HDD GURU FORUMS

Hello everybody,

-I have several questions regarding 'sanitizing' a HDD:

1. What's the difference(s) between HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool and HDD Wipe Tool (both from HDDGuru)?

2. What's the difference(s) between these two tools mentioned above and DISKPART's CLEAN ALL command?

3. Between HDD LLF and HDD Wipe, which one could access (and erase) DCO, HPA, and original bad sectors (that have been remapped)?

4. Does the WRITE ZEROS feature in WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostics (for Windows) have any advantage over DISKPART> CLEAN ALL (and HDDGuru's HDD LLF & HDD Wipe)?

5. Does the answer to question #4 applies to every manufacturer-provided tools such as Seagate SeaTools (for Windows), etc.?

-Every answer is really appreciated, thank you very much.


Regards,
-Musafir_86.

2 & 4 : DISKPART> CLEAN ALL delete all partitions on the drive. Data is always here
LLF / write zeros / wipe tools make low level format, write all the sectors, fill with something (fill with zeros, fill with one and fill with zeros again) Data is gone.

A Description of the Diskpart Command-Line Utility:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415

clean [all]

Use the clean command to remove partition or volume formatting from the current in-focus disk by zeroing sectors. By default, only the MBR or GPT partitioning information and any hidden sector information on MBR disks is overwritten. If you specify the all parameter, each and every sector can be zeroed, and all data that is contained on the drive can be deleted.

hddr49 wrote:2 & 4 : DISKPART> CLEAN ALL delete all partitions on the drive. Data is always here
LLF / write zeros / wipe tools make low level format, write all the sectors, fill with something (fill with zeros, fill with one and fill with zeros again) Data is gone.

-Incorrect, as fzabkar pointed, CLEAN ALL write zeros to the entire disk, from the first addressable sector to the very last one (if just CLEAN, then yes, data is still left on the disk).

-What I want to know is the exact method used for erasing by each one of them; whether issued by the software or using disk's internal command (somewhat like ATA Secure Erase). In my experience, DISKPART's CLEAN ALL is significantly faster than WD DLGDIAG's Write Zeros, and it can be observed using Performance Monitor or Windows 8.x Task Manager (under Performance tab).

-So, I want to know what's different in their implementation/algorithm (i.e. just zeros or random bits). From what I read, nowadays modern HDD should no longer able to be Low-level Formatted by end-user, that's why I'm curious why this tool is named "HDD Low Level Format Tool" (and how it's different from "HDD Wipe Tool").

Regards.