Disk Wipe

When you select a physical device, the Wipe command processes all logical drives consecutively, erasing data in unoccupied areas (free clusters and system areas) while leaving existing data intact. Unallocated space where no partitions exist is also erased.

Note:

If you want to erase ALL data (both existing and deleted files) from the device permanently, use Disk Erase.

If the Active@ KillDisk d application detects that a partition has been damaged, it does not wipe data in that area because the partition might contain important data. In some cases, partitions on a device cannot be wiped. Examples include an unknown or unsupported file system, a system volume, or an application startup disk. In these cases, the Wipe command is disabled. If you select a device and the Wipe button is disabled, select individual partitions (volumes) and wipe them separately.

Disk Wipe complete process is described below.

  1. Commence task

    In In Disk Explorer open Local Devices view to select one or more disk partitions to wipe. Use Ctrl+Left Mouse Click for multiple selection.

    Initiate the Wipe task using one of the following methods:

    • Click the Wipe Disk command on the action toolbar;
    • Select Actions > Wipe Disk from the main menu;
    • Click Wipe Disk from the context menu.
  2. Configure task options

    If necessary, configure task options on each page of the Erase Disks dialog, which includes the following:

    If a single disk is selected to perform the task, the exact area for wipe can be optionally specified on the Disk Area Selection page. Otherwise, use the Selected Disks page to adjust disk or partition selection.

  3. Execute task

    Click Start button to reach the final step before wiping out deleted data. Click Yes to confirm Wipe action and process starts.

    After starting the erase operation, a progress bar is displayed in the disk area. The progress bar represents the percentage of disk space being wiped. As the procedure progresses, the percentage increases and the time remaining is recalculated.

    Figure 1: Disk Wipe Progress

    The progress of the wiping procedure is displayed on the disk or volume. To stop the process at any time, click the Stop button for the particular disk or volume. Click the Stop All button to cancel wiping for all disks.

  4. Verify results

    This is an optional step. Select the wiped volume and click the Open in File Browser toolbar button to inspect the work that has been completed. The Active@ KillDisk scans the system records of the partition, and the Browser tab appears. Existing file and folder names appear with multicolor icons, while deleted file and folder names appear with gray-colored icons. If the wiping process completed correctly, the data residue in deleted file clusters and the space these files occupied in the directory and system records have been removed. You should not see any gray-colored file names or folder names within the wiped volume.

A Processing Summary dialog appears when the process is complete. Here you can check the Processing Summary, print labels, certificates, and more.

Note:

Depending on settings, this dialog can be skipped.

Note:

If there are any errors, for example due to bad sectors, these errors will be reported and placed to the log file. If such a message appears you may cancel the operation or continue wiping out disks.

All deleted files and system records on wiped volumes became unrecoverable.