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- WIPEDISK
-
- Description: Overwrites either an entire disk or the deleted and unused
- areas on the disk. Overwritten data cannot be read.
-
- Syntax: Version 3.0: WIPEDISK (drive:)
-
- Version 3.1: WIPEDISK (drive:) [/E] [/G] [/LOG] [/R(n)]
- [/V(n)]
-
- Version 4.0, 4.5: WIPEDISK (drive:) [/E] [/G(n)] [/LOG]
- [/R(n)] [/V(n)]
-
- Parameters:
-
- (drive:) The single-letter specifier (A:, B:, C:, etc.) for the drive
- you want to process. Follow the letter with a colon. You must
- supply the (drive:) parameter.
-
- /E Writes over unallocated areas of the disk and does not destroy
- format information or current files. Unallocated areas might
- contain data from files that have been deleted; use this
- switch to ensure that deleted files cannot be read again.
-
- /G Follows U.S. government erasing standards for writing over
- data. If you include this switch, WIPEDISK writes binary 1s
- (hexadecimal FF) on the first pass, binary 0s on the second
- pass, and either a default value of 246 (hexadecimal F6) or
- the value you specify with the /V switch on the third pass.
- After the third write pass, WIPEDISK read-verifies the last
- value written. In versions 4.0 and 4.5, you can specify the
- number of times you want WIPEDISK to repeat the first two
- write passes by adding a number to the /G switch; the default
- number for (n) is 3. In all versions, you can use the /R
- switch to specify the number of times you want WIPEDISK to
- repeat the entire write-over cycle.
-
- /LOG Displays diagnostic output as separate (not overlaid) output
- you can direct to either a printer or a disk file. You can
- send the output to a printer or a disk file by including the
- MS-DOS redirection character ()) followed by a printer name or
- filename at the end of the command.
-
- /R(n) Repeats the write passes (n) times. The default value is 1.
-
- /V(n) Uses the binary equivalent of the decimal value (n) when
- writing over data. If you do not use the /G switch, the
- default value is 0.
-
-
- Notes:
-
-
- The MS-DOS Delete and Erase commands do not destroy data or completely remove
- directory entries. To ensure that data is completely erased and cannot be
- reused, you must use WIPEDISK or WIPEFILE.
-
- When you use WIPEDISK to write over an entire disk, the command writes over
- all data, including the format information (unless you use the /E switch).
- You must reformat the disk before you can use it again.
-
-
- ** CAUTION ** CAUTION **CAUTION ** CAUTION ** CAUTION ** CAUTION **
-
- When you use WIPEDISK to write over data, you cannot recover the data by
- using the FR (Format Recover), the NU (Norton Utilities), or the QU (Quick
- UnErase) command. WIPEDISK always asks for confirmation before it begins
- execution. If you discover you have started WIPEDISK by mistake, you can halt
- execution by entering Ctrl-C (^C) or Ctrl-Break (^[). WIPEDISK begins erasing
- from the last track on the disk, so quickly halting the execution of WIPEDISK
- might save much of your data.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Example: To use U.S. government erasing standards to write over the
- data that might have been stored in areas that are currently
- unallocated on the disk in drive B.
-
- Enter: WIPEDISK b: /E /G
-
- See <NUFR>, <NUNU>, <NUQU>, <NUUD>, <NUWIPEFI>.
-
-