Need Format not Quick Format

"I need a slow format which will entirely data and bad sector."

If you're installing Ubuntu on a disk that you believe may have low-level errors, you should run a utility to check it for errors (and repair the disk, where possible) *before* installing Ubuntu.

To search a disk for low-level errors, you can use the badblocks utility. Run "man 8 badblocks" in the Terminal, or see http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/maverick/man8/badblocks.8.html for documentation, and feel free to post again if you need additional assistance with that. If you're running the Ubuntu installation CD, then you can access the Terminal by selecting "Try Ubuntu" (or aborting the installation). When the desktop comes up, go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal. You'll have to run badblocks with sudo (i.e. type "sudo badblocks" rather than just "badblocks"), or you can run it from a Root Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Root Terminal).

When you read the documentation for badblocks, you'll see that you have to specify the device name. That's typically /dev/sdX, where X is some letter starting with a. Sometimes it's /dev/hdX. The device name identifies which physical disk you're scanning with badblocks. If you don't know it, you can find it by browsing through your disks in GParted (Applications > Accessories > GParted Partition Editor).

You can also use fsck (run "man 8 fsck" or see http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/maverick/man8/fsck.8.html) to check for and repair low-level disk problems.

If you want a less technical explanation than what is provided in the badblocks or fsck documentation, or have questions about anything the documentation says, please feel free to post again.

I don't know what you mean by "entirely data." A slow format (to use DOS/Windows terminology) doesn't zero out the data on the disk; a slow format is not particularly more likely to render data inaccessible than a quick format. Do you need to do that?

Sorry the phrase above wrongly typed "entirely data" instead of "entirely erase the data".

For Bad Sector I will do the above said.

1. So my question while installing ubuntu to "entirely zero out the data or render data inaccessible" for the location "/", I mean each and every byte. I do not want to "format" like erasing labels which holds data and leave the old data there and over write the new ubuntu on the old data.

whether ubuntu is having option to do the above(1.) or by default it is providing the above(1.) I asked?

Thanks

Hi vinodh,

I've done fill with zeroes in order to ensure that I've wiped out any confidential data in a disk.

To achieve that I just do several passes of the following command (slow):

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/<disk or partition>

You can play whit the "bs" option in order to do faster passess. Also you may prefer to use /dev/random instead of /dev/zero.

That can be done with every linux distro, included ubuntu.

I'm not sure if that is what you are looking for.

HTH

--
hmontoliu <at> ubuntu.com
http://hmontoliu.blogspot.com

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Hi Eliah,

Excellent post. Bookmarked for review for the next time I'll have to
wipe-out a disk :-)

Thanks

El 24/01/11 05:39, Eliah Kagan escribió:
> Question #142538 on ubiquity in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/142538
>
> Eliah Kagan proposed the following answer:
> That technique, while good to know (since it's universally available on
> Unix-like systems) might or might not be considered adequate. You should
> really consult your organization's protocols for erasing disks that have
> contained confidential information, if your obligation to keep the data
> secure is pursuant to some organization's rules.
>
> You may prefer to use the program "scrub" which meets US government
> standards for run-of-the-mill data erasure and (when applied to an
> entire disk) touches all parts of the disk including parts that are
> generally unused due to being marked as damaged (i.e. bad sectors).
> Scrub is available in the Universe repository. Please note that Scrub is
> only for magnetic drives--if you have a magneto-optical disk, or flash
> memory (including Solid State Disks), then that program may not be
> effective.
>
> One way to run Scrub from the Install CD is to boot the CD and select
> "Try Ubuntu" (or, if you already selected "Install Ubuntu", then cancel
> the installation), and when the Desktop comes up, run System >
> Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. In Synaptic, go to Settings >
> Repositories. Under "Downloadable from the Internet" check the box next
> to "Community-maintained Open Source Software (universe)". Then click
> Close (at the lower-right corner of the Repositories window). You'll be
> instructed to click the Reload button (in the upper-left corner of the
> Synaptic Package Manager window) to apply that change--do so. When
> Synaptic finishes downloading package information, type "scrub" (without
> the quotes) into the quick search box near the upper-right corner of the
> Synaptic window. The package of that name should come up first in the
> list (it's the one that says "writes patterns on magnetic media to
> thwart data recovery" under Description). Click the checkbox next to it;
> in the contextual menu that comes up, click "Mark for installation".
> Then click Apply (the button with the green check-mark). You are
> provided with a summary; click Apply at the lower-right corner of the
> Summary window to install the software. When you are informed that the
> changes are successfully applied, you can quit the Synaptic Package
> Manager.
>
> Like dd, scrub is a command-line program; to run it, go to Applications
>> Accessories > Terminal. You can get help on it by running the command
> "man 1 scrub" (or see
> http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/maverick/man1/scrub.1.html).
> Likewise, if you choose to use dd, you can get help on it by running
> "man 1 dd" (or see
> http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/maverick/en/man1/dd.1.html). Like
> dd, using scrub to scrub an entire drive (which is far more secure than
> scrubbing just some part of the drive) requires root privileges, so run
> it with sudo (i.e. start your command with "sudo scrub" rather than just
> "scrub"). For more information about sudo, run "man 8 sudo" or see
> http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/maverick/en/man8/sudo.8.html.
>
> See the references in the scrub manpage for information about the issues
> and limitations of secure data erasure.
>
> Since theoretical extraordinary efforts could potentially revive even
> well-overwritten data, drives that contain extremely secret information
> (for example, if revealing it would result in loss of life) should
> probably be physically destroyed. Please note that exposing a hard drive
> to a magnet is *not* an effective way of accomplishing that.
>
> If you have any problems with anything described here, or additional
> questions about data erasure or the capabilities of the Ubuntu Install
> CD, or you have trouble with the documentation for any of the above
> commands, please feel free to post again.
>

- --
Hilario J. Montoliu
hmontoliu <at> ubuntu.com
http://hmontoliu.blogspot.com
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@Hilario: I'm glad my post was useful. Please note that it was focused on disk scrubbing from within the Ubuntu Desktop Install CD environment. If you regularly scrub disks, you might be interested in Darik's Boot And Nuke (http://www.dban.org/).

"Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction."

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El 24/01/11 09:17, Eliah Kagan escribió:
> Question #142538 on ubiquity in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/142538
>
> Eliah Kagan posted a new comment:
> @Hilario: I'm glad my post was useful. Please note that it was focused
> on disk scrubbing from within the Ubuntu Desktop Install CD environment.
> If you regularly scrub disks, you might be interested in Darik's Boot
> And Nuke (http://www.dban.org/).
>

Thanks Eliah,

I was aware of DBAN which is what we use to wipeout data when we are
asked to destroy old disks. After that we physically destroy the disk too.

What I didn't know about was scrub.

Again thanks :-)

> "Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that
> securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically
> and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect,
> which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data
> destruction."
>

- --
Hilario J. Montoliu
hmontoliu <at> ubuntu.com
http://hmontoliu.blogspot.com
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Thanks For Explanation this is the exact thing I need. Thanks for Effort to described in detail.

Thanks for the other who gave other solution to my question which is very useful to me and other who come across my question and above thanks for Eliah Kagan