Post #4160716

2026-07-28 10:01 UTC

Computer security people, Is there any point erasing a brand new HDD when formatting it for first use? (I used to always do this just in case, but the HDD I now want to format seems really slow to erase and it would take days to do.) #AskFedi #ComputerSecurity

Replies (1)

@RantingCanuck@mstdn.ca 2026-07-28 11:29

@FediThing@social.chinwag.org There is always a risk (albeit a small one) that malware was placed on the drive somewhere in the supply chain. Neither wiping or formatting will address malware if it is in the firmware of the drive itself, but both are sufficient for eliminating it if it is in the data sectors of the drive. My personal best practice is to delete the factory partitions and reparation the drive with my own (in the format I actually want). Even on the largest of drives it only takes a few minutes. Performing a full wipe is unnecessary as the formatting process tells your OS that the drive is empty and it can overwrite any empty sector, which in turns means any malware written to the drive isn't seen by the OS.

Open ##4162251