26 Oct
2005
26 Oct
'05
2:18 p.m.
>>>> "Adrian" == Adrian Graham
<witchy at binarydinosaurs.co.uk> writes:
Adrian> On 26/10/05 19:49, "Erik Klein"
Adrian> <classiccmp at vintage-computer.com> wrote:
> The question is: how do I clean the drives
completely without any
> real chance of data being recovered? The only other option would
> be to leave the drives behind so they can be crushed.
Adrian> Later versions of VMS have an $init/erase command that
Adrian> physically writes zeroes to the disk; the best way of
Adrian> properly initialising is to put the drives through a
Adrian> degausser ...
NO! That will destroy your drives permanently. If you do that,
you'll erase the servo data, which means that all you have left is a
paperweight.
At one time there existed drives that have no servo data, but I think
all of those are sufficiently ancient that VMS doesn't support them.
The only example I can think of is the RK05.
paul