On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 2:09 PM, MacGuy <[email protected]> wrote: > > I've never used the "empty free space" option when zeroing my hard > drive in disk utility yet. So, when the "Creating temporary file" > comes up in the progression of the emptying process, what exactly does > that mean, "creating temporary file"? I thought I was zeroing out the > "free space"? Jeff
It zeros out the free space by creating a large temporary file that spans the entire free space (or close to it) which in effect overwrites whatever was contained in the free space. However be aware that one pass is only sufficient for home usage, there is still a possibility that old files contained in the free space are recoverable--only many multiple passes, or simply degausing the hard drive (which would erase EVERYTHING on the hard drive, not just the free space) can ensure that old deleted files are not at all recoverable. And even then you can never be too sure, ultimately the safest way to prevent access to confidential files is to destroy the hard drive itself. -- Best Regards, John Musbach --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
