Talk:Disk formatting

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It's relatively untrue that formatting will cause you to lose all your data, a simple /unformat [drive] will usually restore all of the files.

[edit] Quick Format and NTFS

== == "Never use quick format when formatting a NTFS Drive. There is a chance the drive could become corrupted. Maybe not a big chance, but it is there. Better safe than sorry."

Is there any information/links that back up this claim?

I'm removing it now. No reference was provided, and it doesn't belong in this article anyway. The article doesn't say what either quick format or ntfs means. --Ropez 08:33, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

No unformatting utility can recover data from a partition that was formatted by the /u parameter. This is not the most secure way of destroying the previous data, instead use something like DBAN to destroy old data, however no disk wiping software guarantees 100% destruction of stored data. Only physically destroying the hard drive itself along with the magnetic particles will guarantee complete security. "No unformatting utility can recover the data, but this is not the most secure way of destroying previous data". This sentence is contradictory as it is.--Ricardo Dirani 14:30, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

While I'm no expert in this field, I do happen to know that it's possible to recover data that has been overwritten a certain amount of times due to minute residu of the overwritten data on the disk - that's about the extent of my knowledge for this particular case. So, while software might not be able to recover the data, someone with the knowledge and technology - and actual drive - could recover the data.

Ah, here's a relevant article: MFSTM. Laogeodritt 14:42, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

I would not trust the MFSTM article, as it stands at the moment. See the links I posted in Talk:MFSTM, especially this one [1], and also the arguments discussed in the data recovery article. Mtford 19:59, 15 August 2006 (UTC) == ==

[edit] Over writing

I removed this: ", or even better, a low-level format must be performed. This is actually incorrect.

The data can still be recovered through physical means (by consulting data recovery specialists); to prevent this, the drive must be securely wiped, although even this is not a perfect guarantee. Only physically destroying the hard drive itself along with the magnetic plates will guarantee that the data is truly gone, but if you only break it into pieces, the data may still be recoverable if the appropriate method is used"

Anyone who wants this, or similar, put back in, should link to a company, or software, or hardware, that can recover data that has been overwritten. See also Gutmann_method where Gutmann himself debunks the myth about overwritten data being available. DanBeale 11:06, 29 March 2007 (UTC)