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by WJaekel on Mon Mar 02, 2020 10:10 pm
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I'm going to sell some of my CFast cards and want to permanently delete the images. I know that formatting doesn't prevent from restoring the files by using special programs. Are there any tools or procedures to do the task rather than overwriting 64 GB with useless shots ? Has anybody used CCleaner to shredder the data ?

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by Andrew_5488 on Tue Mar 03, 2020 10:12 am
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On mac choose security option when erasing frin Disk Utility, on PC you can try this:
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/perform-a-secure-disk-wipe-with-windows-10s-format-command/
 

by Scott Fairbairn on Tue Mar 03, 2020 12:35 pm
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I don't know if you use an Apple computer, but if you do, go to Applications>Utilities> "Disk Utility." From there I believe you can select the card and erase it and choose from several different levels of secure erase. I've not done it with cards before, but it works fine with USB drives and such so I would expect it to work.
 

by WJaekel on Tue Mar 03, 2020 1:37 pm
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Thank you for your comments so far. I'm using Windows but my old Macbook pro (2010) still has "Snowleopard" installed. I will have to check if there's the Disk Utility option If not, I will have to look for a alternative for Windows. Sorry for the lack of information regarding the OS.

Wolfgang
 

by E.J. Peiker on Thu Mar 05, 2020 6:12 am
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On a Windows computer, simply right click, select format and then uncheck the quick format box.
 

by WJaekel on Thu Mar 05, 2020 12:03 pm
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E.J. Peiker wrote:On a Windows computer, simply right click, select format and then uncheck the quick format box.
Thank you, E.J. Does this in fact prevent from the possibility to restore the images ? I was thinking you need a tool to shredder/wipe the media in multiple passages or overwrite it ?

Wolfgang
 

by DChan on Thu Mar 05, 2020 1:48 pm
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Perhaps the next question is:

Is there any way to recover data from a CF Fast Card or the like after its data had been supposedly erased with all or any of the methods recommended so far?


A quick goggle seems to suggest that to erase data as complete as possible, use a third party erasing software. May be you can try CCleaner with multiple passes. Then, fill the whole card with some garbage files and go through the whole process again.
 

by Scott Fairbairn on Thu Mar 05, 2020 5:32 pm
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DChan wrote:Perhaps the next question is:

Is there any way to recover data from a CF Fast Card or the like after its data had been supposedly erased with all or any of the methods recommended so far?


A quick goggle seems to suggest that to erase data as complete as possible, use a third party erasing software. May be you can try CCleaner with multiple passes. Then, fill the whole card with some garbage files and go through the whole process again.

The highest security erase on a Mac says, "This option meets the US Department of Defense(DOD) 5220-22 M standard for securely erasing magnetic media. It erases the information used to access your files and writes over the data 7 times."
No idea how that compares to CC Cleaner but it sounds "good."
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Mar 08, 2020 11:42 am
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WJaekel wrote:
E.J. Peiker wrote:On a Windows computer, simply right click, select format and then uncheck the quick format box.
Thank you, E.J. Does this in fact prevent from the possibility to restore the images ? I was thinking you need a tool to shredder/wipe the media in multiple passages or overwrite it ?

Wolfgang
On magnetic media you may still be able to recover it with highly sophisticated NSA type tools.  On semiconductor media it is very unlikely.  But if you want a more secure erase, just download the free ccleaner and there is a module that will do an NSA level erase but it takes hours.
 

by WJaekel on Sun Mar 08, 2020 1:30 pm
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E.J. Peiker wrote:
WJaekel wrote:
E.J. Peiker wrote:On a Windows computer, simply right click, select format and then uncheck the quick format box.
Thank you, E.J. Does this in fact prevent from the possibility to restore the images ? I was thinking you need a tool to shredder/wipe the media in multiple passages or overwrite it ?

Wolfgang
On magnetic media you may still be able to recover it with highly sophisticated NSA type tools.  On semiconductor media it is very unlikely.  But if you want a more secure erase, just download the free ccleaner and there is a module that will do an NSA level erase but it takes hours.
I have CCleaner and just tried its Drive wipe tool by yesterday. For the CFast card in question there's only the simple overwrite (1 pass) available. As soon as you chose one of the advanced  overwrite options (multi pass) the checkbox of that drive is deactivated. There's also a warning displayed that " secure wiping of that drive is NOT recommended because the drive is a SSD which can wear out prematurely when securely wiped". Even if you agree to continue the multi pass options are not possible here. So I just did the simple overwriting after having formatted the camera in the camera before and probably leave it like that now.

Just to give reasons for this topic by not appearing paranoid :wink: , - I had at lot of special images of emperor penguin colonies and pumas from my past trips on that card which is planned to be added to the sale of my 1 DX II.  So I want to make sure that they cannot be easily recovered and optionally abused by the buyer. That's hopefully unlikely, though, but just in case....

Wolfgang
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Mar 08, 2020 5:15 pm
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That;s because on semiconductor media, it would be almost impossible to recover the data with even a single pass wipe. You have nothing to worry about.
 

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