Make data unrecoverable on Pen Drive

TheGift73 · 08-01-2008, 07:44 AM

Hi,

I work in a data company and every now and then we are asked to give one of our pen drives that we use to transfer documents between non networked computers, to a customer with some data that they had requested. (Some of them are very untrusting of email and prefer a hard copy instead)

The main question that I would like some advice on is whether any of you know of some decent software that, when any data left on the pen drive is wiped, (leaving the stick empty) there is no way for the client to try and recover any data that may have been put on there in the past.

I have tried reformatting the stick to FAT and then back to FAT32, but I am still able to recover some old data that had been put on there in the past.

The only way I know of to do it is by, (say we're talking about a 1GB stick) finding a file close to that size (something like Visual Basic 8.0 from Microsoft) and copying over the old data, then erasing the disk and then doing it once more to make the private data that was on there before (pretty much) unrecoverable.

I hope that makes sense?

The software that I use to try and recover files is Recuva v1.17 (latest version) Basically, I would like to have the ability to make sure that when I delete all data from a pen drive, programmes like Recuva can't find the deleted data.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Richard

**af3** · 08-01-2008, 07:46 AM

Eraser (Freeware)
Install this program and use the "Wipe Free Space" option for your flash drive. One pass of psuedorandom data should do the trick, and be fairly gentle on the medium.

Please note that a secure wipe on a flash drive is a severe blow to the devices life span.

TheGift73 · 08-01-2008, 08:03 AM

Thanks for the quick response af3.

The stick would serve more as a data transport ability for the client, (a one off transport deal) so they can then copy their data to their machine. I didn't realise that a severe wipe can have damaging implications on the media device ,so thanks for that.

The reason that we are not using CD's is because the client has asked for Pen drives instead.

**af3** · 08-01-2008, 08:08 AM

If you do a 1 pass, it should not hurt too much, but 3 or 5 would take a few years off it's life... I would think... from what I've heard.

08-01-2008, 07:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
TheGift73 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lewes UK Posts: 151 OS: XP Pro SP3 My System	Make data unrecoverable on Pen Drive Hi, I work in a data company and every now and then we are asked to give one of our pen drives that we use to transfer documents between non networked computers, to a customer with some data that they had requested. (Some of them are very untrusting of email and prefer a hard copy instead) The main question that I would like some advice on is whether any of you know of some decent software that, when any data left on the pen drive is wiped, (leaving the stick empty) there is no way for the client to try and recover any data that may have been put on there in the past. I have tried reformatting the stick to FAT and then back to FAT32, but I am still able to recover some old data that had been put on there in the past. The only way I know of to do it is by, (say we're talking about a 1GB stick) finding a file close to that size (something like Visual Basic 8.0 from Microsoft) and copying over the old data, then erasing the disk and then doing it once more to make the private data that was on there before (pretty much) unrecoverable. I hope that makes sense? The software that I use to try and recover files is Recuva v1.17 (latest version) Basically, I would like to have the ability to make sure that when I delete all data from a pen drive, programmes like Recuva can't find the deleted data. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Richard Last edited by TheGift73; 08-01-2008 at 07:51 AM.

08-01-2008, 07:46 AM	#2 (permalink)
af3 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,179 OS: XP SP3 & PCLinuxOS Gnome My System	Re: Make data unrecoverable on Pen Drive Eraser (Freeware) Install this program and use the "Wipe Free Space" option for your flash drive. One pass of psuedorandom data should do the trick, and be fairly gentle on the medium. Please note that a secure wipe on a flash drive is a severe blow to the devices life span. Last edited by af3; 08-01-2008 at 07:57 AM.

08-01-2008, 08:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
TheGift73 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lewes UK Posts: 151 OS: XP Pro SP3 My System	Re: Make data unrecoverable on Pen Drive Thanks for the quick response af3. The stick would serve more as a data transport ability for the client, (a one off transport deal) so they can then copy their data to their machine. I didn't realise that a severe wipe can have damaging implications on the media device ,so thanks for that. The reason that we are not using CD's is because the client has asked for Pen drives instead.

08-01-2008, 08:08 AM	#4 (permalink)
af3 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,179 OS: XP SP3 & PCLinuxOS Gnome My System	Re: Make data unrecoverable on Pen Drive If you do a 1 pass, it should not hurt too much, but 3 or 5 would take a few years off it's life... I would think... from what I've heard.