¶ Manage Drive Actions
After understanding how the drive information is managed, you can proceed to manage the drive actions. The Manage Drive Actions section within the WIPERAPP Client Interface provides comprehensive guidance on utilizing the action buttons. These buttons allow you to perform various drive management tasks, including initiating data wiping, inspecting drive details, and verifying erasure processes.
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¶ Play Button
The Play button Initiates the data-wiping process on the selected drive using the pre-configured erasure method.
NOTE: For detailed guidance on the drive wiping process, refer to the Wiping Drive Data Documentation.
¶ Information Button
The Information button displays the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) attributes of the selected drive in a separate window.
For example, The Read Error Rate is a S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) attribute that tracks the number of errors that occur while the disk tries to read data. It is one of the most critical attributes used to assess the health of a disk.
WARNING: If one of the S.M.A.R.T. attributes, listed in the Disk Errors section, exceed the permitted threshold, it will be marked with a red 'X' to indicate a potential issue.
¶ HEX Viewer Button
The Hex Viewer button allows you to inspect the actual contents of drive sectors in hexadecimal format.
INFO: Hexadecimal format, often abbreviated as hex, is a base-16 numbering system used to represent numbers. It employs 16 symbols: the digits 0-9 and the letters A-F (or a-f). This system is commonly used in computing and digital systems.
The HEX Viewer allows you to inspect the raw data on your drive and confirm successful data wiping.
¶ Sector
The far-left column lists sector numbers (e.g., 2873). Each sector has a unique address where data is stored.
¶ Hex Values
The middle section displays the raw hexadecimal values stored in each sector (e.g., 2ac1 1ff8 d211 ba4b 00a0 c93e c93b).
¶ ASCII Column
The far-right column converts hex values into readable ASCII characters if applicable (e.g., (s*......K...>.;)). Non-readable characters appear as dots (....).
INFO: ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) represents text in computers, with each character mapped to a specific hex value. For example, 73 in hex translates to s in ASCII, e.g., (s*......K).
¶ Verify Data Wiping
Before initiating the wiping process, click on the HEX Viewer button to open the HEX Viewer.
Then, locate and write down the sector numbers containing the data. For example, in sector 2873, the hex values are (2ac1 1ff8 d211 ba4b 00a0 c93e c93b), and the ASCII column displays (s*......K...>.;)
After wiping the drive data, revisit the same sector (you noted) in the HEX Viewer to check the changes. If the wiping was successful:
- The hex values will show 00 00 00 00 or an overwrite pattern based on the selected algorithm.
- The ASCII column will display only dots (....), indicating no readable data remains.
Hex values that display an overwrite pattern.
¶ Sector ZERO (MBR) After Wiping
Once the wiping process is successfully completed and verified, WIPERAPP automatically writes wiping confirmation into Sector ZERO (MBR). This serves as official proof of the data wipe, useful for compliance and verification purposes.
INFO: Sector ZERO (Master Boot Record - MBR) is the first sector of a storage drive that usually contains bootloader information.
You can now efficiently manage drive actions and securely wipe data with WIPERAPP. For details on the drive wiping process, refer to the Wiping Drive Data Documentation.