1 Topic by Scoop

  • Scoop
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  • Registered: 2012-12-06
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Topic: Shred Command - How to run it from Live CD

How do I run the "shred" command when booted up with the live CD?

I currently have 0.14.0 version on my CD for frequent formatting use.  When I boot up, I always choose the "live CD" option from the menu and it loads a desktop screen.

Do I need to go to the command prompt level to use the "Shred" command?

How do I access the command level when booting up with the 0.14.0 CD?

I saw this ↓ from a google search result but wasn't understanding it completely:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
shred -vfzn 5 /dev/sda1

Replace /dev/sda1 with the appropriate drive.

shred - the command to shred
v – provides verbose output
f – force permission changes to allow overwriting
z – write zeros after final pass to mask shredding
n – number of passes to be made. If this option is not specified, three passes are made by default.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I wanted to shred a C drive, would I enter this?

shred -vfz3 /C:

2 Reply by gedakc

  • gedakc
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Re: Shred Command - How to run it from Live CD

Scoop wrote:

How do I run the "shred" command when booted up with the live CD?

You would need to open a terminal window by double clicking on the terminal window icon, and then enter in the shred command with the appropriate command line options.


Scoop wrote:

I currently have 0.14.0 version on my CD for frequent formatting use.  When I boot up, I always choose the "live CD" option from the menu and it loads a desktop screen.

Do I need to go to the command prompt level to use the "Shred" command?

You need to pen a terminal window.  If you are unsure how to do this then see the GParted Live Manual.

Scoop wrote:

How do I access the command level when booting up with the 0.14.0 CD?

See the GParted Live Manual.

Scoop wrote:

I saw this ↓ from a google search result but wasn't understanding it completely:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
shred -vfzn 5 /dev/sda1

Replace /dev/sda1 with the appropriate drive.

shred - the command to shred
v – provides verbose output
f – force permission changes to allow overwriting
z – write zeros after final pass to mask shredding
n – number of passes to be made. If this option is not specified, three passes are made by default.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I wanted to shred a C drive, would I enter this?

shred -vfz3 /C:

No.  You must first determine the partition name of your C: drive.  Note that C: drive most often refers to a single partition on the drive.  Partition names are like /dev/sda2, /dev/sdb1, /dev/sde4, etc.

It is critically important that you get the correct partition name!

3 Reply by Scoop

  • Scoop
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Re: Shred Command - How to run it from Live CD

↑ Thanks for the info.