{"id":2056,"date":"2019-03-20T13:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2056"},"modified":"2019-03-15T20:46:37","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T20:46:37","slug":"how-to-securely-wipe-unused-space-on-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/2056\/how-to-securely-wipe-unused-space-on-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Securely wipe unused space on Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"254\" data-attachment-id=\"2066\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/2056\/how-to-securely-wipe-unused-space-on-windows\/securely_wipe_free_space\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_wipe_free_space.jpg?fit=800%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"800,300\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"securely_wipe_free_space\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_wipe_free_space.jpg?fit=300%2C113&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_wipe_free_space.jpg?fit=678%2C254&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_wipe_free_space.jpg?resize=678%2C254&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_wipe_free_space.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_wipe_free_space.jpg?resize=300%2C113&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_wipe_free_space.jpg?resize=768%2C288&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_wipe_free_space.jpg?resize=50%2C19&amp;ssl=1 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This post talks about how you can securely wipe the unused space on Windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why you might want to clear unused space?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have recently deleted files you want to keep safe from recovery you will want to securely erase it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is important to erase them securely as deleting files only marks them as removed. They may still exist on the hard drive and be accessible to recovery tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sanitising your free space<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Windows includes a useful tool which works by overwriting your free space. First all the space is written with <code>0x00<\/code>, then with <code>0xFF<\/code> and then finally with a random character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before running this tool it is recommended to close as many programs as you can, so temporary files can be overwritten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To clear all the empty space on the C drive, you can run the following command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">cipher \/w:C<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The final character is the drive letter that you want to clear, so this can be run across any drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please remember that this only operates on the free space on your drive. This means that if you are using it at the time any non-free space will not be overwritten. Many programs will temporarily store files on the hard drive which may contain sensitive information. This is why it is recommended to close all programs not in use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post talks about how you can securely wipe the unused space on Windows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Today I have written a short post on how to Securely wipe unused space on #Windows","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[125,335,334,29],"class_list":["post-2056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-informational","tag-encryption","tag-secure-erase","tag-security","tag-windows"],"wppr_data":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/securely_erase_free_space_windows.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2toWX-xa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":615,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/615\/compressing-raspberry-pi-backups-automatically\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":0},"title":"Compressing Raspberry Pi backups automatically","author":"Chewett","date":"November 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I will be improving the basic script used to backup my Raspberry Pi's so that it compresses the files after they have been copied. This will allow me to store several backups instead of having a single copy stored on my computer. This assumes you have followed the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Raspberry Pi Cluster&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Raspberry Pi Cluster","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/category\/raspberry-pi-cluster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/compressing_raspberry_pi.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/compressing_raspberry_pi.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/compressing_raspberry_pi.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/compressing_raspberry_pi.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":513,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/513\/ubuntu-boot-menu-not-showing-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":1},"title":"Ubuntu boot menu not showing windows","author":"Chewett","date":"August 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently installed Ubuntu on a PC that also ran windows and it looks like it failed to detect windows. 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Original Problem Someone contacted me and said they couldnt verify the API's against the hashes I provided. 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This gives the first requirement of a tool to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Software&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Software","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/category\/software\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/tailing_logs_baretail.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/tailing_logs_baretail.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/tailing_logs_baretail.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/tailing_logs_baretail.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":569,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/569\/creating-raspberry-pi-backup-script-scp-bash-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":5},"title":"Creating a Raspberry Pi backup script with scp and Bash on Windows","author":"Chewett","date":"August 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This post describes a simple way to keep backups of a Raspberry Pi or any other Linux computer. 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