User Manual

KillDisk

USER MANUAL

ver. 24

Updated: 24 Jan 2024

|Contents|ii

Contents

Introduction.....................................................................................................4

Sanitization Types...............................................................................................................................................................................4

Sanitization Standards......................................................................................................................................................................5

Erase Confidential Data................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Wipe Confidential Data................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Data Recovery......................................................................................................................................................................................7

Overview.........................................................................................................8

System Requirements....................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Software Licensing...........................................................................................................................................................................10

Register Online.............................................................................................................................................................................10

Register Offline.............................................................................................................................................................................12

Deactivate License.......................................................................................................................................................................14

Software Updates.............................................................................................................................................................................16

Getting Started............................................................................................. 16

Installation.........................................................................................................................................................................................17

Navigation...........................................................................................................................................................................................18

Disk Explorer...................................................................................................................................................................................... 20

Create a Boot Disk..........................................................................................................................................................................21

Usage Scenarios............................................................................................ 22

Disk Erase............................................................................................................................................................................................22

Disk Area to Erase...................................................................................................................................................................... 27

Disk Wipe............................................................................................................................................................................................ 27

Resume Erase.....................................................................................................................................................................................30

Secure Erase.......................................................................................................................................................................................32

Processing Summary...................................................................................................................................................................... 34

Certificates, Labels and Reports................................................................................................................................................ 37

Erase Certificates......................................................................................................................................................................... 37

Disk Labels..................................................................................................................................................................................... 41

XML Reports..................................................................................................................................................................................44

Helper Features.................................................................................................................................................................................46

Map Network Shares.................................................................................................................................................................46

Set Disk Serial Number............................................................................................................................................................ 47

Reset Hidden Areas....................................................................................................................................................................48

Property Views............................................................................................................................................................................. 49

Command Line and Batch Mode..............................................................................................................................................52

Command Line Mode............................................................................................................................................................... 52

Batch Mode................................................................................................................................................................................... 55

Advanced Tools.............................................................................................56

File Browser........................................................................................................................................................................................ 56

Disk Viewer.........................................................................................................................................................................................57

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Preferences.................................................................................................... 60

General Settings............................................................................................................................................................................... 61

Secure Erase.......................................................................................................................................................................................64

Erase Certificate................................................................................................................................................................................66

Company Information.................................................................................................................................................................... 69

Technician Information.................................................................................................................................................................. 70

Processing Report............................................................................................................................................................................71

Processing CSV Log........................................................................................................................................................................73

Disk Label Presets............................................................................................................................................................................74

Disk Viewer.........................................................................................................................................................................................79

Error Handling...................................................................................................................................................................................80

E-mail Notifications.........................................................................................................................................................................80

Troubleshooting............................................................................................82

Common Tips.................................................................................................................................................................................... 82

Application Log.................................................................................................................................................................................83

Hardware Diagnostic File..............................................................................................................................................................85

Appendix........................................................................................................86

How Fast Erasing Occurs?............................................................................................................................................................86

Erase Disk Concepts....................................................................................................................................................................... 90

Wipe Disk Concepts....................................................................................................................................................................... 94

Erase Methods.................................................................................................................................................................................. 99

KillDisk and PXE............................................................................................................................................................................. 101

Config File KILLDISK.INI..............................................................................................................................................................106

Customizing Boot Disk................................................................................................................................................................110

Name Tags........................................................................................................................................................................................113

Virtual Disks.....................................................................................................................................................................................115

Disk Hidden Zones....................................................................................................................................................................... 116

Glossary............................................................................................................................................................................................. 118

Legal Statement..........................................................................................126

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Introduction

As a relatively new technology an overwhelming majority of people, businesses and organizations do not

understand the importance of security in digital data storage. The average hard drive stores thousands of

files written on it and many of them contain sensitive information. Over the course of a hard drives lifetime

the likelihood for recoverable remnants of sensitive information left on a hard drive at its end of life is very

high. To see this just try out KillDisk's File Browser on your system drive. You'll be surprised to see what you

find!

The modern storage environment is rapidly evolving. Data may pass through multiple organizations,

systems, and storage media in its lifetime. The pervasive nature of data propagation is only increasing as

the Internet and data storage systems move towards a distributed cloud-based architecture. As a result,

more parties than ever are responsible for effectively sanitizing media and the potential is substantial

for sensitive data to be collected and retained on the media. This responsibility is not limited to those

organizations that are the originators or final resting places of sensitive data, but also intermediaries who

transiently store or process the information along the way. The efficient and effective management of

information from inception through disposition is the responsibility of all those who have handled the data.

The application of sophisticated access controls and encryption help reduce the likelihood that an

attacker can gain direct access to sensitive information. As a result, parties attempting to obtain sensitive

information may seek to focus their efforts on alternative access means such as retrieving residual data on

media that has left an organization without sufficient sanitization effort having been applied. Consequently,

the application of effective sanitization techniques and tracking of storage media are critical aspects of

ensuring that sensitive data is effectively protected by an organization against unauthorized disclosure.

Protection of information is paramount. That information may be on paper, optical, electronic or magnetic

media.

An organization may choose to dispose of media by charitable donation, internal or external transfer, or by

recycling it in accordance with applicable laws and regulations if the media is obsolete or no longer usable.

Even internal transfers require increased scrutiny, as legal and ethical obligations make it more important

than ever to protect data such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII). No matter what the final intended

destination of the media is, it is important that the organization ensure that no easily recoverable residual

representation of the data is stored on the media after it has left the control of the organization or is no

longer going to be protected at the confidentiality categorization of the data stored on the media.

Sanitization refers to a process that renders access to target data on the media infeasible for a given level of

effort.

Note:

Additionally, try formatting a USB drive with files on it and browse it with KillDisk's File Browser as

well. Data leakages are not limited to hard drives!

Sanitization Types

NIST 800-88 international security standard (Guidelines for Media Sanitization) defines different types of

sanitization.

Regarding sanitization, the principal concern is ensuring that data is not unintentionally released. Data is

stored on media, which is connected to a system. Simply data sanitization applied to a representation of the

data as stored on a specific media type.

When media is re-purposed or reaches end of life, the organization executes the system life cycle

sanitization decision for the information on the media. For example, a mass-produced commercial software

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program contained on a DVD in an unopened package is unlikely to contain confidential data. Therefore,

the decision may be made to simply dispose of the media without applying any sanitization technique.

Alternatively, an organization is substantially more likely to decide that a hard drive from a system that

processed Personally Identifiable Information (PII) needs sanitization prior to Disposal.

Disposal without sanitization should be considered only if information disclosure would have no impact

on organizational mission, would not result in damage to organizational assets, and would not result in

financial loss or harm to any individuals. The security categorization of the information, along with internal

environmental factors, should drive the decisions on how to deal with the media. The key is to first think

in terms of information confidentiality, then apply considerations based on media type. In organizations,

information exists that is not associated with any categorized system. Sanitization is a process to render

access to target data (the data subject to the sanitization technique) on the media infeasible for a given

level of recovery effort. The level of effort applied when attempting to retrieve data may range widely. NIST

SP 800-88 Rev. 1 Guidelines for Media Sanitization Clear, Purge, and Destroy are actions that can be taken

to sanitize media. The categories of sanitization are defined as follows:

Clear

Clear applies logical techniques to sanitize data in all user-addressable storage locations for protection

against simple non-invasive data recovery techniques; typically applied through the standard Read and

Write commands to the storage device, such as by rewriting with a new value or using a menu option to

reset the device to the factory state (where rewriting is not supported).

For HDD/SSD/SCSI/USB media this means overwrite media by using organizationally approved and

validated overwriting technologies/methods/tools. The Clear pattern should be at least a single write

pass with a fixed data value, such as all zeros. Multiple write passes or more complex values may

optionally be used.

KillDisk supports Clear sanitization type through the Disk Erase command for all R/W magnetic types of

media, more than 20 international sanitation methods including custom patterns implemented and can

be used.

Purge

Purge applies physical or logical techniques that render Target Data recovery infeasible using state of the

art laboratory techniques.

For HDD/SSD/SCSI/USB media this means ATA SECURE ERASE UNIT, ATA CRYPTO SCRAMBLE EXT, ATA

EXT OVERWRITE, ATA/SCSI SANITIZE and other low-level direct controller commands.

KillDisk supports Purge sanitization type through the Secure Erase command only for media types

supporting ATA extensions.

Destroy

Destroy renders Target Data recovery infeasible using state of the art laboratory techniques and results in

the subsequent inability to use the media for storage of data due to physical damages.

For HDD/SSD/SCSI media this means Shred, Disintegrate, Pulverize, or Incinerate by burning the device in

a licensed incinerator.

It is suggested that the user categorize the information, assess the nature of the medium on which it

is recorded, assess the risk to confidentiality, and determine the future plans for the media. Then, the

organization can choose the appropriate type(s) of sanitization. The selected type(s) should be assessed

as to cost, environmental impact, etc., and a decision should be made that best mitigates the risk to

confidentiality and best satisfies other constraints imposed on the process.

International Standards in Data Destruction

KillDisk works with dozens of international sanitizing standards for clearing and sanitizing data including

the US DoD 5220.22-M and NIST 800-88 standards. You can be sure that once you erase a disk with

KillDisk all the sensitive information is destroyed forever.

KillDisk is a professional security application that destroys data permanently from any computer that can

be started using a boot USB or CD/DVD. Access to the drive's data is made on the physical level via the

BIOS (Basic Input-Output Subsystem) bypassing the operating system’s logical drive structure organization.

Regardless of the operating system, file systems or machine types, this utility can destroy all data on all

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storage devices. It does not matter which operating systems or file systems are located on the machine

which disks being sanitized.

Supported Sanitizing Standards:

• US DoD 5220.22-M

• US DoE M205.1-2

• Canadian CSEC ITSG-06

• Canadian OPS-II

• British HMG IS5 Baseline

• British HMG IS5 Enhanced

• Russian GOST p50739-95

• US Army AR380-19

• US Air Force 5020

• NAVSO P-5329-26 RL

• NCSC-TG-025

• NSA 130-2

• NIST 800-88

• German VSITR

• Bruce Schneier

• Peter Gutmann

• Australian ISM-6.2.93

User Defined Erase Method

KillDisk offers User Defined erase method where user indicates the number of times the write head

passes over each sector. Each overwriting pass is performed with a buffer containing user-defined or

random characters. User Defined method allows to define any kind of new erase algorithms based on user

requirements.

Secure Erase for SSD

KillDisk offers low-level ATA Secure Erase method for Solid State Drives (SSD). According to National

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-88: Guidelines for Media Sanitation,

Secure Erase is "An overwrite technology using firmware based process to overwrite a hard drive. Is a

drive command defined in the ANSI ATA and SCSI disk drive interface specifications, which runs inside

drive hardware. It completes in about 1/8 the time of 5220 block erasure." The guidelines also state that

"degaussing and executing the firmware Secure Erase command (for ATA drives only) are acceptable methods

for purging." ATA Secure Erase (SE) is designed for SSD controllers. The SSD controller resets all memory

cells making them empty. In fact, this method restores the SSD to the factory state, not only deleting data

but also returning the original performance. When implemented correctly, this standard processes all

memory, including service areas and protected sectors.

Related information

Erase Methods on page 99

Erase Confidential Data

Modern methods of data encryption are deterring network attackers from extracting sensitive data from

stored database files.

Attackers (who want to retrieve confidential data) become more resourceful and look for places where

data might be stored temporarily. For example, the Windows DELETE command merely changes the files

attributes and location so that the operating system will not look for the file located on FAT/exFAT volumes.

The situation with NTFS file system is similar.

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One avenue of attack is the recovery of data from residual data on a discarded hard drive. When deleting

confidential data from hard drives, removable disks or USB devices, it is important to extract all traces of the

data so that recovery is not possible.

Most official guidelines regarding the disposal of confidential magnetic data do not take into account the

depth of today's recording densities nor the methods used by the OS when removing data.

Removal of confidential personal information or company trade secrets in the past might have been

performed using the FORMAT command or the FDISK command. Using these procedures gives users a

sense of confidence that the data has been completely removed.

When using the FORMAT command Windows displays a message like this: Formatting a disk

removes all information from the disk.

Actually the FORMAT utility creates new empty directories at the root area, leaving all previous data on the

disk untouched. Moreover, an image of the replaced FAT tables is stored so that the UNFORMAT command

can be used to restore them.

FDISK merely cleans the Partition Table (located in the drive's first sector) and does not touch anything else.

Moreover, most of hard disks contain hidden zones (disk areas that cannot be accessed and addressed on a

logical access level). KillDisk is able to detect and reset these zones, cleaning up the information inside.

Related information

Disk Erase on page 63

Erase Disk Concepts on page 90

Disk Hidden Zones on page 116

Wipe Confidential Data

You may have some confidential data on your hard drive in spaces where the data is stored temporarily.

You may also have deleted files by using the Windows Recycle Bin and then emptying it. While you are still

using your local hard drive there may be confidential information available in these unoccupied spaces.

Wiping the logical drive's deleted data does not delete existing files and folders. It processes all unoccupied

drive space so that recovery of previously deleted files becomes impossible. Installed applications and

existing data are not touched by this process.

When you wipe unoccupied drive space on the system disk, the process must be run under operating

system booted from CD/DVD/USB disk. As a result the wipe or erase process uses an operating system that

is outside the local hard drive and is not impeded by Windows system caching. This means that deleted

Windows system records can be wiped clean.

KillDisk wipes unused data residue from file slack space, unused sectors and unused space in system

records or directory records.

Wiping drive space can take a long time, so do this when the system is not being actively used. For

example, this can be done overnight.

Related tasks

Disk Wipe on page 27

Related information

Wipe Disk Concepts on page 94

Data Recovery

Advances in data recovery have been made such that data can be reclaimed in many cases from hard drives

that have been wiped and disassembled. Security agencies use advanced applications to find cybercrime

related evidence. Also there are established industrial spy agencies using sophisticated channel coding

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techniques such as PRML (Partial Response Maximum Likelihood), a technique used to reconstruct the

data on magnetic disks. Other methods include the use of magnetic force microscopy and recovery of data

based on patterns in erase bands.

Although there are very sophisticated data recovery systems available at a high price. Almost all the data

can also be easily restored with an off-the-shelf data recovery utility like Active@ File Recovery, making

your erased confidential data quite accessible.

Using KillDisk all data on your hard drive or removable device can be destroyed without the possibility

of future recovery. After using KillDisk the process of disposal, recycling, selling or donating your storage

device can be done with peace of mind.

Related information

Getting Started on page 16

Usage Scenarios on page 22

Erase Disk Concepts on page 90

Overview

Active@ KillDisk

Active@ KillDisk is a powerful and portable software that allows you to destroy all data on Hard Disks,

Solid State Disks (SSD) & USB drives, excluding any possibility of deleted files and folders data recovery.

KillDisk advanced features include:

• Enhanced visualization of physical disks and erase processes

• Improved handling of disks with controller malfunctions

• Stable handling of hot-swappable and dynamic disks

• Sound notifications for completed erase jobs with different results

• Auto hibernate or shutdown the system after all jobs are completed

• Enhanced certificates and reports for disk erase and wipe

• Advanced Disk Viewer with flexible Search for low-level disk inspection

• Customizable file names for certificates & XML reports

• Unique Computer ID can be displayed in certificates/reports

• Disk health - SMART information can be displayed and monitored

• Customizable look & feel: four different application styles included

• ATA Secure Erase option for SSD (Linux and Console packages only)

New features for version 24 include:

• Added Barcodes and QR codes to labels and certificates

• Export erase results to CSV log

• Minor bug fixes and functionality improvements

• Latest kernel version 14.1.17 including many improvements

New features for version 23 include:

• Improved output to certificates and application log

• Improved submitting online requests

• Improved work with NTFS volumes formatted with large cluster size

• Latest kernel including bug fixes and improvements

New features for version 15 include:

• Dark application style by default

• Configurable dynamic disks (LDM\LVM) reconstruction

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• Device view filtering improved

• Bug fixes and performance improvements

• Latest kernel including bug fixes and improvements

New features for version 14 include:

• Added context help

• Dialogs adopted for low-resolution monitors (800x600)

• Secure e-mail notifications provided (added SSL & TLS support for SMTP)

• Improved Console functionality to support the latest hardware

• Latest kernel including bug fixes and improvements

New features for version 13 include:

• Resume Disk erase action to continue interrupted disk erase due to disk malfunction or errors

• Digitally signed PDF certificate with optional encryption and visual signature presentation

• Secure Erase (ATA command) implementation for Solid State Drives (SSD)

• Enhanced faulty disks detection and handling

• Bug fixes and major performance improvements

New features for version 12 include:

• Customizable Printable Labels

• Customizable Sound Notifications

• Redesigned and improved printable Certificates and Reports

• Disk Serial Number can be properly detected for most scenarios, including disks connected via USB

• Many other enhancements and stability improvements while working with unstable disks

This release is available as an executable to run in your desktop environment, or in a bootable environment

with the help of the Active@ Boot Disk Creator - the bootable disk creation tool included in the

installation package.

Related information

Erase Methods on page 99

System Requirements

KillDisk runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Apple macOS/OS X operating systems with the following

minimum requirements:

Workstation:

• PC: x64 (64-bit) or x86 (32-bit)

• CPU: Intel or AMD

• RAM: 512 Mb (Windows), 1 Gb (Linux), 1GB (macOS)

• Disk: 100Mb of disk space

Video:

• VGA (1024x768) or better resolution

Operating System:

• Windows XP to Windows 11, Windows Servers 2003 to 2022

• Linux Kernel 2.x or later (all Linux family: Ubuntu, Debian...)

• Apple macOS / OS X 10.12 or later

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Drive Storage:

• CD/DVD/Blu-Ray optical drive (for applicable boot disk features)

• USB 1.0 / 2.0 / 3.0 / 3.1 / 3.2 storage device (for applicable boot disk features)

• Disk types supported:

• HDD via IDE, ATA, SATA I, SATA II, SATA III, SAS

• SSD via SATA I, SATA II, SATA III, SAS

• External eSATA & USB disks

• SCSI & iSCSI devices

• Onboard NVMe M.2 (SATA & PCI-E types)

• Removable media (USB drive, MemoryStick, SD card, Compact Flash, Floppy Disk, Zip Drive)

KillDisk supports all drives visible by the OS with read/write access, additional drivers can be loaded onto

the boot disk for drivers not included by default in the bootable environment.

Related information

Installation on page 17

Software Licensing

KillDisk is licensed per concurrent use of the software and for each concurrent disk being erased or

wiped outlined in the EULA. The maximum number of disks erased in parallel corresponds to the number

of purchased licenses.

One corporate license grants you an ability to run the software on one machine and erase one disk at any

given time. To run on several machines in an office (or to erase multiple drives in parallel on one machine)

you require the corresponding number of licenses.

Site and Enterprise licenses grant the license holder use of the software in one geographical location and

worldwide respectively.

This licensing is maintained through software registration and activation. Once the commercial version of

KillDisk is purchased the license holder will receive an email with their Registered Name and Registration

Key . Every machine that needs to use the fully-functional version of the software needs to be activated with

this key.

Activations are limited to the number of licenses held. To transfer from one machine to another they must

be deactivated from decommissioned hardware first.

For boot disks containing KillDisk the Active@ Boot Disk Creator must be registered with a registration

key.

For this task you require an active internet connection for the PC you wish to register the product on.

After installation Active@ KillDisk still starts as a FREE (unregistered) version having limited functionality.

You need to register it first to have all professional features activated. To register the software:

1. Start registration wizard

On application first start Registration & Licensing dialog launched by default. If freeware software has

already been registered, the dialog does not appear at start. In this case click Registration menu item

from Help menu.

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2. Select register option

Select the Register or Upgrade Software radio button. Read the License agreement and activate

the check box to agree to the Terms and Conditions of the license. Click Next to proceed with the

registration.

Figure 1: Registration Dialog

3. Type registration info

Type your name into Registration Name field, then copy & paste your 30-digit registration key obtained

after software purchase into the Registration Key field. Registration and network activation should be

completed automatically. You should receive a response that the software has been registered. The

registration is now complete. You may click Next to go to the final confirmation and click Finish to

close registration wizard.

Figure 2: Registration Complete

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Now you have access to all professional features of the application.

Note: If your registration key is too long you are using the key for an earlier version. Ensure you

update to the latest version by making sure your support and updates are active and use the key to

this latest version. This can be done through your client profile.

For this method of activation, you need another PC with a web browser and active Internet connection and

a USB flash disk for transferring activation data.

Note: Use this method only if the computer you are activating does not have Internet access.

In some cases such as security reasons or corporate firewalls you may not have access to an Internet

connection on the machine you wish to install the software on.

For product registration and activation offline:

1. Start registration wizard

On application first start Registration & Licensing dialog launched by default. If freeware software has

already been registered, the dialog does not appear at start. In this case click Registration menu item

from Help menu.

2. Select register option

Select the Register or Upgrade Software radio button. Read the License agreement and activate

the check box to agree to the Terms and Conditions of the license. Click Next to proceed with the

registration.

Figure 3: Registration Dialog

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3. Type registration info

Type your name into Registration Name field, then copy & paste your 30-digit registration key obtained

after software purchase into the Registration Key field. The Activation Request and Activation Response

boxes will appear:

Figure 4: Offline Activation Request

Click Save... to store registration request to a file. Copy this file to a USB drive.

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4. Activate via internet

Bring the USB drive to a computer with an active Internet connection.

Open Web browser and navigate to https://www.lsoft.net/act/

Import the request file using the Choose File button and click Load

Click Process! to generate the Activation Response

Save the response to your USB drive by clicking Save to *.licenseActivated

Figure 5: Activate in Browser

5. Complete activation

Bring the USB drive to the PC with KillDisk installed and where activation request for offline activation

was created.

Click Load... button to import activation response from .licenseActivated file to the registration window

and click Activate button to complete and store offline activation.

Click Next and Finish buttons to confirm and close registration wizard.

You have now activated the software on your machine than does not have active internet connection.

Deactivate License

To transfer licenses from one machine to another you need to free up (remove) your activation on the

licensed machine. You may do this by deactivating the registration from within the KillDisk application:

1. Start registration wizard

Click Registration menu item from Help menu.

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2. Select deactivate option

Select the Deactivate Registration radio button. Click Next to proceed with the registration.

Figure 6: Registration Dialog

3. Deactivate registration

Click Deactivate Registration button to complete online license deactivation.

Figure 7: Deactivating Registration

Click Next and Finish buttons to confirm and close registration wizard.

Your active license is now revoked from your PC and may be used to activate a different computer.

Note: Uninstalling the application from the computer using the uninstaller will also deactivate your

license.

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|Getting Started|16

Software Updates

KillDisk has a built-in update feature to ensure you always have an access to the latest version of the

application. To check for updates, use the file menu bar to navigate to Help > Check for Updates

Figure 8: Check for Updates

Update dialog contains history of previously installed versions and updates.

If a new version or update is detected it can be downloaded and installed on the next wizard steps.

Click Next button to proceed with an update, if exists. Software download and installation will start

automatically.

Note:

KillDisk stores your previously installed versions so you may roll back to any of your older versions

at any time. To rollback to previous version, just select target version, mark Rollback to previously

installed version check box and click Next button.

Getting Started

This section describes key features of KillDisk and explains its basic functionality.

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|Getting Started|17

Related tasks

Disk Erase on page 22

Installation

After purchasing Active@ KillDisk a registration key will be emailed to you as well as a download link to

installation package named KILLDISK-<VERSION>-SETUP.EXE (Windows versions) , KillDiskLinux.run.tar.gz

(Linux version) or KillDiskMacOS.dmg (Apple macOS/OS X). This file contains everything you need to get

started - just double click the file and installation wizard will take you through the setup process. You need

to have Administrator's privileges to be able to install it properly.

Note: If you purchased the Ultimate version you receive installation executable file to

run on Windows. To access the Linux installation files install KillDisk on your Windows

machine and navigate to the application directory. In Linux sub-folder you will find

the Linux installation files. The path to the Linux application will look something like: C:

\Program Files\LSoft Technologies\Active@ KillDisk Ultimate\Linux

\KillDisk_Linux_Installer.tar.gz

After installation Active@ KillDisk still starts as a FREEWARE (unregistered) version having limited

functionality. You need to register it first to have all professional features activated.

The installed package contains two main applications:

• Active@ KillDisk - Run this application to inspect local disks and erase/wipe your data

• Active@ Boot Disk Creator - Create a bootable CD/DVD/BD/USB disk to boot from and run

KillDisk. Using KillDisk this way allows you to wipe out confidential data from the system volumes

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|Getting Started|18

while gaining exclusive use to partitions because the operating system runs outside the partition

that you are securing.

Windows versions:

In order to install the application double click KILLDISK-<VERSION>-SETUP.EXE file and follow the

instructions in the installation wizard.

Linux versions:

In order to install KillDisk make sure you found the Linux installation file as mentioned in the note above.

Double click KillDisk_Linux_Installer.tar.gz in your Linux environment and unpack the archive to a proper

location.

To start installation simply run the following command in the directory where the archive was unpacked:

sudo ./KillDisk_Linux_Installer.run

KillDisk will be installed to /opt/lsoft/KillDisk/ and menu shortcut will be created.

Apple macOS / OS X versions:

In order to install KillDisk make sure you found the installation file as mentioned in the note above. Double

click KillDiskMacOS.dmg and follow installation steps. Drag and drop Active@ KillDisk to Applications

folder.

KillDisk will be installed as /Applications/KillDisk.app and KillDisk shortcut appears in Applications in

Finder.

Note: Boot Disk Creator and Boot Disks are not supplied for macOS / OS X because newest Apple

M1/M2 processors much differ from Intel architecture and do not support Windows-based or

Linux-based bootable environments. If purchased commercial version, you can still request Boot

Disk Creator for macOS /OS X plus related Boot Disks from us, however prepared bootable media

will boot and erase the only legacy Intel-based Macs (not M1/M2).

Navigation

Once the KillDisk application is launched the main application's dashboard appears. From here you can use

any of KillDisk's tools. This section describes main components of the application and navigation. The full

functionality and features of these components are discussed in corresponding sections later.

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Figure 9: KillDisk Dashboard

Where:

File Menu Bar

The file menu bar contains actions to perform nearly any operation in KillDisk such as accessing

Settings and Help sections, changing Views and what is visible in the dashboard, opening tools as well as

navigating between KillDisk's windows.

Tabbed Windows

Here you can navigate between KillDisk tabbed windows such as Disk Explorer, Application Log etc..

Command Toolbar

The command toolbar is a dynamic toolbar that allows the user to perform Tabbed Window-specific

actions (depending on the context).

Windowed View

Contains the window that is currently active. By default you can see here all HDD/SSD/USB disks attached

to the workstation.

Output Window

Contains the log of actions KillDisk has performed.

Advanced Tools Tabs

These tabs allow to navigate between the different Advanced Tools.

Advanced Tools Window

This window shows the data for the Advanced Tool selected. The window can be moved, popped out and

re-sized.

To browse through each of these Views click on the appropriate tab. You may also open a View from the

View menu:

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Figure 10: Access to Views via Menu

To open any View being closed, just select it from the View menu.

The status bar at the bottom of the workspace shows the current status of the application or status of the

activity in progress.

Related information

Property Views on page 49

Disk Explorer

Disk Explorer is a default workspace for the KillDisk application. All attached HDD/SSD/USB disks are

visualized here and can be selected for different actions. Commands like Disk Erase can be initiated from

here as well as progress displayed for actions performed with disks.

Figure 11: Disk Explorer View

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Related information

Preferences on page 60

Create a Boot Disk

Boot Disk Creator helps you to prepare a bootable CD/DVD/BD or USB storage device that you may use to

boot any PC and use KillDisk to destroy all data on the attached HDD and SSD.

To prepare a bootable disk:

1. Run Boot Disk Creator

Run application from the Windows Start menu on Windows platform. Boot Disk Creator wizard

appears.

2. Register software

This is an optional step: if software hasn't been registered yet, you need to register software first. Click

Registration link in the bottom-left corner.

3. Select bootable media

Select desired bootable media to be created: CD/DVD/Blu-ray Disc , USB Flash Drive or ISO Image File .

If several media disks are inserted, open Flash Drives combo box and choose a particular device. Click

Next to proceed to the next step.

Note: A USB Drive or blank CD/DVD/BD must be inserted and explicitly chosen on the first step

before you can proceed further.

Note: If inserted USB Flash Drive doesn't appear in drop-down list, click USB not listed:

Initialize Disk link. You should be able to find removable disk in list of all attached devices and

initialize it to make compatible with the application. Initialization process destroys all data on

the selected USB device.

4. Select target platform

Select the target platform for booting up: Windows-based Boot Disk , Linux-based LiveCD/LiveUSB or

Console-based Boot Disk (text mode application). Depending on version purchased one or more target

platforms are available for selection. Click Next to proceed to the next step.

5. Configure boot disk

Specify additional and customized boot disk options:

a) Configure System Boot Settings

To customize boot options click the System Boot Settings tab. You can change the default settings

to be used: Time Zone , Additional Language , Display Resolution , Display Scale , Default Application

Start and Auto-start Delay .

Network and Security sub-tabs allow to configure IP & Firewall settings, mapping a network

resource and protecting Boot Disk with a password.

b) Add your files

To add your custom files to the bootable media click User’s Files tab. Add files or folders with files

using the related buttons at the right side. Added items will be placed in the User_Files folder at the

root of bootable media.

c) Add extra drivers

To add specific drivers to be loaded automatically, click Add Drivers tab. Add all files for the

particular driver (*.INF, *.SYS, …). Added items will be placed in the BootDisk_Drivers folder at

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the root of bootable media. At boot time all *.INF files located in this folder will be installed (if

compatible with a platform).

d) Add scripts

To add specific scripts to be launched after Boot Disk is loaded, click Add Scripts tab. Add your

scripts (*.CMD files). Added files will be placed in the BootDisk_Scripts folder at the root of bootable

media. At boot time all *.CMD files located in this folder will be executed (if properly created for the

particular platform).

e) Add command line parameters

To add command line parameters for KillDisk start up, click Application Startup tab and type all

parameters required (read documentation first). This tab is only enabled when KillDisk has been set

up as a Default Application at Boot Disk start up.

f) Configure KillDisk environment

To specify paths for KillDisk Certificate Logo file (LPG/PNG/BMP), Settings file (XML), Digital

Signature file (PFX) and Volume name to store Certificates/Logs/Reports, click App Config tab

and enter configuration information. You can configure storing Erase Certificates and reports to a

mapped network share.

Click Next to proceed to the final step.

6. Create Boot Disk

Verify selected media, boot up environment and KillDisk configuration. Click Create button to start

bootable media creation process. A progress bar appears while the media is being prepared. Click Finish

to exit the wizard.

You can use prepared bootable media to boot up any 64-bit PC and erase/wipe all attached disks.

Note: Not all the additional boot disk options are accessible for all platforms. For example, Add

Drivers section is available to Windows Operating System only.

Related information

Software Licensing on page 10

Common Tips on page 82

Command Line Mode on page 52

Usage Scenarios

KillDisk is a powerful tool to provide disk erasure solutions for personal and corporate use. This section

describes the key features of KillDisk and how to use this software's many features. The software is highly

customizable and this guide will help get you started with configuring KillDisk for your system and using it

to the full potential.

Usage scenarios include: Disk Erase, Disk Wipe, Secure Erase, Certificates, Labels, Reports, Command Line

Mode and Batch Mode operations.

Disk Erase

KillDisk is a powerful tool for disk sanitation. Individual disks can be erased with just few clicks using many

international sanitizing standards.

Disk Erase complete process is described below.

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1. Select disks

Use mouse in Disk Explorer to select one or more physical disks. Selected disks displayed with orange

borders.

For multiple selection use Ctrl+Left Mouse click.

To select all attached disks, press Ctrl+A .

To select a particular partition or volume, click the object in the Local Devices view.

2. Start erase

Open Disk Erase dialog using one of the following methods:

• Click Erase Disk command on the action toolbar

• Click Actions > Erase Disk command from main menu

• Click Erase Disk command from disk's context menu

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3. Confirm erase options

Confirm sanitation options after Disk Erase dialog pops up:

Figure 12: Erase Options

Use tabbed views to adjust disk erasure options if necessary. Available options are:

• Disk Erase on page 63

• Erase Certificate on page 66

• Processing Report on page 71

If single disk is selected from Local Devices view, then exact area for the erase can be optionally

specified:

Figure 13: Area selection for Disk Erase

Select all disk space

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Entire surface of the disk will be erased

Select all volumes

Select for erase the only disk space where the live volumes located

Select all unallocated space

Select for erase the only disk unallocated area (the space where no live volumes exist)

Select exact disk area

Allows you to use sliders on the visualization of your disk to select a particular range of sectors for

erasure.

4. Start erase

Click Start button to go to the final Confirm Action dialog (depending on erase settings this dialog can

be skipped). This is an additional precaution measure. If you proceed with confirmation - all data on the

selected disk(s) or on selected disk area will be destroyed permanently - without any possibility to be

recovered.

Click OK button to confirm erase and start erase process.

5. Observe progress

After starting erase a progress bar is displayed at the disk area. The progress bar represents the

percentage of disk space being sanitized. As the procedure progresses the percentage increases and

time left recalculates.

To stop erase process, click Stop at any time (via action toolbar, main menu or context menu).

Figure 14: Disk Erase progress

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6. Verify erase completion

After erase is complete, the results ( Success, Failed, Canceled ) are displayed on top of the disks in

different colors.

Figure 15: Erase Completed

After erase completion there are options for reviewing results (logs, processing reports and attributes),

printing Erase Certificates and Disk Labels for processed disks.

Figure 16: Erase Summary

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Related information

Erase Methods on page 99

Processing Summary on page 34

Certificates, Labels and Reports on page 37

Disk Area to Erase

KillDisk has an option to specify a particular area on the disk to erase. To access this feature you have to

select the single disk first. In Local Devices view initiate the Erase Disk command.

Figure 17: Erase a Specific Area

Disk area options for the erase are:

Select all disk space

This is a default disk area option and applies to entire disk surface to be erased

Select all volumes

This option erases all existing volumes and partitions on the disk

Select all unallocated space

This option erases only unallocated disk areas, where volumes and partitions do not exist

Select exact disk area

Use sliders on the disk visualization in order to select a particular range of sectors. You can also click on

sector numbers and type particular sectors manually.

You may also click on individual partitions and they will be selected for erasure.

Disk Wipe

When you select a physical device the Wipe command processes all logical drives consecutively erasing

data in unoccupied areas (free clusters and system areas) and leaving existing data intact. Unallocated

space, where no partitions exists has been erased as well.

Note:

If you want to erase ALL data (both existing and deleted files) from the device permanently, use

Disk Erase.

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If KillDisk detects that a partition has been damaged, it does not wipe data in that area, because partition

might contain an important data. There are some cases where partitions on a device cannot be wiped.

Examples: an unknown or unsupported file system, a system volume or an application start up disk. In these

cases Wipe command is disabled. If you select a device and Wipe button is disabled, select individual

partitions (volumes) and wipe them separately.

Disk Wipe complete process is described below.

1. Select disks

Use mouse in Disk Explorer to select one or more physical disks. Selected disks displayed with orange

borders.

For multiple selection use Ctrl+Left Mouse click.

To select all attached disks, press Ctrl+A .

To select a particular partition or volume, click the object in the Local Devices view.

2. Start wipe

Open Disk Wipe dialog using one of the following methods:

• Click Actions > Wipe Disk command from main menu

• Click Wipe Disk command from the context menu for disk or volume

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3. Confirm wipe options

Use tabbed views to adjust Wipe options if necessary.

Available options are:

• Disk Wipe on page 65

• Erase Certificate on page 66

• Processing Report on page 71

• Error Handling on page 80

Figure 18: Wipe Options

If single disk is selected from Local Devices view, then exact area for the wipe can be optionally

specified:

Select all partitions

Select for wipe the only disk space where partitions located

Select all volumes

Select for wipe the only disk space where live volumes located

Select all unallocated space

Select for wipe the only disk unallocated area (the space where no live volumes exist).

4. Start wipe

Click Start button to reach the final step before wiping out deleted data. Click Yes to confirm Wipe

action and process starts.

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5. Monitor progress

The progress of the wiping procedure will be displayed on the disk or volume. To stop the process at any

time click the Stop button for the particular disk or volume. Click the Stop All button to cancel wipe for

all disks.

Figure 19: Disk Wipe Progress

6. Verify results

This is an optional step. Select the wiped volume and click Open in File Browser toolbar button to

inspect the work that has been done. KillDisk scans system records of the partition. The Browser tab

appears. Existing file/folder names appear with a multicolor icon and deleted file/folder names appear

with a gray-colored icon. If the wiping process completed correctly the data residue in these deleted file

clusters and the place these files hold in the directory/system records has been removed. You should not

see any gray-colored file names or folder names within the volume being wiped out.

You will see a confirmation dialog when the process is complete. Here you can check the Processing

Summary, print Labels and Certificates.

All deleted files and system records on wiped volumes became unrecoverable.

Note:

If there are any errors, for example due to bad sectors, these errors will be reported and placed to

the log file. If such a message appears you may cancel the operation or continue wiping out disks.

Related information

Disk Wipe on page 65

Processing Summary on page 34

Certificates, Labels and Reports on page 37

Resume Stopped or Interrupted Erase

Disk erase can be a time consuming task. Erasing larger disks (10TB+) with sanitizing standards including

several overwrite passes could last for hours. If something happens in a middle of erase (user stopped an

action, failing disk just turned off, computer re-booted, etc.) user has options:

• Start Erase for the disk all over again

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• Resume Erase from the point it stopped on a disk (time saving option)

When application starts all detected disks being analyzed for any erases interrupted previously, and if such

erases detected for one or more disks, Resume Erase button become active for these disks. Disks with

stopped or interrupted erase are marked with a red label Interrupted Erase .

Note:

If disks with interrupted erase being detected after program start, pop up dialog appears

automatically suggesting you to Resume Erase. You can run Resume Erase from here, or select the

particular disks later on.

Resume Erase complete process is described below:

1. Select disks

Select a particular disk or group of disks to launch Resume Erase for.

2. Resume erase

Open Resume Erase Disk dialog using one of the following methods:

• Click Resume Erase command on the action toolbar

• Click Actions > Resume Erase command from main menu

• Click Resume Erase command from disk's context menu

3. Confirm options

After Resume Erase Disk dialog appears, all disks where Resume Erase option is available will be

displayed. You can select more disks for resume erase (if available) or deselect some selected disks.

Figure 20: Resume Erase Options

Verify selected disks, certificate and report options and click Start button to resume interrupted erase.

Wait until erase is complete.

After erase completion there are options for reviewing results (logs, processing reports and attributes),

printing Erase Certificates and Disk Labels for processed disks.

Related tasks

Disk Erase on page 22

Related information

Processing Summary on page 34

Certificates, Labels and Reports on page 37

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Secure Erase

Most of Solid State Drives (SSD) support Secure Erase for the low-level purging of all memory blocks on the

media. KillDisk is able use SATA Secure Erase feature and perform fast unrecoverable erasure. By doing

this, you can increase the performance of SSDs for future use. All of the data will be lost without recovery

options. Before using this feature make sure user fully understands the concepts.

Warning:

100% FATAL DAMAGE GUARANTEED TO MEDIA IF THE PROCESS INTERRUPTED (POWER

OUTAGE, UNAUTHORIZED SSD EXTRACTION, ETC.)

Make sure your hardware setup is safe from sudden lost of power.

Do not interrupt the process of Secure Erase in any manner!

Note:

If there is a need to erase ALL data (existing and deleted) from the hard drive device permanently

with sanitation standards (US DoD 5220.22-M, Canadian OPS-II, NSA 130-2, etc.) use Disk Erase

feature.

Important:

Secure Erase is available for Linux-based packages only (KillDisk Industrial, Active@ KillDisk

Linux, KillDisk Console and KillDisk LiveCD in Active@ KillDisk Ultimate).

Secure Erase is not available in Windows-based packages, including applications running under

Active@ Boot Disk (which is based on WinPE). For security reasons Microsoft intentionally blocked

IOCTL_ATA_PASS_THROUGH function in all the latest Windows editions starting from Windows 8.

Secure Erase complete process is described below.

1. Select SSD disks

Select disks marked as in Local Devices view. You may select multiple disks to be erased

simultaneously.

2. Start secure erase

Open Secure Erase dialog using one of the following methods:

• Click Actions > Secure Erase command from main menu

• Click Secure Erase command from disk's context menu

3. Confirm options

Use tabbed views to adjust secure erase preferences if necessary.

Available preferences are:

• Secure Erase on page 64

• Erase Certificate on page 66

• Processing Report on page 71

• Error Handling on page 80



Important: Only disks which state is NOT frozen SSDs can be selected for Secure Erase

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Warning:

In case if SSD which state is Frozen has been selected for Secure Erase the following message

appears:

Figure 21: Frozen SSD Warning

You have options either to eject and insert back the SSD, or send PC to Sleep mode and resume

it back to get full access to the disk and proceed with a Secure Erase.

4. Start secure erase

Click Start button to reach the final step before erasing disk data completely without any possibility to

be recovered. Confirm Secure Erase action by typing a predefined keyphrase.

Click OK button to confirm erase and start erase process.

5. Observe progress

There is no progress indicator and Stop action available for the Secure Erase. The feature is implemented

inside SSD controller.

The only time elapsed is available and can be displayed.

After Secure Erase process is completed the Processing Summary dialog appears:

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Figure 22: Secure Erase Processing Summary

Now you may Print and Open Erase Certificate and work with XML Reports.

If there are any errors they will be reported.

Related information

Secure Erase on page 64

Processing Summary on page 34

Certificates, Labels and Reports on page 37

Secure Erase (SSD) on page 124

Secure Erase Concepts on page 92

Secure Erase (ANSI ATA, SE) on page 100

Processing Summary

Once KillDisk finishes processing tasks such as Disk Erase, Secure Erase or Disk Wipe, a Processing

Summary dialog appears. It contains all of the information regarding to the operation(s). For example,

information which disks were erased, status of erasure, logs and associated certificates and reports.

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Figure 23: Example of Processing Summary

Results Overview

Tab contains the following information:

Title

All the devices processed are displayed with their erase status

Status

An actual erase status (success/fail)

Errors

Displayed number of errors detected (if any)

Label

Volume or partition description

Method

Erase/Wipe sanitizing method being used

Erase Passes

Number of overwriting passes performed

Started at

Time & date of operation's start

Duration

Duration of the operation.

Processing Attributes

Tab contains detailed information about operation status and processing attributes:

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Figure 24: Processing Attributes Sample

Log

Tab shows actual processing log:

Figure 25: Log Sample

Note:

The Wipe operation will produce a similar processing summary for the Disk Wipe.

Additional actions

Additional processing options and actions are:

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Disk Certificate

Status of the saved PDF certificate. Allows user to print certificate ( Print button), browse certificate

directory with a file browser ( Browse button) or examine certificate ( Open button).

Print Labels

Examine, customize, change options and print Labels by clicking the Print Labels button.

Disk Processing Report

Status of the saved Disk Processing Report. Examine the disk processing report .xml file (click Browse

button to navigate to the containing folder) or preview the report ( Open button).

Related information

Certificates, Labels and Reports on page 37

Certificates, Labels and Reports

KillDisk maintains the highest standards in disk erasure and provides extensive documentation options for

its operations through Reports , Labels and Certificates.

Erase Certificates

KillDisk provides PDF certificates upon the completion of Disk Erase, Secure Erase or Disk Wipe. These

certificates can be customized to include company-specific information and hardware/procedure

description. Configuring custom settings is described in the Certificate Preferences section of this guide.

Certificate Elements

Company logo

Company logo can be placed to the certificate instead of the default KillDisk's logo at the top right

corner.

Barcode

A barcode in selected format with encoded tags and attributes for scanning using a barcode scanner.

Company Information

Disclaimer

OS version

Platform

System Information

Kernel

Motherboard Manufacturer

Motherboard Description

Hardware Information

Number of Processors

Erase Verify

Passes

Method

Erase Attributes

Verification Passes

Error Handling Attributes Errors Terminate

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Type of Information Specific data

Skip interval

Number of Retries

Lock

Source?

Ignore Write?

Read?

Lock?

Device Size

Device Type

Serial Number

Revision

Product Number

Name

Geometric Information

Disks

Partitioning Scheme

Fingerprint InformationAdditional Report Attributes

Initialize disk?

Bay

Time and Date Started

Disk Information

Status

Result

Time Elapsed

Errors

Results

Name of operation

Conclusion Overall result of the operation

Note:

If internal tag <task> is present, Results are appeared inside.

Related information

Name Tags on page 113

Processing CSV Log

Processing CSV Log section allows to configure CSV (Comma-separated values) log file generated by

KillDisk and appending there erase results. First line in CSV log file stores column names: Start Time, Device

Name and Serial, Erase Result, etc.

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Report log file name

Configure location where CSV log file will be stored. You can use mapped network resource as a

storage target.

Save to removable media

Exports CSV log file to all detected removable media (USB Flash Disks).

Record pattern

Define a template for each line in CSV log file. The main tags available are:

Available element: Tag:

Disk Serial Number {SerialNumber}

Disk Name {ProductID}

Erase Method {Method}

Start Date {DateStarted}

Start Time {TimeStarted}

Time Elapsed {TimeElapsed}

Erase Result (Success/Failure) {Status}

More tags are available, see the tags section in Appendix.

Related information

Name Tags on page 113

Disk Label Presets

Disk Label Presets section allows to adjust label settings for the KillDisk. Labels can be formatted for any

printer, page or label type using KillDisk highly customizable labels' formatting features.

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Label preset

Displays and let you select a default Label Preset or create a new one. Click Add New Label Preset button

to create a custom label preset with your own specifications. Click Delete button to delete the

selected label preset .

Label title

Sets a title to be printed (in bold) at the top of the labels. It can be a company name, batch name or any

other descriptors you may consider useful to identify the operation. Static text can be typed in or any

dynamic attributes (tags) can be inserted at current cursor's position. Click Insert Name Tag button to

insert predefined tag from the drop-down list.

Label area

Label's content for the preset. Static text can be typed in or any dynamic attributes (tags) can be inserted at

current cursor's position. Click Insert Name Tag button to insert predefined tag from the drop-down

list. Click Clear Pattern button to empty all label's area.

Label attributes

You can use RTF formatting and set Word Wrapping behavior using related check boxes.

Add signature line

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Adds a line at the bottom of the label for the technician to sign off on upon completion of the

operation.

Add certificate logo

Includes the logo used in the certificate as a label's watermark background.

Label preview

Displays a preview of the label with the current input settings. Refreshes automatically when any

adjustments are made to the settings.

Barcode options

Selecting Append barcode check-box will print QR Code or Barcode on the label to be able to be scanned

thereafter for third party inventory database

Barcode data

String including essential erase parameters to be encoded and transformed to QR Code or Barcode.

Static text can be typed in or any dynamic attributes (tags) can be inserted at current cursor's

position. Click Insert Name Tag button to insert predefined tag from the drop-down list.

Preview

Displays a preview of encoded string with the current input settings. Refreshes when any

adjustments are made to the settings.

Format

List of supported QR Code and Barcode formats. Currently supported: Aztec 2D barcode , Code 39

1D , Code 93 1D , Code 128 1D , QR Code . Note that different types of Barcodes can accept different

size of encoded string.

Encoding

If barcode string contains symbols other than English letters, you can specify encoding (code page)

for the particular language.

Error correction level

The lower the error correction level, the less dense the QR code image is, which improves minimum

printing size. The higher the error correction level, the more damage it can sustain before it becomes

unreadable.

Size, mm

Size in millimeters for the Barcode/QR Code to be printed on the label.

Print options

Define options for label printing including special label printers (Brother QL-700, etc):

Default printer

Define printer to be used exclusively to print labels from the list of installed printers.

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Print output adjustments

The print output adjustments section of the dialogue allows you to vertically or horizontally displace

the position measured in specific print units to adjust to different printers.

Print test label command let you print Disk Label sample to verify your settings and selected layout

attributes.

Disk Label Templates

Disk Label Templates section defines set of predefined label templates for usage in different scenarios.

Disk Label Templates dialog gives you an access to a number of predefined standard templates and to any

custom templates you can create. These templates may be easily selected without opening any additional

dialogs. The details of the selected template are displayed below the selection box. If your custom labels

differ from any of the templates available, the button allows you to create a custom template with your

own specifications. Additionally, the button allows you to modify an existing template and the

button deletes the selected template.

Print Start Position

The Print Start Position section of the dialogue allows you to select the starting position of the label on

the page to print from. The printing won't always start from the 1x1 position, so you can adjust this setting

accordingly.

Creating a New Template

To open a Template Editor, click the button on the Disk Label Templates dialog .

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Figure 47: Erase Labels Page Template

Template title

Sets a custom title for your template. This is the name to refer this template when selecting it in the

Print Label dialog.

Page

Specify the dimensions of the page being used to print the labels. Select page size from the list of

standard sizes or define custom size using exact measurements. Define page orientation.

Page margins

Page margins are defined for the top, bottom, left and right sides of the page.

Label layout

Define how the labels appear on the page. Define the spacing in between labels on the page and the

dimensions of the label grid. Once you entered the proper measurements, KillDisk takes care of all

formatting.

Size units

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The units of measurement may vary between millimeters, inches, pixels and points. If a value is

entered in one measurement and then size unit is changed, the appropriate conversion takes place.

Related information

Name Tags on page 113

Disk Viewer

Disk Viewer section allows to set hexadecimal view settings, font and user interaction parameters.

Hexadecimal offsets

Toggles offset format between decimal and hexadecimal.

Lines to scroll

Number of lines to scroll for a single mouse wheel sweep.

Pages to scroll

Number of pages to skip for a single Page Up or Page Down .

Show ASCII column

Toggles display content in ASCII format.

Show UNICODE column

Toggles display content in UNICODE format.

Bytes per line

Defines amount of bytes per line in hexadecimal display.

Font name

Select any mono-space font from the list of available ones for better view experience.

Font size

Font size to be used in hexadecimal display.

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Error Handling

Error Handling section has the advanced settings to configure error handling while erasing or cloning the

data.

Error handling attributes

KillDisk allows to select one of ways to handle Read/Write Errors:

Abort entire group processing

If erase Batch is in progress and one of the disks has errors, the erase process for ALL the disks in the

Batch will be terminated.

Abort only failed disk from group processing

This is the default setting. Failed disks return an error and terminate the erase process. Other disks in the

Batch will continue current operation.

Ignore error for group processing

Ignores the read/write error and continues erasing whatever is possible on the disk. None active or forth

going operations will be terminated.

Terminate process after number of errors

Sets the error threshold to a certain amount before the disk operation is terminated and deemed

unsuccessful.

Number of read/write attempts

Sets the number of attempts KillDisk makes to perform an operation when an error is encountered

before it stops execution.

Use disk lock

Locks disks from being used by any other applications while operation is in progress.

Ignore disk lock errors

Errors encountered with KillDisk not being able to access locked disks will be ignored.

Ignore read/write errors

Toggle whether read errors or write errors will be just ignored.

E-mail Notifications

E-mail Notifications sections allows to configure how client can be notified after operation is complete.

KillDisk can deliver results of its sanitation process (certificates, reports, logs) by e-mail.

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Send to

Type e-mail address where erasing/wiping reports will be sent to.

E-mail attachments

Certificate, XML Report or Log File can be emailed, just mark the related check box.

Note:

E-mail notifications feature is accessible in commercial packages only.

When you mark Use E-Mail Notifications check box, the SMTP Server Settings section becomes accessible

for the configuration.

SMTP Server Settings

These settings allow to configure mailer settings for delivering erasing/wiping reports to user's mailbox.

Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) is responsible for transmitting e-mail messages and SMTP Server

settings need to be configured properly.

Account type

KillDisk offers you a free SMTP account located on www.smtp-server.com that can be used for

sending reports out. By default all the required parameters are filled up and configured properly.

If your corporate policy does not allow using services other than its own you need to switch this

option to the Custom Account and configure all the settings manually. Ask your system/network

administrator to get these parameters.

From

Type e-mail address which you expect these reports to come from.

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Connection type

Select encryption type to use: No encryption , SSL or TLS .

SMTP server

KillDisk offers you the use of smtp-server.com for a free SMTP account. This account is pre-

configured for KillDisk users. Ask your system/network administrator to get the proper SMTP server

domain to be used.

SMTP port

For the free SMTP account KillDisk allows you to use smtp-server.com on port 80. This is a standard

port being used by all web browsers to access the Internet. This port most likely is open on a

corporate and home networks. Other ports can be filtered by and restricted by a network firewall.

Ask your system/network administrator to set up a proper SMTP port for the custom SMTP server.

SMTP server authorization

To avoid spam and other security issues some SMTP servers require each user to be authorized

before sending e-mails. In this case proper Username and Password required to be typed. Ask your

system/network administrator to get proper authorization settings.

Troubleshooting

In the events of technical difficulties with KillDisk you may choose to either troubleshoot the system

yourself or, within an active maintenance period (you receive 1 year free with your purchase), you can

contact our support team. Attach your application log and hardware configuration (hardware diagnostic

file) with your support request.

Common Tips

Common Problems

Disk data can not be erased

Ensure that disk is fully functional (no physically damages) and is accessible by Operating System.

Ensure you are not erasing the system disk or the disk KillDisk launched from (application won't let

you erase these disks).

Data still found after a Wipe operation

The Wipe operation sanitizes the only data that has already been deleted and not visible by

Operating System. To sanitize ALL the data including existing files and the Operating System itself,

use the Erase Disk operation.

Erased the wrong disk

Stop erase operation as soon as possible. Once the data completely sanitized, it won't longer be

accessible. Use a tool like Active@ File Recovery (https://www.file-recovery.com) to recover remains

of data that has not been sanitized yet.

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Boot Disk Creator Problems

All the Operating Systems options are grayed out

Make sure you have KillDisk and Boot Disk Creator is registered and activated. You should see your

registered name at bottom of the dialog.

Image file not found

Most likely you have activated the freeware package that does not have the Boot Disk image you

wish to create (it does have the only tiny Console bootable image). Download a commercial package

using the link provided after the purchase and reinstall the software.

Issues formatting USB drive

This may happen occasionally when the file system causes conflicts in Windows. Launch the KillDisk

application and erase the first few megabytes of the USB drive you wish to use. Unplug and plug

again USB disk, then try again. In most cases this solves the problem.

Issues booting from the boot disk

Make sure the boot disk device is set at the top of your boot priority in BIOS.

Make sure your system time in the BIOS is accurate.

Make sure you are not booting a 64-bit Boot Disk on an old 32-bit PC. In case of old hardware create

and use a Console-based boot disk.

Application Log

Application Log View reflects every action taken by the application and displays messages, notifications

and other service information. Use these messages to observe and analyze erase processes.

To open Application Log View do one of the following:

• Click Tools > Application Log from the main menu

• Press F8 keyboard shortcut

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Once Application Log View is open and active, you can use toolbar buttons and the context menu to

perform the following tasks:

Save log as

Opens a standard Save As dialog. Save the actual application log file to the local disk Default is .LOG

file extension.

Save hardware info as

Opens a standard Save As dialog. Save the disk diagnostic file to the local disk. Default is .XML file

extension.

Log entry filter

Shows or hides specific entry types in Log View:

Minimum details

Shows non-critical warning entries.

Maximum details

Shows advanced entries related to the application behavior and data analysis.

Text size

Changes text size to Large, Normal or Small.

Expand All

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Expands all collapsed log nodes.

Collapse All

Collapses all log nodes.

Clear

Clear the log for the current application session.

Tip:

We recommend that you attach a copy of the log file to all requests made to our technical support

group. The entries in this file will help us to resolve certain issues.

Hardware Diagnostic File

If you want to contact our technical support a file that contains a summary of your local devices and

hardware configuration is very helpful and it is required to submit it for the proper problem investigation.

KillDisk allows you to create a hardware summary file in XML format. This data format is “human-readable”

and can help our technical support staff to analyze your computer configuration or point out disk failures

or abnormal behavior.

To create a hardware diagnostic file, click Save Hardware Info as from the File menu .

Note:

To save time on initial contact with our technical support staff we highly recommend that you

submit a hardware diagnostic file, otherwise, most likely, it will be requested from you by our

support team later on.

Related information

Application Log on page 83

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Appendix

How Fast Erasing Occurs?

An actual erase speed depends on many factors:

• HDD/SSD/NVMe disk speed: RPM and SATA/SCSI/SAS/NVMe type - the most important factors

• Disk Controller speed: SAS (6 Gbps/12 Gbps), SATA III (6Gbps), (SATA II 3 Gbps), SATA I (1.5 Gbps)

• Computer overall performance (CPU, RAM) and workload (how many parallel erases occur)

For most modern computers and disks manufactured within last years SATA III standard is supported, so

erase speed is limited by HDD throughput (disk write speed) only.

Our tests give the results: 10 GB per minute (in average) per pass with decent computer configuration

and disks with age of up to 5 years old.

For example, 2 TB Toshiba disk has been erased on Windows platform with one pass within 3 hours and 32

minutes, 14 TB Western Digital disk - within 18 hours 53 minutes.

The following snapshots are real-test certificates for erasing of:

1) 2 TB Toshiba (manufactured in 2015) SATA III (6 GBps) 7200 rpm disk with One Pass Zeros and US DoD

5220.22-M (3 passes + verification) showing the average speed of 9 GB/min per pass

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2) 14 TB (Western Digital manufactured in 2019) SATA III (6 Gbps) 7200 rpm disk with One Pass Zeros and

US DoD 5220.22-M (3 passes + 10% verification) showing the average speed of 12 GB/min per pass

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Erase Disk Concepts

Erasing Confidential Data

Modern methods of data encryption are deterring network attackers from extracting sensitive data from

stored database files.

Attackers (who want to retrieve confidential data) become more resourceful and look for places where

data might be stored temporarily. For example, the Windows DELETE command merely changes the files

attributes and location so that the operating system will not look for the file located on FAT/exFAT volumes.

The situation with NTFS file system is similar.

One avenue of attack is the recovery of data from residual data on a discarded hard drive. When deleting

confidential data from hard drives, removable disks or USB devices, it is important to extract all traces of the

data so that recovery is not possible.

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