Predefined deletion procedures

Help on how to use HxD.
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Ftmmsch
Posts: 2
Joined: 28 May 2020 13:34

Predefined deletion procedures

Post by Ftmmsch »

Hello,
I am a newbie and irritated about the settings, i have to chose.

When I select an area and right-click on "Fill selection", I have the following selection among others:
"Specified deletion methods". "Null Bytes" and "DoD Sanitizing".
What happens if I make NO selection? Respectively. where exactly is the difference?

The note: "Specified deletion procedures" actually tells me that two procedures are specified and one should be selected or MUST?

Thanks a lot


Predifined  Settings.jpg
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Predifined  Settings.jpg
Predifined Settings.jpg (85.09 KiB) Viewed 10087 times
Maël
Site Admin
Posts: 1454
Joined: 12 Mar 2005 14:15

Re: Predefined deletion procedures

Post by Maël »

If you make no selection, the function "fill selection" is not available (grayed in the menu). It always applies to the selection.

That's why there is another function "Insert bytes"/"Bytes einfügen".

"Löschverfahren"/"Deletion procedures" really mean that you overwrite the bytes of the selection, thereby effectively deleting data. But there is no resizing happening.

"Specified deletion procedures": if you click on it, you will see that it fills the "Durchläufe" list box. I.e., it provides standard filling/"deletion" procedures, so you don't have to create them manually (by providing the steps using "Add"/"Delete" buttons).

I see that the dialog could be improved, it follows the design from another software, but I see it can be confusing.
Ftmmsch
Posts: 2
Joined: 28 May 2020 13:34

Re: Predefined deletion procedures

Post by Ftmmsch »

Hi,
Thanks for the answer.
I am probably a bit confused :-)

If I mark an area, select "Fill selection" in the drop-down and then click OK,
the previously marked area is displayed with red zeros.
I made no selection - regarding NullBytes or DOD Sanitizing.

My real problem was:
Someone asked me if he could make a mistake here.
I told him that I did as above and that the marked area was replaced by zeros.
I also told him that it worked that way for me and (unfortunately) I don't know the difference.
Respectively. whether additional selection could cause damage.
Please excuse me for moving in circles

Thanks a lot
Maël
Site Admin
Posts: 1454
Joined: 12 Mar 2005 14:15

Re: Predefined deletion procedures

Post by Maël »

Ftmmsch wrote: 29 May 2020 13:23 If I mark an area, select "Fill selection" in the drop-down and then click OK,
the previously marked area is displayed with red zeros.
I made no selection - regarding NullBytes or DOD Sanitizing.
Yeah, changed bytes are marked in red (until you save).

Someone asked me if he could make a mistake here.
I told him that I did as above and that the marked area was replaced by zeros.
I also told him that it worked that way for me and (unfortunately) I don't know the difference.
Respectively. whether additional selection could cause damage.
Fill selection only applies to the selection, nothing beyond it, no matter how many passes/Durchläufe you have -- if that's what you are asking.

The reason to have several passes is to make sure data cannot be recovered, by writing certain patterns, that consider the physical drive properties (for example DoD method), that make sure no remnant magnetization is left. So in most normal cases, you would just have one pass.

But if you want to wipe entire disks securely, I suggest using other specialized tools, since there are more updated methods that also consider SSD caches and similar, and the simple DoD method may not suffice.
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