1 and 0 on the HDD are low and high voltage or charge as stored on the ferromagnetic surface. Writing the same 0 pattern to every bit is a bit like putting tint on a window. It obscures the image but the charge bias may remain. Some off-the-shelf linux tools would easily recover this.
I would go for the 7 pass if it was just my data. If I have customer data on there, 35 pass or best method I've seen: remove platters, melt with gas torch.
Hi Jake,
Here's the problem with a single 0 pass.
1 and 0 on the HDD are low and high voltage or charge as stored on the ferromagnetic surface. Writing the same 0 pattern to every bit is a bit like putting tint on a window. It obscures the image but the charge bias may remain. Some off-the-shelf linux tools would easily recover this.
I would go for the 7 pass if it was just my data. If I have customer data on there, 35 pass or best method I've seen: remove platters, melt with gas torch.