Question #506   Submitted by Answiki on 05/27/2021 at 08:00:50 AM UTC

On Linux, how to securely erase a hard drive?

Answer   Submitted by Answiki on 05/27/2021 at 08:01:19 AM UTC

On Linux the best way to definitively erase data on a hard drive is to use the command-line utility shred. It will overwrite all the blocks on the device with random data three times:

sudo shred /dev/sdxx

Here are some useful options:

  • -v verbose;
  • -n N overwrite N times instead of the default (3);
  • -z set all bits to zero after the last iteration.
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8 events in history
Question by Answiki 05/27/2021 at 08:02:30 AM
On Linux, do I securely wipe my hard drive?
Question by Answiki 05/27/2021 at 08:02:24 AM
On Linux, do I wipe my hard drive?
Question by Answiki 05/27/2021 at 08:02:11 AM
On Linux, how to wipe your hard drive?
Answer by Answiki on 05/27/2021 at 08:01:19 AM

On Linux the best way to definitively erase data on a hard drive is to use the command-line utility shred. It will overwrite all the blocks on the device with random data three times:

sudo shred /dev/sdxx

Here are some useful options:

  • -v verbose;
  • -n N overwrite N times instead of the default (3);
  • -z set all bits to zero after the last iteration.
Question by Answiki 05/27/2021 at 08:00:59 AM
On Linux, how to securely erase data on a hard drive?
Question by Answiki 05/27/2021 at 08:00:50 AM
On Linux, how to securely erase a hard drive?
Answer by Answiki on 05/27/2021 at 08:00:34 AM

On Linux the best way to definitively erase data on a hard drive is to use the command-line utility shred. It will overwrite all the blocks on the device with random data three times:

sudo shred /dev/sdxx

Here are some useful options:

  • -v verbose;
  • -n N overwrite N times instead of the default (3);
  • -z set all bits to zero after the last iteration.
Question by Answiki 05/27/2021 at 07:55:25 AM
On Linux, how can I securely erase a hard drive?
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