Erase Data from a Device

4.2.1 Interactive Mode (continued)

4.2.1.1 Erase Data from a Device

When you select a physical device (for example, Hard Disk 0), the erase command processes partitions no matter what condition they are in. Everything must be destroyed.

Because of the BIOS restrictions of some manufactures, a hard disk device that is larger than 300 MB must have an MBR (Master Boot Record) in sector zero. If you erase sector zero and fill it with zeros or random characters, you might find that you cannot use the hard drive after erasing the data. It is for this reason that—on hard drives larger than 300 MB—KillDisk creates an empty partition table and writes a typical MBR in sector zero.

If you want to erase data on selected logical drives, follow the steps in 4.2.3 Erase or Wipe Logical Drives (Partitions).

To erase the data:

1. Be certain that the drive you are pointing to is the one that you want to erase. All data will be permanently erased with no chance for recovery.
2. When you have selected the device to erase, select the checkbox for this hard drive. To permanently erase all data on the selected partition, press F10 or click Kill on the toolbar. The Kill dialog box appears.
   
   Kill dialog box
   
   
3. To choose an erase method, select one from the drop-down list. Erase methods are described in Chapter 6 Descriptions of Erase/Wipe Parameters in this guide.
4. Set other parameters for erasing. For information on these parameters, see Chapter 6 Descriptions of Erase/Wipe Parameters in this guide.
5. Click Start. If the Skip Confirmation check box is clear, the Confirm Action dialog box appears.
   
   Confirm Action
   
   
6. This is the final step before removing data from the selected drive for ever. Type ERASE-ALL-DATA in the text box and press ENTER or click YES. The Progress bar appears.
7. To stop the process at any time, press ESC. Please note, however that data that has already been erased will not be recoverable.
   
   Disk Erasing in Progress
   
   
8. There is nothing more to do until the end of the disk erasing process. The application will operate on its own.
   
   If there are any errors, for example due to bad clusters, they will be reported on the Interactive screen. If such a message appears, you may cancel the operation (by pressing ESC), or you may continue erasing data.