Site TIPS PAGE🔎   UP ONE LEVEL
 OJB's Web Site. V 2.1.tip tips mac owen2 
Tip

Up to OJB's Mac Tips List

Secure Erase Options

To secure erase when that option isn't available in Disk Utility.
For example, for SSDs.
Boot from another disk or recovery mode.
Erase the disk encrypted, with a complex key.
Fill the disk with zeros.
Erase it again, without encryption or with a different key.

Options to fill with zeros

If it is available, use mkfile, otherwise use dd...

mkfile SIZE FILE
Example: mkfile 200G File1
dd if=/dev/zero of=FILE bs=BLOCKSIZE count=BLOCKS
Example: dd if=/dev/zero of=File1 bs=1024 count=1000000
Warning: don't make bs too small or the process will be very slow.

Related Tips

Secure Erase from El Capitan
Secure Erase SSD



My latest blog post: Terrorism vs Genocide: Please don't feel like you need to be ashamed of New Zealand's response. (posted 2025-10-03).
Warning: mysqli_connect(): MySQL server has gone away in /Library/WebServer/Documents/Owen2/Inc/Footer.m.inc.php on line 51

Warning: mysqli_connect(): Error while reading greeting packet. PID=1215 in /Library/WebServer/Documents/Owen2/Inc/Footer.m.inc.php on line 51

Warning: mysqli_connect(): (HY000/2006): MySQL server has gone away in /Library/WebServer/Documents/Owen2/Inc/Footer.m.inc.php on line 51

Warning: mysqli_error() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli, boolean given in /Library/WebServer/Documents/Owen2/Inc/Footer.m.inc.php on line 52
Could not connect to MySQL: