is quite a difficult task because you have to write a different algorithm for each existing file system. If you just open the file for update and write 1's and 0's to it, the new data written might end up in a complete different area of the HD than the original data. So your file will consist of 1's and 0's but the old data is still there in the old place. The app you want has to know the file system structure, read the directory blocks, check which blocks are used by the file and then access the HD directly to overwrite these blocks. Of course the file system structure differs between different file systems. It's easier to just format the entire HDD. Bye, Thomas

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