On Oct 3, 2006, at 8:12 PM, kelsey hudson wrote:
So, if you have any intention of reusing the tape, keep the bulk eraser away! But, as far as blasting the data is concerned, yes, a bulk eraser is the way to go if you want to make sure nobody ever reads that tape again. :)
I am reasonably certain that there is nearly not so much information on a tape that makes it useable as you claim. Tracks, block markers, etc. are written to the tape by the drive as it lays down the data, to make it easier to read the data back. The drives are more than capable enough to write data unguided (they are precision machines, after all.)
I, personally, have not had problems reusing tapes that have had a visit to the bulk eraser (also known as a demagnetizer in the machine- tool industry, used to demag parts after going on the grinders, which use electromagnets as the work tables.) This was with DAT and 8mm tapes (and numerous QIC formats.)
Now, putting a hard drive through a bulk eraser is a great way to render it useless.
Gregory -- Gregory K. Ruiz-Ade <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> OpenPGP Key ID: EAF4844B keyserver: pgpkeys.mit.edu
PGP.sig
Description: This is a digitally signed message part
-- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
