Disk utility's erase options

[diegobgr]

Hi!

I am wondering about the difference between the Disk Utility's secure erase options:

-Don't Erase Data
-Zero Out Data

It is any difference thinking about disk performance?

I am to make a full clean Lion install from bootable USB. Which one should I choose?

 

[DockMac]

Zero or Not

If you are interested in high security, zero out data. it just takes a little longer. (BTW, more passes, the longer it will take.) This will truly "erase" your data.

If not, just "erasing" it is just fine. IIRC, it will be significantly faster than zero out all data on the drive. Just "erasing" the drive doesn't real erase anything at all. It just removes all the pointers to the file location, so it can be overwritten by files later on.

I don't think either one will have a performance advantage.

 

[robgendreau]

If you intend to keep this drive and use it with Lion, anything but a plain-old erase is rather a waste of time since unless there's something you haven't told us.

Rob

 

[Quad5Ny]

Also if you have a SSD anything other than "Don't Erase Data" can put a lot of wear on your drive.