Bulk erased drives
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From: Robert Baer on 25 Jun 2010 04:18 D Yuniskis wrote: > Hi, > > A 501(3)c that I am affiliated with received a donation > of several hundred ~80G SATA/PATA drives the other day. > They have allegedly (?) been bulk erased. I was asked, > today, if there is any way to make the drives serviceable, > again. > > I have not seen the drives or had a chance to play with > any of them. As "proof" that they were bulk erased, I > am told each drive bears a label: > ERASED > Magnetic data is completely erased. > Erased product can't be reused or repaired. > > When *I* take a drive out of service, I "bulk erase" them > (after "electronically" overwriting the existing data) and > then subject them to the 500G drop test :> But, I'll admit > I have never *tried* to recover data from a drive thusly > (ahem) "treated". > > My initial response to them was "recycle them, they're trash". > Was I too hasty? > > I would imagine all the servo information, low level > formatting, bad sector table, etc. are gone or corrupted > so putting these back into service would require "special > factory tools"... All programs i have seen "erase" the data by writing random data; what you call low leveel formatting is not changed, and there is no software available to do a TRUE low-level format; the ads _say_ that "low leel" formatting is done, but that is not the case. True low-level formatting is done at the factory with rather special software that builds a defect table and (in effect) a "these sectors are good" address table that makes it _LOOK_ like all resulting sectors are contiguous. Such software also adds in servo tracks and other servo info that you CANNOT read. So, IF any "diskwipe" program was used, the HD looks like a new drive, except that bad sectors will still be "available" (uses Spinrite to fix those). If one of those BIG electromagnets (like those used to lift cars and large scrap iron piles) was used, then you are SOL. Try a drive out; nothing to lose.
From: Robert Baer on 25 Jun 2010 04:22 AZ Nomad wrote: > On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:19:02 -0700, D Yuniskis <not.going.to.be(a)seen.com> wrote: >> Hi, > >> A 501(3)c that I am affiliated with received a donation >> of several hundred ~80G SATA/PATA drives the other day. >> They have allegedly (?) been bulk erased. I was asked, >> today, if there is any way to make the drives serviceable, >> again. > >> I have not seen the drives or had a chance to play with >> any of them. As "proof" that they were bulk erased, I >> am told each drive bears a label: >> ERASED >> Magnetic data is completely erased. >> Erased product can't be reused or repaired. > >> When *I* take a drive out of service, I "bulk erase" them >> (after "electronically" overwriting the existing data) and >> then subject them to the 500G drop test :> But, I'll admit >> I have never *tried* to recover data from a drive thusly >> (ahem) "treated". > >> My initial response to them was "recycle them, they're trash". >> Was I too hasty? > >> I would imagine all the servo information, low level >> formatting, bad sector table, etc. are gone or corrupted >> so putting these back into service would require "special >> factory tools"... > > An external magnetic field will physically damage the drive before it > starts to erase the data. The gap between platter and case is enough > to make external bulk eraseing nearly impossible. They probably just > ran software to erase the drives. > > Have you actually tried powering on a few and trying restore the > partition table? Diskwipe software over-writes ALL data, so there would be NO partition table in any sense of the term.
From: Nobody on 25 Jun 2010 05:17 On Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:29:40 +1000, Grant wrote: >> There is a software command for newer drives to erase all data. > > Yes, but it takes too long to execute for commercial reality? How many drives do you wipe per day? It's not like you have to stand there and watch it while it's erasing itself. Physical destruction has the advantage that it's easy to verify, even by someone who doesn't understand the technology. If you have a molten blob or a pile of dust, it's immediately clear that no-one is going to recover data from it. For overwriting, it has to be taken on trust that you're not missing anything. FWIW, the ATA Secure Erase feature is considered by NIST as preferable to software-based purging utilities (e.g. those targetting DoD 5220), as it's guaranteed to overwrite remapped sectors, "hidden" areas, etc which may be invisible to software tools. Useful links: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-88/NISTSP800-88_rev1.pdf http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/DataSanitizationTutorial.pdf http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/
From: Greegor on 25 Jun 2010 06:16 Robert Baer, what was the most recent version of Spinrite before Gibson sold it to Microsoft? I used to use Spinrite a LOT (system integrator) back on the old MFM and RLL hard disks. Spinrite ceased to work it's magic and could not even be safely run on IDE drives when they came onto the scene. Did Gibson make a version later on that DID work well on IDE (ATA) drives?
From: Michael A. Terrell on 25 Jun 2010 16:57
Grant wrote: > > On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:40:18 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > >D Yuniskis wrote: > >> > >> Hi, > >> > >> A 501(3)c that I am affiliated with received a donation > >> of several hundred ~80G SATA/PATA drives the other day. > >> They have allegedly (?) been bulk erased. I was asked, > >> today, if there is any way to make the drives serviceable, > >> again. > >> > >> I have not seen the drives or had a chance to play with > >> any of them. As "proof" that they were bulk erased, I > >> am told each drive bears a label: > >> ERASED > >> Magnetic data is completely erased. > >> Erased product can't be reused or repaired. > >> > >> When *I* take a drive out of service, I "bulk erase" them > >> (after "electronically" overwriting the existing data) and > >> then subject them to the 500G drop test :> But, I'll admit > >> I have never *tried* to recover data from a drive thusly > >> (ahem) "treated". > >> > >> My initial response to them was "recycle them, they're trash". > >> Was I too hasty? > >> > >> I would imagine all the servo information, low level > >> formatting, bad sector table, etc. are gone or corrupted > >> so putting these back into service would require "special > >> factory tools"... > > > > > > There is a software command for newer drives to erase all data. > > Yes, but it takes too long to execute for commercial reality? Have you ever tried it? -- Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge. |