> ...I wipe the HD with a seven-pass secure erase, which gets rid of remnants of everything, it does not just erase the directory.
That's not quite correct.
"Don't Erase Data" does no more than erase your directory, but "Zero Out Data" (1-pass) and 7 (Department of Defense grade) and 35 (ultra-secure)-Pass Erases do more or less the same additional thing, which is not "get[s] rid of remnants of everything", but overwrite everything, with the more passes you run making its recovery more difficult.
Unless you either require comprehensive security or simply wish to kill time in a computer-free manner (The time any overwrite takes is dependent on your configuration.), "Zero Out Data" should suit your purposes.
And in closing, I'll suggest one additional step to add to your excellent procedure: Since an overwrite maps out bad blocks, I suggest running a preliminary surface scan to determine your HDD's status in that respect.
Last edited by artie505; 06/14/14 08:55 AM. Reason: Cleanup
