How to absolutely and securely wipe drive.

just transitioned to a new Mac and am in need of absolutely wiping the data off the old iMac hard drive. My plan was to first delete the files, then use disk utility and a seven wipe free space erase, then delete the user, format the drive, and reinstall the OS. I need to be compulsive about this because there is sensitive data (patient medical information) on the drive but I have to be sure is destroyed. If you don't think that this process is adequate I'd appreciate your opinion on one that is or even if I have to destroy the computer physically. If this is the case I need to know how to get into the iMac to remove the hard drive for physical destruction. Thank you for your consideration.

I don't know the model iMac that you have but there are several YouTube videos, e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1dUkqCvJgM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShY8zuT-wPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uFVbAwo1RU
It is a doable project.
But not a lot of people do it, hence the suggestions give above to erase your HD.
Aside:
Note (1) Not properly erasing a HD before transferring the computer
or (2) not removing a HD before transferring the computer leaves some owners with another 'alternative':
(3) trying to destroy the computer and thus adding to the ever increasing pile of electronic waste / metals.

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How to do a security wipe if phone is stuck on start-up screen and your micro-usb port is also broken?

Good day
A week or so ago, my phone just out of the blue decided that it would not initiate fully anymore. It was laying on charge and when i took it off after an hour or so, it just stuck on the service provider's screen before saying "loading personal settings". I was informed that my os needed to be reinstalled, the problem is, my usb port ion my phone is also broken. I took the phone in to a repair guy, but he wants to ask me an idiotic price to fix it and says he is able to do so without using my usb port? Is there any way you can wipe your Blackberry 8520 and reinstall an O.S if your usb port on the phone is broken? Please, this is a matter of life and death as there are a hell of a load of contacts, documents and emails i would like to save, but if not able to, I can handle that too, just need the phone to work, it's of the highest importance!
Thank you so much in advance.
Juan

I take it that you do not have a recent back up of your phone's data?
Try starting your 8520 in Safe Mode.
Article ID: KB17877 How to start a BlackBerry smartphone in Safe Mode http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/KB17877
If you can do that, you can get to the Security wipe function, but without a good USB port, I am not sure how you're going to load the OS. But try Safe Mode first.
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Power Macintosh 7200 to Mac Mini back up and secure wipe question

Hi all, nearly figured this on my own but hope that someone here can fill in the gaps.
I have a clunky old 7200/75/16 (no upgrade card, bog standard machine) I want to sell/give/dump.
Before that, I need to back up the 500 MB HDD (hard to believe that was big once, now looking at a 500 GB HDD for the new machine!) and then secure wipe it.
I've learned that I can get halfway there with a crossover cable and Apple Talk. So far, so good.
Now, how about the secure wipe? I've had a look but I've not had any success in finding a how-to.
I have a feeling I can't use Disk Utility in Leopard for this, but maybe I am wrong.
Advice is sought from anyone here that can share their expertise on the best way to go.
A cheap/free solution (that doesn't destroy the machine) would be welcomed!
If relevant: I don't have the installer floppies for the 7200. I unwisely bought the machine without them but vaguely recall from an earlier Macintosh that Disk First Aid had some kind of format facility though I doubt it was far from secure by today's standards. I figure I can find a set of installer disks on eBay to get the 7200 operational again once I've completed this chore...

I've learned that I can get halfway there with a crossover cable and Apple Talk.
File sharing via AppleTalk cannot be used with the most modern operating systems. You should be able to use TCP/IP. A third-party program may be of interest. Also, see this article for some general information.
Now, how about the secure wipe?
One could use Drive Setup (a 1.7.3 version is available for download) for this. Under the Functions menu you will find Initialization Options, where "Zero all data" can be chosen. However, the program has to run from another disk (such as a bootable floppy). It is possible to create and modify a startup floppy on the 7200.
A third-party application such as Wipe Info (part of Norton Utilities, commercial) or Burn 2.5 (freeware) could be used, too.
If relevant: I don't have the installer floppies for the 7200.
The Disk Tools PPC (here) is one thinkable startup floppy for the Power Macintosh computer in question. If necessary, a complete System 7.5.3 (e.g., the International English version here) can be downloaded from Apple.
Jan

4 hours and Security Wipe still continuing in Q5

I set my phone on security wipe and its been 4 hours and its still not finished. I removed the media card...
Need urgent help. Hard reboot is alos not working
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hello noorenayat
Relax, let the wipe process finish and connect it to the wall charger. There's wipe with more than 12 hours. It depends on data size.
Also your phone number listed in your profile. It's not recommended as this is open forums and spammer may send junk messages to your phone. Edit it from My Setting at top left of this page and change to your carrier name.
Good luck.
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• If your issue solved, mark the best post in your thread as Solution

Blackberry Protect and Security Wipe

Hi! If you would like to turn off your BlackBerry Anti-theft on your device you can simply go to your Settings → BlackBerry AntiTheft and simply disable it from there. But if your device is running 10.3.2 OS then you will be asked to enter your BlackBerry ID credentials. Just enter your BlackBerry ID username and password and it will be disabled. Then to perform security wipe, I suggest back up your device first before doing so. Then when you have everything backed up go to Settings → Security and Privacy → Security Wipe It may take some time to wipe your device and expect that it needs more than 30% battery level to continue. So keep your battery charged and wait for the wipe to be completed. You may also see that your device will turn off and on a few times while performing security wipe. NOTE:To find what OS you're currently running, go to Settings → About → Tap Category → Select OS on the drop down list and check current OS. 10.3.2 OS update is very tight in security specially when your BlackBerry Anti-theft is turned on. When you perform a Security wipe, you will need to verify your BlackBerry ID credentials. Then you must enter your BlackBerry ID credentials again after security wipe. If you fail to enter your BlackBerry ID, then your device is forever locked out. This is the reason why I always advise to have t he Anti-theft turned off first. Good luck!

Hello,
If you are on 10.3.1 or earlier, there is no requirement to turn off Protect before a WIPE...the WIPE will remove the association between your BB device and all BB proprietary services, including Protect.
However, if you are on 10.3.2, then indeed you need to first turn off Protect before you initiate the WIPE. Refer:Article ID: KB36737 BlackBerry Protect Anti-theft ProtectionGood luck!

How to create and hide a drive using java?

I want to ask how to create a temporary drive/ or a drive by allocating some space of existing drives(eg allocating some space of C: Drive such as 5mb for storing files on the new drive that has been created) and then i want to hide that drive .So Please can anyone Explain me how to do that.

Iam saying to all of you iam not blaming to anyone even java. And my harddisk is not currepted or damage by using that. My harddisk is working properly. But i don't know why all of you think that i am blamming to someone but iam asking some question which need to be answered.
I am clearing all of you i am a student and iam creating an project in java for that i need this. I also want to add File/Folder lock on that project. This technique i have seen in folder lock 6 software that they use hidden drive to store files. Thats why iam asking that how to apply this technique using java.
And plz plz read this carefully and answer me to solve my problem.

How to stripe and mirror 4 drives on my Mac

I have a Mac Pro. 4 internal 2TB SATA drives. I've already striped two drives as one array. I then used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my boot drive to the striped array. It boots up and works fine (with a BIG increase in disk speed). I've striped the other 2 drives as one array. Disk Utility doesn't seem to allow me to Mirror the first array to the second array (RAID 0 + 1).
Am I missing something here? Or do I need to buy a 3rd party app (like SoftRAID 4)?
thanks

Well this article http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24359 seems to explain how to us disk utility to make a raid that's a mirror set of two striped drive or stripe two sets of mirrored drives. I've always used raid utility to make my hardware raids.
While the article doesn't specify call out if creating a raid will destroy all data on your current raid; it seems implied; so I would suggest backing up the raid to an external drive before trying to create your 0 + 1 raid.
let me know how it turns out.
-TT

How to creating a secure flash drive

I would like to encrypt a flash drive; or preferably a folder within the flash drive. Please advise about the proceedure.
Thank you.

Setting up an encrypted disk image is a no brainer. I don't know how much these hardened flash drives cost. It may be they are no more expensive than the usual suspects, but I would imagine they cost more and being restricted to these will limit choice.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1578

How to copy and entire external drive

I currently have a 250g WD external hd that i have been using since leopard came out as my time machine backup. I recently purchase a 1TB Wd harddrive and would like to copy my old backups onto the new one.What is the easiest way for this to be done?

Thanks, pvonk. After attempting to simply copy the TM file to an alternate drive, I came here to find the solution you provided. Worked like a charm using SuperDuper.
Cheers!

Blackberry Z10,post security wipe...BBM Not working..Showcasing error Unable to complete Set Up and Temporary Server Error"

I would request you to please help fixing the BBM error - Unable to complete Set Up and Temporary Server Error”.
I am using a BB Z10 with Software version 10.1.0.4181 and OS version 10.1.0.4633
Already tried resetting device to Factory Settings and Security Wipe...
Please help.

Hey KaranPrabhakar,
Welcome to the BlackBerry Support Community Forums.
Thanks for the question.
Follow the steps in this KB article to resolve the issue: www.blackberry.com/btsc/KB33780
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Cheers.
-ViciousFerret
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How Do You Securely Wipe All Info Off Internal Hard Drive?

A friend has to ship her new iMac back to Apple for a replacement -- long story.
But before she ships it off she wants to wipe the internal hard drive of all her personal info -- mail, photos, music, documents, ...
What's the best way to securely wipe that internal drive?

you can do it using the erase tab in disk utility. there is an option to erase securely. it writes zeros over everything on the drive. do just one zero erase pass. disk utility lets you choose multiple erase passes but that's a vast overkill.
to do it to an internal drive boot from the snow leopard dvd and use disk utility there to erase the drive. when done restart and hold option at the chime. this will boot you into startup disk manager. eject the isntall dvd there and shut down.

How can I move (copy) my Time Capsule date to a new 2T hard drive and then wipe the TC and start as a new (clean) Time MACHINE backup?

How can I move (copy) my Time Capsule date to a new 2T hard drive and then wipe the TC and start as a new (clean) Time MACHINE backup?

Just use the archive utility on the disk page of the airport utility manual setup..
If you have lion and v6 airport utility.. it missed out. On lots of things.
Download and install the real.. UTILITY
5.6 http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482

I have 4 devices on an iTunes whose computer hard drive is dead. How do I get my devices on a new iTunes on a different computer and not wipe out my contents?

I have 4 devices (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4s, iPad2, Mini iPad) on an iTunes whose computer hard drive is dead. How do I get my devices on a new iTunes on a different computer and not wipe out my contents?

This should be of great help to you.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991
Or this one.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141

How to move huge HD video files between external hard drives and defrag ext drive?

I have huge high definition video files on a 2TB external hard drive (and its clone). The external hard drive is maxed out. I would like to move many of the video files to a new 3TB external hard drive (G-drive, and a clone) and leave a sub-group of video files (1+ TB) on the original external hard drive (and its clone).
I am copying files from original external drive ("ext drive A") to new external drive ("ext drive B") via Carbon Copy Cloner (selecting iMovie event by event that I want to transfer). Just a note: I do not know how to partition or make bootable drives, I see suggestions with these steps in them.
My questions:
1.) I assume this transfer of files will create extreme fragmentation on drive A. Should I reformat/re-initialize ext drive A after moving the files I want? If so, how best to do this? Do I use "Erase" within Disk Utilities? Do I need to do anything else before transfering files back onto ext drive A from its clone?
2.) Do I also need to defrag if I reformat ext drive A? Do I defrag instead of or in addition to reformating? If so, how to do this? I've read on these forums so many warnings and heard too many stories of this going awry. Which 3rd party software to use?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions, tips, advice. This whole process makes me SO nervous.

Here is a very good writeup on de-fragging in the OS environment that I borrowed
From Klaus1:
Defragmentation in OS X:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1375 which states:
You probably won't need to optimize at all if you use Mac OS X. Here's why:
Hard disk capacity is generally much greater now than a few years ago. With more free space available, the file system doesn't need to fill up every "nook and cranny." Mac OS Extended formatting (HFS Plus) avoids reusing space from deleted files as much as possible, to avoid prematurely filling small areas of recently-freed space.
Mac OS X 10.2 and later includes delayed allocation for Mac OS X Extended-formatted volumes. This allows a number of small allocations to be combined into a single large allocation in one area of the disk.
Fragmentation was often caused by continually appending data to existing files, especially with resource forks. With faster hard drives and better caching, as well as the new application packaging format, many applications simply rewrite the entire file each time. Mac OS X 10.3 onwards can also automatically defragment such slow-growing files. This process is sometimes known as "Hot-File-Adaptive-Clustering."
Aggressive read-ahead and write-behind caching means that minor fragmentation has less effect on perceived system performance.
Whilst 'defragging' OS X is rarely necessary, Rod Hagen has produced this excellent analysis of the situation which is worth reading:
Most users, as long as they leave plenty of free space available , and don't work regularly in situations where very large files are written and rewritten, are unlikely to notice the effects of fragmentation on either their files or on the drives free space much.
As the drive fills the situations becomes progressively more significant, however.
Some people will tell you that "OSX defrags your files anyway". This is only partly true. It defrags files that are less than 20 MB in size. It doesn't defrag larger files and it doesn't defrag the free space on the drive. In fact the method it uses to defrag the smaller files actually increases the extent of free space fragmentation. Eventually, in fact, once the largest free space fragments are down to less than 20 MB (not uncommon on a drive that has , say only 10% free space left) it begins to give up trying to defrag altogether. Despite this, the system copes very well without defragging as long as you have plenty of room.
Again, this doesn't matter much when the drive is half empty or better, but it does when it gets fullish, and it does especially when it gets fullish if you are regularly dealing with large files , like video or serious audio stuff.
If you look through this discussion board you will see quite a few complaints from people who find that their drive gets "slow". Often you will see that say that "still have 10 or 20 gigs free" or the like. On modern large drives by this stage they are usually in fact down to the point where the internal defragmentation routines can no longer operate , where their drives are working like navvies to keep up with finding space for any larger files, together with room for "scratch files", virtual memory, directories etc etc etc. Such users are operating in a zone where they put a lot more stress on their drives as a result, often start complaining of increased "heat", etc etc. Most obviously, though, the computer slows down to a speed not much better than that of molasses. Eventually the directories and other related files may collapse altogether and they find themselves with a next to unrecoverable disk problems.
By this time, of course, defragging itself has already become just about impossible. The amount of work required to shift the data into contiguous blocks is immense, puts additional stress on the drive, takes forever, etc etc. The extent of fragmentation of free space at this stage can be simply staggering, and any large files you subsequently write are likely to be divided into many , many tens of thousands of fragments scattered across the drive. Not only this, but things like the "extents files", which record where all the bits are located, will begin to grow astronomically as a result, putting even more pressure on your already stressed drive, and increasing the risk of major failures.
Ultimately this adds up to a situation where you can identify maybe three "phases" of mac life when it comes to the need for defragmentation.
In the "first phase" (with your drive less than half full), it doesn't matter much at all - probably not enough to even make it worth doing.
In the "second phase" (between , say 50% free space and 20% free space remaining) it becomes progressively more useful, but , depending on the use you put your computer to you won't see much difference at the higher levels of free space unless you are serious video buff who needs to keep their drives operating as efficiently and fast as possible - chances are they will be using fast external drives over FW800 or eSata to compliment their internal HD anyway.
At the lower end though (when boot drives get down around the 20% mark on , say, a 250 or 500 Gig drive) I certainly begin to see an impact on performance and stability when working with large image files, mapping software, and the like, especially those which rely on the use of their own "scratch" files, and especially in situations where I am using multiple applications simultaneously, if I haven't defragmented the drive for a while. For me, defragmenting (I use iDefrag too - it is the only third party app I trust for this after seeing people with problems using TechToolPro and Drive Genius for such things) gives a substantial performance boost in this sort of situation and improves operational stability. I usually try to get in first these days and defrag more regularly (about once a month) when the drive is down to 30% free space or lower.
Between 20% and 10% free space is a bit of a "doubtful region". Most people will still be able to defrag successfully in this sort of area, though the time taken and the risks associated increase as the free space declines. My own advice to people in this sort of area is that they start choosing their new , bigger HD, because they obviously are going to need one very soon, and try to "clear the decks" so that they maintain that 20% free buffer until they do. Defragging regularly (perhaps even once a fortnight) will actually benefit them substantially during this "phase", but maybe doing so will lull them into a false sense of security and keep them from seriously recognising that they need to be moving to a bigger HD!
Once they are down to that last ten per cent of free space, though, they are treading on glass. Free space fragmentation at least will already be a serious issue on their computers but if they try to defrag with a utility without first making substantially more space available then they may find it runs into problems or is so slow that they give up half way through and do the damage themselves, especially if they are using one of the less "forgiving" utilities!
In this case I think the best way to proceed is to clone the internal drive to a larger external with SuperDuper, replace the internal drive with a larger one and then clone back to it. No-one down to the last ten percent of their drive really has enough room to move. Defragging it will certainly speed it up, and may even save them from major problems briefly, but we all know that before too long they are going to be in the same situation again. Better to deal with the matter properly and replace the drive with something more akin to their real needs once this point is reached. Heck, big HDs are as cheap as chips these days! It is mad to struggle on with sluggish performance, instability, and the possible risk of losing the lot, in such a situation.

How can I erase the hard drive securely?

I want to sell my old iMac G3 with OS 9.2. First I'd like to erase the hard drive securely, so that no information can be recovered later. OS X allows you to do this easily with the Erase tab in Disk Utility. Can anyone advise how this can be done in OS 9.2?

Hi, iHope -
To do a reasonably secure wipe of the hard drive, use OS 9's Drive Setup utility while booted to an OS 9 Install CD - it's in the Utilities folder on such a disk. Select the Zero all Data item in the Initialization Options item in the Functions menu of Drive Setup.
This article provides excellent step-by-step instructions - Using Drive Setup

How to absolutely and securely wipe drive.

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