I am giving a 16GB compact flash card to someone and want to make certain they cannot access my photos. Any suggestions for software to be able to do that?
Thanks.
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I am giving a 16GB compact flash card to someone and want to make certain they cannot access my photos. Any suggestions for software to be able to do that?
Thanks.
I use ccleaner. It's free and has a drive wiper.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
Simple Over-Write 1 Pass
DOD 3 Passes
NSN 7 Passes
GUTMANN 35 Passes
Thanks James, I will give it a try. I'm sure the 1 pass is more than adequate. In this case, I just want to do more than a simple format.
???? - Wouldn't just reformatting the card in camera permanently destroy any image data from the card and then they would have to format the card for their camera.
A single format will not permanently destroy the image. After formatting you can still recover image using software provided with many memory cards. I have been able to recover photos many months and formats later.
I'm not sure about them needing to format the card for their camera, but the first thing I do with any new memory card is to format it in my camera before using it. I also format after downloading any photos I have taken.
If you're a Mac user, the Disk Utility app that's included with the OS has a secure erase option for volumes.
If you want to see what all can be recovered after only a formatting, http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec (cross platform) and http://www.piriform.com/recuva are both free apps you can experiment with. Good apps to keep handy in case you really need them too.
@Don: In addition to Mr. Shadle's suggestion you might also take a look at http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/. The personal (free) version supports various DoD data sanitization methods; e.g. overwriting data with random bits. Be careful though; it is irreversible.
I wouldn't worry about anything other than the 1-pass. It'll be more than enough.
One link for reference:
http://www.upenn.edu/computing/secur...data_clear.php
How may overwrites are required to make the data unrecoverable?
A one-pass overwrite with random data is sufficient. Based on a report from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and research done by the UCSD Center for Magnetic Recording Research, a single overwrite is nearly as effective as multiple overwrites. Multiple overwrites take significantly more time, and do not clear the remaining electromagnetic signal significantly better than a single overwrite. For more information, see NIST Special Publication 800-88 and the Center for Magnetic Recording Research.
I would use Ccleaner or Acronis to completely erase the card. Acronis will make several passes and delete the info to FBI ecurity standards.