how long will it take?

[celebrian23]

For purely experimental reasons, I want to erase my disk with the 35 pass erase option. A.k.a I'm going to reinstall it again for my own use again, I just want to do it for...fun. I've already done this 4 times, just never with the 7 or 35 pass erase. So I know all about backups, etc. I was just wondering exactly how long will this take? The only thing I could find was "possibly more than a day" which is slightly vague. Though I've purposely chosen to do this during a time when it can take as long as it wants, as in, this is a time when I don't need my computer. I plan on doing this Tuesday as I'll be gone from 7am-10pm anyways.

So I guess what I'm wondering is has anyone done the 35 pass option here, and is there anything more specific than "more than a day" that someone can tell me?

 

[iPhil]

For purely experimental reasons, I want to erase my disk with the 35 pass erase option. A.k.a I'm going to reinstall it again for my own use again, I just want to do it for...fun. I've already done this 4 times, just never with the 7 or 35 pass erase. So I know all about backups, etc. I was just wondering exactly how long will this take? The only thing I could find was "possibly more than a day" which is slightly vague. Though I've purposely chosen to do this during a time when it can take as long as it wants, as in, this is a time when I don't need my computer. I plan on doing this Tuesday as I'll be gone from 7am-10pm anyways.

So I guess what I'm wondering is has anyone done the 35 pass option here, and is there anything more specific than "more than a day" that someone can tell me?

Minimum of 3 days .. your estimate is super - low on time

 

[Kamera RAWr]

I recently sold my old MacBook Pro to a co-worker. Before I sold it I chose the 35 pass option and left my computer on for 15 hours... It got to pass 16 and then I just had to skip the rest. So basically about an hour or more per pass on a 100GB hard disk, from my experience. I was upset I hadn't gotten further along than 15 full passes, but a friend assured me even that was VERY adequate security.

 

[celebrian23]

I thought it would be more than a day. I've planned for a week without my computer to be on the safe side. But I guess not many people have done this, which might be why the article I read was so off with times. A good excuse to catch on my summer reading

 

[sfisher]

I just did a 1 pass erase of free space (35GB) the other day and it took over an hour and a half (I gave up waiting and went to bed). By morning it was done. As Apple says, it will take 35 times longer to do the erase you want to do. Sorry I don't have a better answer for you .