Formatting a Mindisc (Hi-MD or standard)

[Sony_Fan]

Is there anyway to completely erase or format the disc to the way it was when you bought it (no data, no music, nothing)?

[KrazyIvan]

If the disc was recrded in SS and on NetMD, your only choice is to connect to SS and format it. In SS you click "Device/Media Info" on the botom right of the SS window and the option to initialize (format) is there.

If it was recorded by the unit itself then you should be able to go to the edit menu and select erase all from that menu. Then it asks you to confirm it. Once you confirm it it will erase everything.

[Sony_Fan]

If the disc was recrded in SS and on NetMD, your only choice is to connect to SS and format it. In SS you click "Device/Media Info" on the botom right of the SS window and the option to initialize (format) is there.

If it was recorded by the unit itself then you should be able to go to the edit menu and select erase all from that menu. Then it asks you to confirm it. Once you confirm it it will erase everything.

Thanks for the reply, but I believe that will only erase the table of contents. The actual data and music will still be on the disc. Basically, I want to wipe the disc clean.

[KrazyIvan]

Well, if you want to do that it would have to be Hi-MD formated and just run it through some sort of shredding program. I use the one included with Spybot Search & Destroy. It is up to DOD standards for erasing data. Technically it overwrites everything with garbage data so there is data on the disc just nothing that can be read or more like understood. Why do you want to do this?

[Sony_Fan]

Well, if you want to do that it would have to be Hi-MD formated and just run it through some sort of shredding program. I use the one included with Spybot Search & Destroy. It is up to DOD standards for erasing data. Technically it overwrites everything with garbage data so there is data on the disc just nothing that can be read or more like understood. Why do you want to do this?

I think the Format tool in Windows will do the trick. If you right click on the Hi-MD disc drive in windows explorer you get a menu with one of the options being "Format." I selected FAT32 as the file system and when i began the format process I could hear the unit's writing head go back and forth over the disc. I think it's actually erasing everything on the disc. AFter that, I use the format feature in SS or SB. Basically, I want fresh clean minidiscs to record over.

[dex Otaku]

I think the Format tool in Windows will do the trick. If you right click on the Hi-MD disc drive in windows explorer you get a menu with one of the options being "Format." I selected FAT32 as the file system and when i began the format process I could hear the unit's writing head go back and forth over the disc. I think it's actually erasing everything on the disc. AFter that, I use the format feature in SS or SB. Basically, I want fresh clean minidiscs to record over.

This may be true, but as soon as you've done this, you'll have to re-format the discs either in SS or on the unit itself anyway.

If you format the disc with either SS or the unit itself, it may only erase the TOC, but that's all that's really required. The data from previous recordings still on the disc is irrelevant at that point - recording something new will not cause fragmentation [since according to the TOC there's no existing data to fragment around], and the erase-cycle and amount of power it and writing new data consume are the same whether the disc is fresh from the shrinkwrap or has been written to 1,000 times and reformatted by the user.

My point is, basically, what you're insisting on is completely unnecessary, and actually adds another step to the process since you'll have to reformat using SS or the unit in the end anyway.

If your concern is based on .. well, security of some kind, like if you recorded tapped phone conversations between some senator and a terrorist, then I'd suggest doing a format on the unit, followed by setting the unit to record in PCM mode with no input. When it reaches the end of the disc, it will have erased all previous contents completely. Of course, you'll also have to reformat it at that point to use the disc again.

I say this because to the best of my knowledge, no existing forensic data recovery software is capable of reading previously-overwritten data on a HiMD or even legacy MD. Magneto-optical discs *should* experience complete erasure during the erase/write cycle, unlike magnetic media which can retain "layers" of data post-erasure and post-write, hence the "need" to do multiple random or patterned writes on hard discs to ensure their contents are actually destroyed.

If you're really paranoid about the previous contents of an MO or MO/DWDD disc, then you should destroy it by fire.

In the meantime, I would suggest simply using SS's initialise function or your recorder's FORMAT fucntion to erase your discs. Either will do what you require - leave you with a blank, unfragmented disc. Hence the words "initialise" and "format."

[Qwakrz]

The best way to destroy the contents on a MD is to put it inside the worlds most powerfull magnet.

MD can be corrupted by a huge magnet as in normal use the disc is heated to lower the magnetic field needed to change the bits, at room temp it can still be affected but you do need a huge magnetic field (bigger than you will find in most labs).

[tekdroid]

The best way to destroy the contents on a MD is to put it inside the worlds most powerfull magnet.

This thread is all nonsense. We all know the best way to destroy an MD is to add DRM

In which case we're very very secure. Who would load SonicStage just to get to our encrypted recordings? Nobody, that's who.