There are two options you can choose from-Mersenne Twister and ISAAC-but keeping the default one should be perfectly fine. Pressing the P key will open the PRNG (Pseudo Random Number Generator) settings. If you want to choose which hard drives to erase, as well as customize the wipe method, see the next step, which covers interactive mode. Type one of these commands into DBAN to start wiping all your hard drives with that specific data wipe method.

You can use any of them that you think is necessary, but ones like gutmann are surely an overkill that will only take more time to complete. As an example, gutmann will overwrite the files with a random character, and do so up to 35 times, whereas quick will write a zero and only do it once.ĭBAN recommends using the dodshort command. Select the links next to the commands to read more about how they work. You can also use the autonuke command, which is the same thing as dodshort. dodshort - Same as dod except only 3 passes are run instead of 7.In bold are the commands DBAN supports, followed by the data sanitization method they use: If you know how you want to proceed, and you're confident that there's nothing on any connected drive that you want to keep, then go for it.Ĭontinue with this tutorial for some more options or if you're not sure which way to go.ĭBAN Commands and Data Sanitization Method You can read more about that screen in Step 7. To have the flexibility to choose the hard drives you want to erase, how many times you want the files to be overwritten, and more specific options, press the ENTER key at this screen to open interactive mode.The options you see there (as well as the autonuke one) are described in full detail in the next step. For the quick method of erasing every hard drive plugged in, you'll want to press the F3 key.As you can see, the F2 and F4 options are informational only, so you don't have to be concerned about reading through them unless you have a RAID system set up (which probably isn't the case for most of you.you would probably know if so).

There are your options from the DBAN menu: Or, you can choose the hard drives you want to erase, as well as select exactly how you want them to be deleted. You can either enter a command at the bottom of the screen to immediately start erasing all the hard drives you have plugged into your computer, using a predefined set of instructions.

Secure erase hard drive