Block, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, Check users, delete, edit, Moderators, move, oversight, protect, ratelimit-exempt, rollback
19,940
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: + + + + + + + + + Line 11:
Line 20: + + + + + + +
shredding
'''''The following is personal workspace. Once content is ready, I will migrate it to the appropriate location. I may use this for any number of purposes, but generally it will be used for drafts.'''''<br />
''Please to not change the value of this content. If you see a typo or some other small problem, feel free to change this. For anything else, please ask first. '''Thanks!'''''
----
Personal Notes: need to parse 20,000b+
----
For [[Data recovery (computers)]]:
'''Data recovery''' for computers is the process of recovering information which has been deleted, corrupted, or "lost." This can be attempted on any digital storage media, but the methods sometimes vary somewhat depending on the device.
==Logical damage==
==Logical damage==
Logical damage is probably the most common problem which requires recovery. There can be several causes for this kind of problem.
Logical damage is probably the most common problem which requires recovery. There can be several causes for this kind of problem.
===Overwritten data===
===Overwritten data===
Wanted information sometimes gets overwritten after it is marked as deleted. Since the operating system sees it as free space, data will simply be written to that specific sector or group of sectors almost completely destroying the old information. This prevents simple disk surface searching from finding what is wanted, but some trace of it can still exist. This trace usually exists in the form of stronger or weaker than average magnetism on a [[Hard disk|hard disk drive]]. Such minute differences cannot be read by a conventional computer system, but specialized software can be used to detect and interpret them.
Wanted information sometimes gets overwritten after it is marked as deleted. Since the operating system sees it as free space, data will simply be written to that specific sector or group of sectors almost completely destroying the old information. This prevents simple disk surface searching from finding what is wanted, but some trace of it can still exist. This trace usually exists in the form of stronger or weaker than average magnetism on a [[Hard disk|hard disk drive]]. Such minute differences cannot be read by a conventional computer system, but specialized software can be used to detect and interpret them.
===Shredding===
The process of "shredding" (also know as secure deletion) is designed to prevent recovery, and does so quite effectively. Although information which is overwritten once or even twice can sometimes be recovered, a good shredding algorithm overwrites the file's disk space three to sixteen times, each time with a different randomly generated block of gibberish. Some programs offer to run this process sixty-four times or more, but this is usually unnecessary. Even two or three passes will usually destroy the data altogether, although some say that certain government agencies can see back up to seven overwrites.{{citation needed}} After a sufficient number of passes of this process have been completed, there is no known way to recover it. For this reason, shredding should only be performed when the user is absolutely sure they wish to obliterate certain information. Also, shredding causes a little extra wear on the drive, which is more harmful to Flash memory than disk drives. If shredding in not needed, it probably should not be used lest it eventually cause a malfunction.
===Malfunction===
===Malfunction===
Especially when a storage device is getting worn out, it may eventually start having problems which prevent some data from being read or written. Although difficult, some information can often be recovered after this type of damage has occurred.
Especially when a storage device is getting worn out, it may eventually start having problems which prevent some data from being read or written. Although difficult, some information can often be recovered after this type of damage has occurred.
==Physical damage==