                                  WIPEDISK

Description:   Overwrites either an entire disk or the deleted and unused
               areas on the disk. Overwritten data cannot be read.

Syntax:        Version 3.0:   WIPEDISK (drive:)

               Version 3.1:   WIPEDISK (drive:) [/E] [/G] [/LOG] [/R(n)]
                              [/V(n)]

               Version 4.0, 4.5:   WIPEDISK (drive:) [/E] [/G(n)] [/LOG]
                                   [/R(n)] [/V(n)]

                                 Parameters:

(drive:)       The single-letter specifier (A:, B:, C:, etc.) for the drive
               you want to process. Follow the letter with a colon. You must
               supply the (drive:) parameter.

/E             Writes over unallocated areas of the disk and does not destroy
               format information or current files. Unallocated areas might
               contain data from files that have been deleted; use this
               switch to ensure that deleted files cannot be read again.

/G             Follows U.S. government erasing standards for writing over
               data. If you include this switch, WIPEDISK writes binary 1s
               (hexadecimal FF) on the first pass, binary 0s on the second
               pass, and either a default value of 246 (hexadecimal F6) or
               the value you specify with the /V switch on the third pass.
               After the third write pass, WIPEDISK read-verifies the last
               value written. In versions 4.0 and 4.5, you can specify the
               number of times you want WIPEDISK to repeat the first two
               write passes by adding a number to the /G switch; the default
               number for (n) is 3. In all versions, you can use the /R
               switch to specify the number of times you want WIPEDISK to
               repeat the entire write-over cycle.

/LOG           Displays diagnostic output as separate (not overlaid) output
               you can direct to either a printer or a disk file. You can
               send the output to a printer or a disk file by including the
               MS-DOS redirection character ()) followed by a printer name or
               filename at the end of the command.

/R(n)          Repeats the write passes (n) times. The default value  is 1.

/V(n)          Uses the binary equivalent of the decimal value (n) when
               writing over data. If you do not use the /G switch, the
               default value is 0.


                                   Notes:


The MS-DOS Delete and Erase commands do not destroy data or completely remove
directory entries. To ensure that data is completely erased and cannot be
reused, you must use WIPEDISK or WIPEFILE.

When you use WIPEDISK to write over an entire disk, the command writes over
all data, including the format information (unless you use the /E switch).
You must reformat the disk before you can use it again.


    ** CAUTION ** CAUTION  **CAUTION ** CAUTION ** CAUTION ** CAUTION **

When you use WIPEDISK to write over data, you cannot recover the data by
using the FR (Format Recover), the NU (Norton Utilities), or the QU (Quick
UnErase) command. WIPEDISK always asks for confirmation before it begins
execution. If you discover you have started WIPEDISK by mistake, you can halt
execution by entering Ctrl-C (^C) or Ctrl-Break (^[). WIPEDISK begins erasing
from the last track on the disk, so quickly halting the execution of WIPEDISK
might save much of your data.










Example:       To use U.S. government erasing standards to write over the
               data that might have been stored in areas that are currently
               unallocated on the disk in drive B.

               Enter:    WIPEDISK b: /E /G

See <NUFR>, <NUNU>, <NUQU>, <NUUD>, <NUWIPEFI>.

