In my last post we discussed the consequences of formatting your hard disk drive using Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 and whether data could be recovered after such an event. In this post we will shed some light on how Apple implements formatting on the MAC, and the implications of their methods on data recovery.
First it should be noted that Apple does not use the standard Windows terminology when referring to formatting a hard disc drive. Apple calls their format process “Erase”, but in essence it perform the same tasks as a Windows Format command. The hard drive is re-initialized to appear as a fresh and empty drive volume with all of the disk space free for use.
Mac’s Disk Utility can be invoked from the “Go-> Utilities” tab. A screen shot of the disk utility can be seen below. When a hard drive is selected you can then choose the type of Volume Format and a name for the new drive volume.
If you were to now press the Erase button, the drive would be formatted or erased according to the Security Options that are set. To see what options are selected, press the Security Options button and you will see the screen shot below.
By default, an Erase is set to the “Don’t Erase Data” option. This option overwrites all the directory information used to find and access a file. It does not however erase the actual data. In this case, data recovery should be possible. This option is equivalent to a quick format on a Windows based PC.
The use of any of the other options will result in permanent data loss. Whether you overwrite the data 1 time, 7 times or even 35 times makes no difference in the real world of data recovery. The data will be gone, so be careful.
© 2012, David Foster. All rights reserved.
Tags: Apple data recovery, data recovery, disk drive data recovery, hard drive data recovery, MAC data recovery, toronto data recovery, Vaughan data recovery
