NTFSWIPE(8) - man - phpMan

NTFSWIPE(8)                            System Manager's Manual                           NTFSWIPE(8)



NAME
       ntfswipe - overwrite unused space on an NTFS volume

SYNOPSIS
       ntfswipe [options] device

DESCRIPTION
       ntfswipe  clears  all or part of unused space on an NTFS volume by overwriting with zeroes or
       random bytes.

OPTIONS
       Below is a summary of all the options that ntfswipe accepts.  Nearly  all  options  have  two
       equivalent  names.  The short name is preceded by - and the long name is preceded by --.  Any
       single letter options, that don't take an argument, can be combined into  a  single  command,
       e.g.  -fv is equivalent to -f -v.  Long named options can be abbreviated to any unique prefix
       of their name.

       -a, --all
              Wipe all unused space. This may take significant time. If the option --unused-fast (or
              -U) is also present, the faster wiping method is used.

       -b, --bytes BYTE-LIST
              Define  the allowed replacement bytes which are drawn randomly to overwrite the unused
              space. BYTE-LIST is a comma-separated list of values in range 0-255 expressed  in  oc‐
              tal, decimal or hexadecimal base.

       -c, --count NUM
              Define  the  number  of  times  the unused space is to be overwritten. If both options
              --bytes and --count are set, the space is repeatedly overwritten this number of  times
              by each of the values in the list.

       -d, --directory
              Wipe all the directory indexes, which may contain names of deleted files.

       -f, --force
              This  will  override  some sensible defaults, such as not using a mounted volume.  Use
              this option with caution.

       -h, --help
              Show a list of options with a brief description of each one.

       -i, --info
              Display details about unused space, without wiping anything.

       -l, --logfile
              Overwrite the logfile (update journal).

       -m, --mft
              Overwrite the unused space in the MFT (main file table, which contains the file names,
              and the contents of short files).

       -n, --no-action
              Executes the wiping process without writing to device.

       -p, --pagefile
              Overwrite the Windows swap space.

       -q, --quiet
              Suppress some debug/warning/error messages.

       -s, --undel
              Overwrite the space which had been allocated to a file which has been deleted recently
              and is still undeletable. This option is not compatible with --bytes and the  replace‐
              ment bytes are random ones or taken from a standard list.

       -t, --tails
              Overwrite the space at the end of files which is unused, but allocated because the al‐
              locations are always done by full clusters.

       -u, --unused
              Overwrite the space which is currently not allocated to any file (but  may  have  been
              used in the past).

       -U, --unused-fast
              Overwrite  the space which is currently not allocated to any file, trying not to over‐
              write the space not written to since the previous wiping.

       -v, --verbose
              Display more debug/warning/error messages. This option may be used  twice  to  display
              even more messages.

       -V, --version
              Show the version number, copyright and license of ntfswipe.

EXAMPLES
       Wipe out all unused space in an NTFS volume.

              ntfswipe -a /dev/sda1

       Wipe out all deleted file names from an NTFS volume.

              ntfswipe -dms /dev/sda1


BUGS
       There are no known problems with ntfswipe.  If you find a bug please send an email describing
       the problem to the development team:
       ntfs-3g-devel AT lists.net

AUTHORS
       ntfswipe was written by Richard Russon, Anton Altaparmakov and Yura Pakhuchiy.  It was ported
       to ntfs-3g by Erik Larsson.

AVAILABILITY
       ntfswipe is part of the ntfs-3g package and is available from:
       https://github.com/tuxera/ntfs-3g/wiki/

SEE ALSO
       ntfs-3g(8), ntfsls(8), ntfsprogs(8)



ntfs-3g 2021.8.22                             June 2014                                  NTFSWIPE(8)