{"id":357,"date":"2014-01-23T22:23:41","date_gmt":"2014-01-24T04:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/?p=357"},"modified":"2014-02-13T12:54:26","modified_gmt":"2014-02-13T18:54:26","slug":"free-secure-disk-wipe-built-in-to-windo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/free-secure-disk-wipe-built-in-to-windo\/","title":{"rendered":"Free, Secure Disk Wipe Built In to Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Windows XP and above includes a free, secure disk wipe capability.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Background<\/h3>\n

When files are deleted, the directory entry is removed, leaving the data in-tact. \u00a0Commercial and open source software is available to recover deleted files, by finding the disk cluster chain, and restoring the original directory entry.<\/p>\n

“Secure delete” means overwriting the cluster chains for a given file. \u00a0Likewise, a “secure wipe” overwrites all unused clusters on the drive.
\n<\/p>\n

Solution<\/h3>\n

Windows XP and above has the “cipher” command, that includes a built-in disk wipe feature. \u00a0Cipher ONLY deletes unused clusters, meaning that the file must be deleted, followed by a cipher “disk wipe” to ensure that the data can’t be recovered.<\/p>\n

Likewise, a quick format followed by a cipher disk wipe effectively securely wipes the entire drive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Procedure: \u00a0Securely Erase Deleted Files<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Delete the files \/ folders in question. \u00a0Use SHIFT+DEL instead of DEL to do a permanent delete, bypassing the recycle bin.<\/li>\n
  2. Empty the recycle bin (just to be sure)<\/li>\n
  3. Run the following commands at an Admin Command Prompt (Right-click “Command Prompt”, select “Run As Administrator”):
    \ncd \/d d:\\
    \n(where d: is the drive to wipe)
    \ncipher \/w:.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Procedure: \u00a0Securely Erase an \u00a0Entire Drive<\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. Format the partition using quick format\n
        \n
      1. Right-click the drive in “My Computer”, select “Format”<\/li>\n
      2. In “Format Options”, select “Quick Format”<\/li>\n
      3. OK<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
      4. Run the following commands at an Admin Command Prompt (Right-click “Command Prompt”, select “Run As Administrator”)
        \ncd \/d d:\\
        \n(where d: is the drive to wipe)
        \ncipher \/w:.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Summary<\/h3>\n

        The command:<\/p>\n

        cipher \/w:somepath<\/p>\n

        …will write “0x00” to every free byte<\/strong><\/span> on the drive, followed by “0xFF” (all 1’s), followed by random bytes.<\/p>\n

        \"cipher<\/a><\/p>\n

        By deleting files, then running a secure wipe, you ensure that deleted files (such as history, temporary internet files) can’t be recovered.<\/p>\n

        Cipher only overwrites free space, so there are no sharp edges – you can’t accidentally delete files that way.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Windows XP and above includes a free, secure disk wipe capability.   Background When files are deleted, the directory entry is removed, leaving the data in-tact. \u00a0Commercial and open source software is available to recover deleted files, by finding the disk cluster chain, and restoring the original directory entry. “Secure delete” means overwriting the cluster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech-support"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":628,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions\/628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}