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This blog is my notebook for computer and technology related information, copies of useful webcontent (with refs of course), troubleshooting, general tips and setups that work well for me.
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Blog
Use dd to overwrite disk with zeroes, with progress information
dd is a great tool to overwrite disks quickly to erase all information on it (if you want to return them on warranty or sell them)1)
Overwrite entire disk, e.g. /dev/sdX with zeroes, for example to sell the disk or send it in for warranty. Be VERY CAREFUL as overwriting the disk will permamently destroy all data on it.
CAUTION: Only do this if you know what your are doing. Do this at your own risk!
0. DON'T do this in a hurry
1. Verify that you have a backup of all your data!
2. Locate the disk, make 100% sure by checking the size and the model!:
ls /dev/disk-by-id -l
3. Verify that you are on the right disk (check paritions):
cfdisk /dev/sdX
4. Verify that the right hd light is lighting up if you read the disk
cat /dev/sdX > /dev/null
5. Overwrite the disk with zeros:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=4096
6. Check the progress of your running dd, from another terminal window do 2)
watch killall -USR1 dd
Ref: http://www.vioan.ro/wp/2009/03/28/dd-command-progress-bar/
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- 23 - Use dd to overwrite disk with zeroes, with progress information
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February
- 21 - Very best VIM tips
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- 29 - Bios password backdoors
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September
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August
- 29 - Elegant solution for remotely accessible vnc desktops
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July
- 20 - Transfer typo3 site to a new url
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- 08 - Renew license key of bitdefender for linux command line version
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June
- 29 - Configure awstats on debian webserver
- 28 - Vmware guest clock running too fast
- 25 - Create clean html image gallery from linux with 'jigl'
- 23 - Display nagios status on the desktop using conky
- 23 - Securely wipe free space using built-in cypher command
- 22 - Word 2003 page numbering
- 16 - Use RSS feeds with conky
- 15 - Blank screen with maple 12 on Ubuntu lucid if running compiz
- 08 - Bash resources
- 08 - Install bitdefender on linux
May
- 26 - Create encrypted tar backups and store them on the amazon S3 cloud
- 03 - Ubuntu 10.04 change menu button alignments
- 01 - Evernote for blackberry in switzerland
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- 15 - Convert avi to flv
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January
2009
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- 13 - Rip DVDs into multi language multi subtitle video file
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- 02 - vim-latexsuite on ubuntu 9.10
November
- 10 - Boxplots using excel
- 04 - Configure Conky
- 03 - Configure autologon in windows xp
- 02 - bash use ALT-. to copy last argument
- 02 - Linux speed up Speed up ext3
October
- 12 - Copy a filesystem from one computer to another using tar and netcat
- 10 - How to fix font rendering of Firefox 3.5 under Ubuntu 9.04
September
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- 26 - How to keep your PC running fast
- 13 - Lightning fast command line use in Linux
- 11 - Search Google.com from the Linux command line
- 07 - Synchronize blackberry with outlook connecting to a zarafa server
- 03 - Capturing analog video with DV cam and windv
July
- 29 - Common SED taks
- 29 - Tasks that are best done on the command line
- 28 - Apache2 SSL with CAcert
- 28 - Install CACert certificate for postfix smtp/tls
- 26 - Install firefox 3.5 on ubuntu using ubuntuzilla
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- 19 - Adding syntax custom extensions to vim
- 13 - Counting the number of files with a given extension
- 02 - Send email on root login
June
- 24 - debian package backup
- 19 - Enable shell escape in Miktex running from WinEdt
- 19 - Remove Ubuntu Jaunty update manager popup
- 19 - Export Maple figure to eps file
- 17 - Reducing the size of word document with built-in pictures
- 15 - Thunderbird - Temporarily Switch Composing Between Plain Text/HTML
- 14 - Excel tipps
- 14 - 11 Very useful Excel keyboard shortcuts you may not know
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- 03 - Metacity compositing effects in Ubuntu
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May
- 27 - Simple backup procedure for windows (c't bff)
- 24 - Convert and crop Humax iCord HD Files
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- 20 - Disable windows keys
- 20 - Recommended site network problem solver
- 20 - Install fonts on linux
1)
if you are required by law or are really paranoid, use shred, which overwrites the disk with random data, 25 times by default. But: overwriting once is enough to make the disk unrecoverable by professional data recovery services. If i had a disk with real top secret information, i would first overwrite it with shred and then physically destroy the platter
2)
this sends the USR1 signal to all running dd instances once every second, making them print out the progress information
start.txt · Last modified: 2022-11-29 08:28 by brb