Secure delete

I'm using a MacBook Pro. Can anyone tell me what level of security is secure delete? (I mean securely emptying the trash.) I've asked at several Apple stores, and the answers I've got have ranged form one pass write-over to 35, but everyone I've talked to then says that he isn't really sure. Anybody know?
Thanks.

DdAa wrote:
Can anyone tell me what level of security is secure delete? (I mean securely emptying the trash.)
It's a 7 pass erase approved by the Department of Defense and the NSA for hard drives.
Since it's usually done for small files, it doesn't take a long time, however if you use Disk Utility > Erase Free Space and use the 7x pass, it can take quite a long time, days even.
The Erase Free Space > Zero is a one pass and designed to stop software like Data Rescue from reading the deleted bits that are due for a overwrite if more data comes along to be written.
If your selling the machine, you can Zero bit erase the entire partition or drive and reinstall OS X brand new with the video and everything.
How do I securely delete data from the machine?
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
Erase, formatting, OS X installs on Mac's

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Cannot secure delete items from trash: 180 items (pictures, files, folders) remain even if I check "remove all items"

I cannot secure delete items from trash: 180 items (pictures, files, folders) remain even if I check "remove all items". Macbook Pro, 10.6.8

Maybe the items are locked.
Mac OS X 10.6 Help: Shortcuts for working with items in the Finder
Shortcuts for working with items in the Finder Command (⌘)-Shift-DeleteEmpty the Trash without any warning or when it contains locked filesCommand (⌘)-Shift-Option-Delete
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/cdb_cpmvfky.html

Secure Delete gives me a "don't have permission to access some of the items

I am cleaning up my drives on a MBP and it came time to delete files from my trash.
Lots went but I ended up with several that blocks the delete process and I get a message "don’t have permission to access some of the items."
Well I did repair my permissions and tried the secure delete again and got the same message.
I do not have the option of doing just a plain delete.
Does anyone have a fix for me?
Thanks
Dunc

do not have the option of doing just a plain delete.
Of course you do (disable secure delete in finder prefs/advanced) - and when you do, a dialog will appear that allows you to enter an admin password. Delete all that fall into this category first...
Secure deletes take forever....why do that - if you're getting rid of the computer/hd, just format and zero it out then, instead.

Should files be securely deleted if using File Vault?

Do I need to "shred" or in someway securely delete files and mail that sit in File Vault? I am new to the MacOS and I am not sure where deleted files/mail go. If they don't leave the Home Folder it should be ok but if they somehow are relocated outside the Home Folder, I assume I would have a problem unless they are securely deleted.

Interesting question, sgmiller.
The default Trash location is a hidden directory in your Home folder, ~/.Trash, which would be in your File Vault, assuming the File Vault includes your entire Home directory and doesn't leave anything out.
When you delete a file, its directory entry is updated, rewriting the parent directory of the file to the ~/.Trash folder. Then when you empty the Trash, the directory entry of the file is simply removed and the file disappears from the file system. They don't really go anywhere, they just disappear. However, the bytes still remain on the disk until something else comes along and writes to those sectors, so Secure Delete can be used to overwrite the previously used areas of the disk with zeros.
I guess it depends on how careful you want to be. You may also be interested in using Secure Virtual Memory if you aren't already, under "System Preferences->Security".
Clear as mud, my apologies!

Filevault secure delete problem

Hi,
I installed Snow Leopard and updated my system and everything was running smoothly. It freed up over 17gigs on my hd!
Then I turned on Filevault with the option to secure delete the old home folder. While it was deleting the old home folder, ( after encryption) the progress bar got stuck at about 70% for about 2 hours.
I clicked "continue" so that it would delete the rest in the background while I used my mac.
Under security prefs it still said it was 73% after a long time so I thought something was wrong. I rebooted and it was about 76%.
I thought something was wrong so I disabled filevault and saw that there was about 15gb of space being used on my hd, ( presumably from the old unencrypted folder was wasn't deleted.)
Then I turned on filevault again in the hopes that it would work this time but it didn't. After it encrypted, it started to delete the home folder but after a while it said that "couldn't delete home folder" because a previous version of the home folder couldn't be deleted. But now there's another 15 gb of space being used on my hd, for a total almost 37 gb of space being used from the 2 instances where filevault was unable to delete the old home folders.
I guess I should've just let the filevault do its' thing the first time, but I really thought something was wrong.
My question is how can I get rid of the all that space that is being used ( the 37 gb). Can I use 'erase' from the disk utility, or will it not work? Should I do a complete reinstall of my computer???
I hope someone can help. Thanks

Hi, Dave.
re: A keyboard shortcut for Finder > Secure Empty Trash.
Such a keyboard shortcut is not defined by default. However, you can define your own keyboard shortcut for Secure Empty Trash within the application Finder using the instructions in "Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Creating keyboard shortcuts for applications."
If you think Apple should add one by default, I suggest you submit a Mac OS X Feedback.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

How long does it take to delete an account from a macbook? I used secure delete (at the recommendation of the apple genius) and it has already taken 2 weeks... and still not deleted! Granted there was over 200GB of data... any ideas on this? thanks

how long does it take to delete an account from a macbook (OSX 10.9.4)? I used secure delete (at the recommendation of the apple genius) and it has already taken 2 weeks... and still not deleted! Granted there was over 200GB of data... any ideas on this? thanks

how long does it take to delete an account from a macbook (OSX 10.9.4)? I used secure delete (at the recommendation of the apple genius) and it has already taken 2 weeks... and still not deleted! Granted there was over 200GB of data... any ideas on this? thanks

My macbook pro inform that i am running out of disk space. However, I am unable to secure delete those files that are in Trash. Many files in Trash are "locked". how do I secure delete these files in trash

I am unable to secure delete those files in the Trash. Many files are marked as "locked" Is this way I cannot secure delete these files?

Can you not just select them and remove the locked flag?

Mac Classic, System 7,0 (or 6.0.7), secure delete ...

A friend is retiring her venerable Mac Classic running System 6.0.7 (and MacWrite II) in favour of a grape iMac she's getting free from another friend (oh my, what a shock she'll have - from System 6 to OS 9 in one fell swoop!). Anyway ...
Moving the data over isn't a huge problem, I think she's opted for 1.44MB floppies and an external floppy drive for the iMac. It's the data left on the Classic that's worrying her.
I'm sending her my complete set of System 7 Install discs from my original Classic, which includes the Disk Tools disk, on which is the System Folder and HD SC Setup (version B1-7.0)
So, the question is (aah, finally, you're thinking!) ... Does the version of HD SC Setup as supplied on the System 7 discs for the Classic (they install System 7.0, although there is a "System 7 Tune-Up" disk too) and especially the Disk Tools disk have a secure delete option? Unfortunately the Classic in question is over 250 miles away so I can't get to it at the moment.
Will I need an third party utility to completely erase the data on the internal hard disk or will HD SC Setup do it?

Burn.sit is only 89 k-should work.
You can use a 7.5 DisTools Disk on the Classic. For DiskTools you may look at
Jan Hedlund
DiskTools Floppy 8.1
http://download.info.apple.com/AppleSupport_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/Mac_ OS_8.1Update/
Disk tools (look for jpl)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1358076&#1358076
wipe the HD(jpl),AppleIIFreak(network Access Disk)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=612995&#612995
You can download all you need at:
Drive Setup 1.7.3
http://download.info.apple.com/AppleSupport_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/D riveSetup/
HD SC Setup 7.3.5
http://download.info.apple.com/AppleSupport_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-NorthAmerican/Macintosh/Utilities/
Disk First Aid
http://download.info.apple.com/AppleSupport_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/D isk_FirstAid/
More about Drive Setup 1.7.3
Jan Hedlund
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=614031&#614031
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=613601&#613601
How hard could it be?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=613601&#613601
I need OS for Macintosh SE
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=613736&#613736
Mac Classic II Refuses To Start Properly
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=613843&#613843
HTH

A 'cleaner' app with SECURE delete option?

Hi all,
basically, I work for the entertainment industry and my systems are sometime loaded with very 'for your eyes only' materials, such as scripts and videos for movies still on working, etc.
As the leaking of those material may cause me serious trouble, I'm especially concerned with the 'secure deleting' of sensible files, particularly to avoid any risk in case of any of my computer being stole.
So as for cleaning/mantainance I normally use our beloved OnyX, or CacheOutX (for simple tasks) yet both lack the option of 'secure deleting' (shredding, overwriting, call it as you like) what they clean.
I went and searched for any app capable of performing such a 'secure clean' of OSX, but failed.
This is too be for me, especially for OSX itself allow to use secure VM and has Secure Trash ans Disc Free Space ereasing built right in! So basically what I'm forced to do is 'Erease Free Space' out of my HDs EACH TIME I perform a system cleaning. This is, in a word, boring. Or seriously annoying if you like.
So, any clue to help me out?

SInce there are thousands of system files scattered all over the place, and various utilities may not keep track (unless you can extract them from a log file somewhere), securely erasing the free space after using something like Onyx seems like the thing to do. There may be existing maintenance scripts out there - perhaps a script run from one of the periodic utilities that uses diskutil.

How do I "delete" files that I emptied from the trash but not securely deleted

just dont want to waste memory

They are gone. Securely deleting a file or files in no way affects memory. It doesn't affect disk storage space either. I merely makes it more difficult for someone to recover data from a hard drive.

Secure Delete Apps

Hey what happened to the secure delete apps like iErase and iShred that you used to be able to get to ensure your deleted files were really deleted? Apparently they are not available in the US store?

When I downloaded photos from a camera SD card using an adapter, I noticed two Albums were created in the Photo app.(Last Import & All Import). Like you stated, there is no option to delete excess photos without deleting all of them. So this is the lengthy steps I went through to delet the extra album (I hope someone comes up with a shorter process):
1) Connect iPad into your PC (Make sure you configured to Sync with iTunes)
2) Go to My Computer > right click and open Apple iPad > right click and open Internal Storage > right click and open DCIM. (This will show the photos from those to Albums only)
3) Right click on a empty space on the desktop
4) Click on New > Folder
5) Go back to the DCIM files and right click on each file(one at a time) then copy and paste each file over the New Folder.
6) Go back to the DCIM files and open each folder and right click and delete each photo.
You will notice that all the same photos are being deleted on the Photo app simultaneously.
7) Then drag the New Folder into you Pictures on the PC.
8)Then open iTunes on your PC and click on the Photo tab and click Sync on the bottom right to import those photos back to your iPad.
I hope my scenario can apply to you.

How to securely delete e-mails?

How can I securely delete an e-mail from iMAC and from Time Machine?

How is it possible to move a mail message directly from Mail to the Finder Trash, where there is the Secure Empty option? It is not possible to drag a message from Mail to the Finder Trash.
I would think this has to be done by first moving the message to the Mail Trash by deleting it, then navigating to the Mail folder in the user Library>Mailboxes>Deleted Messages.mbox and finding the specific e.mlx message there. Then move that to the Trash and use Secure Emtpy.
I don't use TM, but I know there are caveats for deleting using the Finder. This can be risky.

How to secure delete entire Calendar?

I want to delete my entire iCal entries on my G3 iBook as I need to loan it to someone for a few days. I've backed up and do not want to create a new user a/c etc. How can I securely delete everything in iCal? Thanks
iMac Core Duo 1GB Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi
With your iPod connected and Disk Use enabled, launch Disk Utility. Select the iPod's HD from the L/H side of the window and then select the Erase tab. Before erasing, click on the Security Options button. Zero Out Data is a secure method of removing all data from the HD. If you are particularly worried about security use 7-Pass or 35-Pass though these do take a lot longer to run.
Without wanting to sound like an idiot, I must point out that this will destroy all data on your iPod. Be absolutely sure before starting the Erase procedure =0)

Disable default "Secure delete"

Hi,
I encrypted my home directory with filevault and enabled "use secure deletion". Is there a way to reverse this setting? I can't find it in my System Preferences.
Kind regards,
Chris

Any add ons / third party apps?
It's a feature of MacKeeper.
http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/secure-delete-mac
Matt

DELETING EMAILS FROM 3G IPHONE USING SECURING SECURE DELETE FEATURE ON 0S 6

DELETING EMAILS FROM 3G IPHONE USING PERMANENT EMAIL SECURE
DELETE ON LEOPARD 6.6.6? THIS IS AN EXCELLENT OF GETTING RID OF UNWANTED TRASH. APPLE PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

Pop accounts are really designed to access mail on ONE device, and only ONE device at a time. Having said that, do the following:
* Tap Settings on the iPhone Home screen.
* Now tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
* Tap the desired account under Accounts.
* Select Advanced.
* Now tap Delete from server under Incoming Settings.
* Select:
o Seven days to have iPhone Mail remove mail from the server a week after it has been downloaded.
o When removed from Inbox to make iPhone Mail delete mail from the server only when you delete it from your iPhone Mail inbox.
o Never to deep copies of all messages on your POP server.
* Press the Home button, when finished.
Be aware, that an important email's only copy should probably not be on your phone. But, that's the nature of a pop account.

Secure delete

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