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wegie
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« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2009, 05:00:46 AM » |
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Is it different for Macs?
I have an old Mac that we're thinking of donating, and I definitely want to get our personal info off there.
Nope, it's exactly the same. When you "delete" a file on a computer (and we're talking here of any modern computer running a modern operating system), you're actually doing no such thing. The data is not physically erased/rewritten. What happens is that the area where the data is stored is made available again for the system to use. Whether the actual data ever gets written over is pretty much a matter of chance. If the hard disk starts writing a new file exactly at the same point as the data started for your deleted file then you might be in luck and the thing will be gone forever, but the chances are that you won't be lucky like that. I can see two immediate problems. The first is that it doesn't do a DoD spec wipe on the stuff that it does wipe. The second, and rather more important, is that it only wipes things that you've actually deleted in the past, which means that anything you've forgotten to delete or don't even know existed (like all those lovely, informative partial saves of word documents that people always leave lying around in the OS directory ;-) will still be on the machine. Unless your department or IT folks have specified that the computers have to be handed back exactly as they were when they gave them to you, download a copy of DBAN or Killdisk and nuke the baby. |
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daniel_von_flanagan
<redacted>
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Works all day. Posts all night. Needs sleep.
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« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2009, 07:35:58 AM » |
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Is it different for Macs?
I have an old Mac that we're thinking of donating, and I definitely want to get our personal info off there.
Nope, it's exactly the same. Except there doesn't seem to be any noncommercial disk wiping software for Macs that has been certified to DoD standards. I think the best you can do is use Disk Utility in OSX, which might or might not be conformant DoD. - DvF |
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The U.S. Education Department is establishing a new national research center to study colleges' ability to successfully educate the country's growing numbers of academically underprepared administrators.
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galactic_hedgehog
Procrastinating, Python-quoting, Blue Blazer-drinking, chocolate-chip cookie-eating, Pastafarian, Not So
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Mind Ninja
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« Reply #17 on: May 14, 2009, 08:56:42 AM » |
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Is it different for Macs?
I have an old Mac that we're thinking of donating, and I definitely want to get our personal info off there.
Nope, it's exactly the same. Except there doesn't seem to be any noncommercial disk wiping software for Macs that has been certified to DoD standards. I think the best you can do is use Disk Utility in OSX, which might or might not be conformant DoD. - DvF It does. From Disk Utility Help: To securely erase a hard disk or volume:
1) In Disk Utility, select the disk or volume to erase, and then click Erase.
2) Specify a volume format, and enter a name for the disk.
3) Click Security Options and choose to write over the data once, 7 times, or 35 times. Click OK.
4) Click Erase.
Writing data over the data 7 times meets the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) 5220-22-M standard for securely erasing magnetic media. |
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"A pun is primâ facie an insult to the person you are talking with. It implies utter indifference to or sublime contempt for his remarks, no matter how serious." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Hedgie loves to read. |
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kamiakin
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« Reply #18 on: May 14, 2009, 09:28:50 AM » |
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Don't fail to do this Onion! Your soon to be ex-chair at Crazytown has already scheduled an "investigation" into your hard drive and expenses.
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malcha
Creepy Lit Critter, Undead Language Lover,
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Posts: 7,336
posting live from her FCFU
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« Reply #19 on: May 14, 2009, 09:50:59 AM » |
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Is it different for Macs?
I have an old Mac that we're thinking of donating, and I definitely want to get our personal info off there.
Can you do this without nuking the OS and the basic software? Nope, it's exactly the same. Except there doesn't seem to be any noncommercial disk wiping software for Macs that has been certified to DoD standards. I think the best you can do is use Disk Utility in OSX, which might or might not be conformant DoD. - DvF It does. From Disk Utility Help: To securely erase a hard disk or volume:
1) In Disk Utility, select the disk or volume to erase, and then click Erase.
2) Specify a volume format, and enter a name for the disk.
3) Click Security Options and choose to write over the data once, 7 times, or 35 times. Click OK.
4) Click Erase.
Writing data over the data 7 times meets the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) 5220-22-M standard for securely erasing magnetic media. |
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onion
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« Reply #20 on: May 14, 2009, 11:14:28 AM » |
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Is it different for Macs?
I have an old Mac that we're thinking of donating, and I definitely want to get our personal info off there.
Nope, it's exactly the same. When you "delete" a file on a computer (and we're talking here of any modern computer running a modern operating system), you're actually doing no such thing. The data is not physically erased/rewritten. What happens is that the area where the data is stored is made available again for the system to use. Whether the actual data ever gets written over is pretty much a matter of chance. If the hard disk starts writing a new file exactly at the same point as the data started for your deleted file then you might be in luck and the thing will be gone forever, but the chances are that you won't be lucky like that. I can see two immediate problems. The first is that it doesn't do a DoD spec wipe on the stuff that it does wipe. The second, and rather more important, is that it only wipes things that you've actually deleted in the past, which means that anything you've forgotten to delete or don't even know existed (like all those lovely, informative partial saves of word documents that people always leave lying around in the OS directory ;-) will still be on the machine. Unless your department or IT folks have specified that the computers have to be handed back exactly as they were when they gave them to you, download a copy of DBAN or Killdisk and nuke the baby. I talked to someone in IT this morning, and they said NOT to remove the operating system, just my files. Oy. |
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inthelab
Where beloved molecules abide
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 4,241
Who knew?
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« Reply #21 on: May 14, 2009, 11:16:37 AM » |
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Is it different for Macs?
I have an old Mac that we're thinking of donating, and I definitely want to get our personal info off there.
My post was for Macs, since that what I have. On eidt: Other forumites beat me to it and made other suggestions. |
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« Last Edit: May 14, 2009, 11:17:37 AM by inthelab »
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inthelab, I love you for that.
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neutralname
A person without qualities, except for being a
Member-Moderator
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« Reply #22 on: May 14, 2009, 11:19:54 AM » |
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Related to this, does anyone know any Firefox add-ons that securely delete temporary files on closing?
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"My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music." Vladimir Nabokov
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wegie
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« Reply #23 on: May 14, 2009, 11:59:29 AM » |
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Related to this, does anyone know any Firefox add-ons that securely delete temporary files on closing?
I think securebrowse is the current candidate for that. I've not tested it yet, though. I talked to someone in IT this morning, and they said NOT to remove the operating system, just my files.
Oy.
Pity ;-) In that case, download a copy of eraser and start shredding. It does browser caches as well. Things to remember: all those lovely .tmp files that word creates when saving files may still be hanging around. MS may say that they get deleted when word exits, but a quick look in the windows Temp directory says different. The windows Temp has definitely got to be shredded, as must all the contents of My Documents and any new folders that you created. |
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science_expat
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« Reply #24 on: May 14, 2009, 12:24:22 PM » |
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I talked to someone in IT this morning, and they said NOT to remove the operating system, just my files.
Oy.
And if you screw up and "accidentally" wipe everything - what exactly can they do to you? |
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Professor of Something Scarily Scientific Sounding
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onion
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« Reply #25 on: May 14, 2009, 12:32:19 PM » |
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I talked to someone in IT this morning, and they said NOT to remove the operating system, just my files.
Oy.
And if you screw up and "accidentally" wipe everything - what exactly can they do to you? It's a good question, but one I'm afraid to find out the answer to. |
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neutralname
A person without qualities, except for being a
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 5,429
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« Reply #26 on: May 14, 2009, 01:14:17 PM » |
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There's also the question of what they might suspect you of doing if you go to such extreme measures.
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"My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music." Vladimir Nabokov
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onion
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« Reply #27 on: May 14, 2009, 01:37:38 PM » |
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There's also the question of what they might suspect you of doing if you go to such extreme measures.
That's a good point. I'm trying to use Eraser, but I'm having trouble because I don't understand what I'm doing or how to deal with a "partitioned" drive. Maybe I'll just stop caring. |
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daniel_von_flanagan
<redacted>
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 8,977
Works all day. Posts all night. Needs sleep.
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« Reply #28 on: May 14, 2009, 01:47:14 PM » |
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I think this answer from IT is very odd. They should want you to remove as much as possible.
You could do a full wipe, then reinstall the OS. If you don't have access to a Windows installation disk, you could do a full wipe then install Linux. Or, just do a full wipe. If they ask, just say you were worried about FERPA and/or passwords. - DvF
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The U.S. Education Department is establishing a new national research center to study colleges' ability to successfully educate the country's growing numbers of academically underprepared administrators.
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onion
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« Reply #29 on: May 14, 2009, 01:52:57 PM » |
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I think this answer from IT is very odd. They should want you to remove as much as possible.
You could do a full wipe, then reinstall the OS. If you don't have access to a Windows installation disk, you could do a full wipe then install Linux. Or, just do a full wipe. If they ask, just say you were worried about FERPA and/or passwords. - DvF
They said that they would do the wiping and re-installing and that they didn't want "professors" messing up "their" (meaning IT's) computers. I'm trying to decide how much I need to stress out about this. I'm worried Kamiakin is right... |
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