[xasop]

So you lose any writes that are done by said applications after copying?

Yes.

That's hardly equivalent, or even comparable.

What happens if they write something to the file while it's being copied?

Nothing.

Really? Nothing at all? I would expect, at the very least, that the OS would perform the write on the original copy of the file.

Do you get a consistent copy?

Yes.

How does the OS ensure consistency if an application writes to the file while it is being copied?

The drive is simply the file location in Windows. (e.g. C:\, D:\, E:\ etc.) it doesn't have to refer to a physical drive. A physical hard disk can have multiple partitions, each with their own drive mapping. At this point it just feels like you're being purposefully obtuse which is rather obnoxious. You're the only Linux person I know of that really, truly, doesn't know how Windows works, which leads me to believe you're just being a dolt on purpose.

You brought Windows into this discussion, not me. It is not reasonable to assume that I was using a Windows-specific definition of a word in a thread I made about how great Linux is.

[Snupes]

For one thing, it only requires one pass.

I wouldn't trust any magnetic storage erasure mechanism that claims to require only one pass.

According to Internets, the whole "more than one pass is necessary" thing is based off of an unfounded hypothetical and one pass is all that's necessary.

[jroa]

The conspiracy can examine your hard drive and determine which magnetic highs and lows are stronger and weaker and then work out the actual data if you only do one pass.  Please learn to conspiracy. 

[Fortuna]

The only proper way to permanently delete files on your hard drive is to burn it. When it cools, the magnetism on the disk will align with the earth's magnetic field and permanently erase all the data.

[Pete Svarrior]

According to Internets, the whole "more than one pass is necessary" thing is based off of an unfounded hypothetical and one pass is all that's necessary.

It's neither unfounded, nor a hypothetical. It's a simple statement of how magnetism works.

Depending on your goals, more than one pass may or may not be necessary. If you don't want me to be able to read your data with my laptop, one pass is easily good enough; but if I was a forensic scientist who wears a suit, a lab coat (simultaneously) and sunglasses, and if I had a budget of tens of thousands of dollars, it would no longer be good enough.

[markjo]

...but if I was a forensic scientist who wears a suit, a lab coat (simultaneously) and sunglasses, and if I had a budget of tens of thousands of dollars, it would no longer be good enough.

Citation please.

Daniel Feenberg, an economist at the private National Bureau of Economic Research, claims that the chances of overwritten data being recovered from a modern hard drive amount to "urban legend".[3] He also points to the "18½ minute gap" Rose Mary Woods created on a tape of Richard Nixon discussing the Watergate break-in. Erased information in the gap has not been recovered, and Feenberg claims doing so would be an easy task compared to recovery of a modern high density digital signal.

[juner]

...but if I was a forensic scientist who wears a suit, a lab coat (simultaneously) and sunglasses, and if I had a budget of tens of thousands of dollars, it would no longer be good enough.

Citation please.

Daniel Feenberg, an economist at the private National Bureau of Economic Research, claims that the chances of overwritten data being recovered from a modern hard drive amount to "urban legend".[3] He also points to the "18½ minute gap" Rose Mary Woods created on a tape of Richard Nixon discussing the Watergate break-in. Erased information in the gap has not been recovered, and Feenberg claims doing so would be an easy task compared to recovery of a modern high density digital signal.

Ontrack makes a living doing this. They can easily recover data from a single pass. I've had to recover data form a drive wiped for HIPAA compliance, and it wasn't any trouble at all for them. They can also recover data from RAID sets using proprietary striping algorithms in 3rd party storage solutions (EMC, Netapp, etc.).

[Rushy]

The real question is what the hell are you people doing that requires such thorough cleansing of your hard drives. If I gave my hard drive over to the NSA right now, completely intact, the most they would notice is I have a nigh inconceivable amount of science fiction games.

[xasop]

The real question is what the hell are you people doing that requires such thorough cleansing of your hard drives. If I gave my hard drive over to the NSA right now, completely intact, the most they would notice is I have a nigh inconceivable amount of science fiction games.

I keep logs of all my private IM conversations since 2008 archived permanently, as well as credentials for various online services, including FES. Do you really want the NSA reading all my chats with pizaaplanet about running this website and then using them to impersonate me with my own account?

For all you know, Barack Obama could be typing this post right now, trying to lead you off the trail.

[Pete Svarrior]

For all you know, Barack Obama could be typing this post right now, trying to lead you off the trail.

Let me be clear: this is currently not the case.

[Snupes]

For all you know, Barack Obama could be typing this post right now, trying to lead you off the trail.

Let me be clear: this is currently not the case.

Good job B. :]

[markjo]

I keep logs of all my private IM conversations since 2008 archived permanently, as well as credentials for various online services, including FES. Do you really want the NSA reading all my chats with pizaaplanet about running this website and then using them to impersonate me with my own account?

Ego much?

[Pete Svarrior]

Ego much?

Given that widespread surveillance of random citizens has already been shown to be fact, it's hardly a matter of ego.

[markjo]

Ego much?

Given that widespread surveillance of random citizens has already been shown to be fact, it's hardly a matter of ego.

Should the NSA/conspiracy really care what you guys talk about?

[Pete Svarrior]

Should the NSA/conspiracy really care what you guys talk about?

They shouldn't, but we already know they do.

[Rushy]

What are you hiding, terrorist?