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Disk Utility secure erase "7 pass secure erase"
- Thread starter Appletise
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For a HDD, that estimated time is perfectly normal.
It has to write 3500GB of data to your HDD to empty it.
The best realistic rate is that it'd take one day to write 3500GB of data to it in a 7-pass erase, assuming that it operates at an average of 100MB/s.
500x7=3500GB
3500GB=3584000MB
Time taken: 35840 seconds / 597 minutes / 24.8 hours.
If you have a 500GB SATA3 SSD instead, assuming that it operates at 500MB/s
Time taken: 7168 seconds / 119.5 minutes / 2 hours.
Good question. One would assume it completes a pass then starts the next one but I don't know and haven't seen the process explained in enough detail. If it does, then the answer should be "yes". But if it does 7 passes a sector (or some other division) at a time then the answer would be "no".
The answer is "Yes" either way - but for different values of "more erased". Under scenario 1, the entire disk is "more erased". Under scenario 2, the entire disk is "as erased" and the portion completed up to cancellation is "more erased".
its been running for over a day, but it goes into shut down or log off? and l have to select "don't quit" in disk utility window because its just been sitting there with no key pressed, so should l go to system preferences, energy saver and select "never" "computer sleep" ?
if l quit the erase now, would it still be more erased than a quick erase, which takes seconds?
if l quit the erase now, would it still be more erased than a quick erase, which takes seconds?
I was thinking of a chalkboard analogy for scenario 2...like if you go over 1/10 of the chalkboard 7 times, then move to the next 1/10 and so on. If you stop the process halfway, you can still see half the chalkboard.
thanks for info, l will wait the extra day, it is now at pass 4 of 7 but as my last post states, the process stops since the computer is not used and after a certain time it has 1 of 2 windows that says: "Operations still in progress Disk utility still has some operaitons in progress." and 2 buttons in that window "Quit" "Don't Quit"
the other window says:
"you haven't been logged out because the applicaiton disk utility failed to quit. to try logging out again, quit disk utility and click try again."
how do l prevent this? so can get this done asap!
thanks
the other window says:
"you haven't been logged out because the applicaiton disk utility failed to quit. to try logging out again, quit disk utility and click try again."
how do l prevent this? so can get this done asap!
thanks
True if you're comparing 1-pass to 7-pass. But basic erase is really 0-pass, just erasing the "directory" - which also is done in an aborted 7-pass.
I don't know which scenario is accurate; I would guess 7 sequential start-to-finish passes.
Unfortunately it didnt complete, last time l saw it was at step 5 of 7. When l woke up it said "secure erase disk failed
securely erasing data to prevent recovery failed" with an "OK" button
and there was no charge on the battery, l didnt plug it in as l didnt want to overcharge the battery.
so is the HDD now more secure than a quick 1 step erase?
securely erasing data to prevent recovery failed" with an "OK" button
and there was no charge on the battery, l didnt plug it in as l didnt want to overcharge the battery.
so is the HDD now more secure than a quick 1 step erase?
Unless your Mac is really ancient, or defective in some way, you can safely leave your mac plugged in for the time it takes to erase the drive.
You should not have to worry about overcharging your laptop, however most would agree that its not good to leave it plugged in permanently.