Root Once, twice, three times a lady! ... Wiped

[messenger13]

I've read more times than I can count about some of you wiping the data partition or system partition "more than once". Are you guys paranoid, nuts, or has your OCD reached new levels??? You guys act as if it's like erasing a chalkboard, whereas the first time doesn't get all of the chalk off of the board. Or using an eraser on paper. When you wipe, it's GONE!!! I mean, it's your world and you can do whatever you want. But some of y'all preach it like it's the gospel truth ... and sorry, I'm just not buying it.

Maybe CwM and SPR should read: "Kinda wipe data". Yea ... that's the ticket!

Just sayin'...

 

[johnlgalt]

I have never, ever ever wiped more than once.

 

[johnlgalt]

Well, except for that one time, in band camp....

 

[messenger13]

I have never, ever ever wiped more than once.

Are we still talking about your DROID?

 

[johnlgalt]

Yes, on my DROID.

Elsewhere I wipe as the situation calls for....tyvm.

 

[altimax98]

Ive always wiped data.... multiple times

The way i see it, it is like reformating the data partition. On a computer if you do a crappy wipe you will have remainders of files and data still on the drive, even if it isnt a complete file, it is still there..

When you vacuum the floor do you only do one pass over dirty areas?

 

[fireshaper]

Wipe once, disinfect later!

 

[DjOutlaw32]

Wiping is overrated.

 

[cggorman]

I use a pinecone, so once is PLENTY.

 

[johnlgalt]

Ive always wiped data.... multiple times

The way i see it, it is like reformating the data partition. On a computer if you do a crappy wipe you will have remainders of files and data still on the drive, even if it isnt a complete file, it is still there..

When you vacuum the floor do you only do one pass over dirty areas?

Equating the removal of directory information of files on magnetic media to vacuuming your floor is like trying to equate rolling down a hill on gravity power to breaking the speed of sound with a MiG 29....sorry, not buying that analogy at all.

Even formatting leaves those same file parts on your drive. Try performing a full format of your SDCard on your system and see how long it takes, as opposed to a 'quick' format, which simply removes the FAT headers that point to each of the files on your card.

Same holds true of your Memory. A full format will take a lot longer than a quick format, and regardless of which one you do, you aren't getting any more of a benefit (from performing it multiple times). If our recovery systems perform a full format on the partitions they are wiping, then it gets fully wiped the first time - this isn't mechanical storage, where if you bump your phone it skips over a certain section of the medium. In contrast, if it is performing a quick format, then, again, all it is doing is wiping that FAT - and wiping it 1 time or 100 times will never remove any more information off the medium, b/c those file fragments will still be there after 100 wipes. Or 1000. Or 1 million.

Wipe once, disinfect later!

Wiping is overrated.

Wiping more than once is over-rated.

 

[messenger13]

When you vacuum the floor do you only do one pass over dirty areas?

That's EXACTLY like the chalkboard analogy I used. Free yourself from this OCD behavior!!! At least have enough pride not to mention it in public.

 

[messenger13]

I use a pinecone, so once is PLENTY.

So what prison did you serve your sentence?

 

[YankeeDudeL]

I think it's when Pete came out w/ BBeast v1.0. And CM came out w/ 5.0.7, that wiping once just wasn't taking. Most of us had trouble installing these ROMs unless we wiped 3x. I have no idea why, I don't know the particulars like you guys, but I know I couldn't get my ROM to run right (if at all), if I didn't. It was only for like those ROMs, though.

 

[cggorman]

so what prison did you serve your sentence?

brew os

 

[altimax98]

I think it's when Pete came out w/ BBeast v1.0. And CM came out w/ 5.0.7, that wiping once just wasn't taking. Most of us had trouble installing these ROMs unless we wiped 3x. I have no idea why, I don't know the particulars like you guys, but I know I couldn't get my ROM to run right (if at all), if I didn't. It was only for like those ROMs, though.

I remember that as well... Whenever you wipe by formatting (quick) you tend to leave fragments behind. The fragments left behind are constantly changed and not the same from one wipe to another. So by wiping multiple times you are removing more fragments each time.
Thats why when we use the format option in windows we have the options for Quick or Normal.... as well as other third party formatting applications have options for multiple passes, for both "hard disks" and "flash drives"... the government has a minimum number of passes required before it is considered wiped... I could be wrong but i believe that applies to both hard and flash disks.

as for me, ill always wipe more then 1 time...and im proud to admit it.

 

[Mr. Monkey]

I've read more times than I can count about some of you wiping the data partition or system partition "more than once". Are you guys paranoid, nuts, or has your OCD reached new levels??? You guys act as if it's like erasing a chalkboard, whereas the first time doesn't get all of the chalk off of the board. Or using an eraser on paper. When you wipe, it's GONE!!! I mean, it's your world and you can do whatever you want. But some of y'all preach it like it's the gospel truth ... and sorry, I'm just not buying it.

Maybe CwM and SPR should read: "Kinda wipe data". Yea ... that's the ticket!

Just sayin'...

That's what I've been saying ever since I got into this... Buuuuut, I think I have been proved wrong. I had problems flashing anything! Everytime I tried to flash it would force me into a boot loop. Even with wiping everything I would get stuck in boot loop, so I tried wiping everything multiple times, and it finally worked.

Maaaaaybe its like when you wipe, but you get some dingle berries left over.

 

[blackberrywidow]

I remember that as well... Whenever you wipe by formatting (quick) you tend to leave fragments behind. The fragments left behind are constantly changed and not the same from one wipe to another. So by wiping multiple times you are removing more fragments each time.
Thats why when we use the format option in windows we have the options for Quick or Normal.... as well as other third party formatting applications have options for multiple passes, for both "hard disks" and "flash drives"... the government has a minimum number of passes required before it is considered wiped... I could be wrong but i believe that applies to both hard and flash disks.

as for me, ill always wipe more then 1 time...and im proud to admit it.

A quick format and a regular format both do the exact same thing in a data erasure sense. The only difference is that a regular format also checks the disk for errors, whereas in a quick format this step is bypassed. Neither actually 'erase' any data in like what you would think of for a chalkboard, vacuuming, or any of that other nonsense (lol....not comparable to rolling down hills either)

Essentially what it does is tells the system/index file/whatever that all of the disk/card/stick/whatever is available for writing. The data isn't truly gone until new data is written overtop of it, and even then, can sometimes be recovered by skilled data forensics specialists (can you say child porn cases?). I can't really think of a good analogy that would fit...When you wipe you are eliminating the index or table of contents essentially. If you rip it out once, ripping it out again isn't going to change the fact that there is still a whole novel in the book...

I would say wiping more than once is pointless, but hey, i've seen stranger things.

Hope this helps some... (but probably doesnt)

 

[tom108]

i think the reason developers were saying wipe twice or 3 times is because people were simply not following instructions. if the rom called for a wipe people would disregard it and think "well maybe this time it will be ok" so instead the developer put wipe 3 times so maybe people would take the hint that it was important to do a data wipe.

just a thought.

 

[blackberrywidow]

i think the reason developers were saying wipe twice or 3 times is because people were simply not following instructions. if the rom called for a wipe people would disregard it and think "well maybe this time it will be ok" so instead the developer put wipe 3 times so maybe people would take the hint that it was important to do a data wipe.

just a thought.

That would make sense. I often tell my users to reboot their computers 3 times because I know if I just ask them if they rebooted the answer is ALWAYS yes....

 

[johnlgalt]

A quick format and a regular format both do the exact same thing in a data erasure sense. The only difference is that a regular format also checks the disk for errors, whereas in a quick format this step is bypassed. Neither actually 'erase' any data in like what you would think of for a chalkboard, vacuuming, or any of that other nonsense (lol....not comparable to rolling down hills either)

Essentially what it does is tells the system/index file/whatever that all of the disk/card/stick/whatever is available for writing. The data isn't truly gone until new data is written overtop of it, and even then, can sometimes be recovered by skilled data forensics specialists (can you say child porn cases?). I can't really think of a good analogy that would fit...When you wipe you are eliminating the index or table of contents essentially. If you rip it out once, ripping it out again isn't going to change the fact that there is still a whole novel in the book...

I would say wiping more than once is pointless, but hey, i've seen stranger things.

Hope this helps some... (but probably doesnt)

That is essentially what I was trying to say earlier, but yours is so much more eloquent.

 

[messenger13]

I am relieved, and delighted, at the amount of agreeable posters. Thanks guys. For a minute there, I was like ... WTFork?!

 

[Redflea]

A quick format and a regular format both do the exact same thing in a data erasure sense. The only difference is that a regular format also checks the disk for errors, whereas in a quick format this step is bypassed. Neither actually 'erase' any data in like what you would think of for a chalkboard, vacuuming, or any of that other nonsense (lol....not comparable to rolling down hills either)

Essentially what it does is tells the system/index file/whatever that all of the disk/card/stick/whatever is available for writing. The data isn't truly gone until new data is written overtop of it, and even then, can sometimes be recovered by skilled data forensics specialists (can you say child porn cases?). I can't really think of a good analogy that would fit...When you wipe you are eliminating the index or table of contents essentially. If you rip it out once, ripping it out again isn't going to change the fact that there is still a whole novel in the book...

I would say wiping more than once is pointless, but hey, i've seen stranger things.

Hope this helps some... (but probably doesnt)

Another simple analogy...formatting is like erasing the addresses of your relatives in your address book - that won't get rid of the relatives associated w/the entries, no matter how hard you erase. (If only it was that easy...)

 

[overcaffein8d]

for wiping magnetic media--i sort of understand if you have sensitive data.

no one has ever, to my knowledge, successfully recovered a complete hard drive that has been turned to zeros.

now, if you're really paranoid, you can have it turn to random (or a pattern of) zeros and ones. 7 passes worth.

 

[riffdex]

imagine sweeping a floor
you do one sweep across, get most of the stuff... oh wait there's still a few pieces of lint.
do a second sweep ur good it's perfectly clean.

hell man, the only reason I do 2 wipes is because sometimes the ROM developers specifically say we should do at least 2 wipes. I figure they know better than me, and even if it's unnecessary, it's not like I'm going to regret spending the time to do the second wipe for the rest of my life or anything

 

[UBRocked]

I'm one of the advocates of wiping multiple times. Now, do I have some sort of scientific proof that it is beneficial to do so??? No I don't.

However, If I'm wrong and formatting data, cache along with formatting the boot, system, data, and cache partitions multiple times doesn't provide any benefits what so ever...what do you lose? 45-50 seconds maybe......it certainly isn't going to hurt anything

I'm just trying to save myself and others from those "stupid little glitches" we have all run across. Maybe just formatting data is enough...maybe formatting all the partitions even once is not necessary...

I leave the choice to every person who is actually hitting the buttons