The Great Zero Challenge

[Mary Hawking]

>>> These dudes are challenging people to recover data from a disk that's
>>> been overwritten with zeros once.    The silence is deafening: you
>>> would naively expect that companies that sell data erasure software
>>> would be able to test their own software to show that it wipes 
>>>blanker
>>> than mere dd-ing of zeroes over the top, but clearly not...
>>
>> The rules of the challenge forbid disassembly of the drive.  It's not
>> a serious challenge.
>
>Unless you're a data recovery firm.


I have some computers I am reluctant to get rid of because of data on 
them (personal - but *I* consider it confidential!)
The terms of the challenge say
"We used the 32 year-old Unix dd command using /dev/zero as input to 
overwrite the drive. "
Is this command as efficient as Slashdot implies, and if so could I run 
it on Windows 98, 2000 and XP?
If not, could I use it by linking an ASUS eee (the basic one with Linux) 
and a cable?
Data erasure programs seem to be both inefficient and expensive!
Mary Hawking

-- 
Mary Hawking