How long does a job run? Question about the files written

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Hello,

I just set up a job to delete free space on a 1TB Disk. I want to sell it, so it has to be wiped securely.

Eraser does not show any percentage about the job. It is a "delete free space" job with method US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306. / E, C and E). I see that Eraser is writing files with about 220 MB size on the drive. What is done with writing one file to the disk? One of the 7 of US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306. / E, C and E)? Or all 7 runs? I calculated that eraser will need about 1 day to write those 221 MB files to disk before it is full. Now I wonder if the job is done after 1 day or after 7 days because the file will be written 7 times to disk?

Thanks for answer
 
Re: How long does a job run? Question about the files writte

The DOD 7 pass method (which may actually be overkill for your requirement) writes different patterns on the individual passes. It is described in full in the Eraser manual. Eraser writes randomly named files with the specified pattern(s) to fill all the unused space on the drive, then deletes them. It then overwrites all the unused entries in the file table.

I'm not exactly clear on your query about the timing. I assume that, as you are selling the drive, you have formatted it and/or deleted everything from it. 24 hours for all of a 7 pass free space erase would not be excessive; the limiting factor is the speed of the disk itself. In fact, the default single pass is probably sufficient for a free space erase. The length of time taken is pretty much in proportion to the number of passes, and so on your machine a single pass would presumably take something over 3 hours, which is in line with my experience.

David
 
Re: How long does a job run? Question about the files writte

It seems that a single file has all 7 runs included. In the windows ressource monitor I can see that eraser.exe writes with about 80000000 B/s which are 76 MB/s or 4577 MB per minute. In one minute there are written 3 211 MByte files to the disk, total 633 MB in one minute. 4577 / 633 = 7 :) which means that eraser writes per minute 4577 MB data in order to the 7 runs method and leaves 633 MB of files on the disk...

My procedure to check that should be OK.
 
Re: How long does a job run? Question about the files writte

It's not usually a single file; typically, Eraser creates a series of erasing files, all of the same size. Also, hopefully, only the residue of the files is left, as the files should be deleted.

David
 
Re: How long does a job run? Question about the files writte

Sharp observation there, yes. Eraser will erase free space using files, the 7 passes of which apply to each file. So the progress bar should be representative of overall progress.
 
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