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 over-
writing 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 octal, decimal or hexadec-
imal base.
-c, --count NUM
Define the number of times the unused space is to be overwrit-
ten. If both options --bytes and --count are set, the space is
repeatedly overwritten this number of times by each of the val-
ues 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 replacement bytes are random
ones or taken from a standard list.
-t, --tails
Overwrite the space at the end of files which is unused, but al-
located because the allocations are always done by full clus-
ters.
-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 overwrite 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@lists.sf.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 2022.10.3 June 2014 NTFSWIPE(8)
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