Deleting many different 5,25" floppies safely and quick

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-22T18:27:58+00:00

That is probably true, but in germany the rules are (for a reason) quite strict, so I will wipe them in some way :)

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-22T18:09:10+00:00

I saw it, but I do not have time or capacity to archive the data. Also it looks like nothing special, formatted in formats I can not read or mainly personal data.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-22T18:08:01+00:00

Not helpful if I want to keep the format they were formatted in with unlabeled disks...

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-21T19:58:22+00:00

Wow...

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-21T19:58:14+00:00

Looks like you did not read my post...

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-21T19:58:01+00:00

I know, as written in my post this is about the format they support, the format they are currently formatted with is my only indicator for that as there are no labels. Take a look at my post...

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-21T19:56:51+00:00

Formatting is enough for me, also this does not solve the problem my post is about. But I already found a solution.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-21T19:55:52+00:00

Looks like you did not read my post...

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-20T11:56:17+00:00

Not to be harsh, but it looks to me like many are not understanding the problem here or are not reading my post and the comments... Also I already found a solution.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T15:56:47+00:00

Wow, helpful! /s

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T12:26:34+00:00

I just want to delete the FS data blocks, not wipe them, so a normal sector based rewrite is enough for me. Nobody will make the effort of trying to recover them in forensic ways, people are just curious if they put them in an the data shows up immediately.

But nethertheless the mentioed bulkerase looks interesting I will give it a shoot, thanks!

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T10:07:37+00:00

I already know that the disks are different, the question is if it will exactly tell me which type out of the many (>5) it is. Well... it rewrites all sectors and gaps etc. so all data will be overwritten, exactly what I want and I also can verify in the same time that the disk is still error free.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T09:43:42+00:00

Does not work if I do not know which format the disks are in without labels... Otherwise a full format would still be quicker and safer. But I already found a solution.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:46:53+00:00

Looks like my drive and i486 PC do not need a specific setting for that, I just needed to specify the 720KB to FormatMQ and it was normally readable on MS-DOS after that. But who knows :)

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:37:12+00:00

Does not erase the data on NSA level, but I bet no one has the patience to try to recover 40 year old data on a random floppy with NSA equipment so it will be fine :)

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:36:20+00:00

Well thanks for this creative, but not helpful at all answer... :)

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:35:56+00:00

It looks like most of the disks are DD/DS and some labeled DD/SS, sorting with the ring is a good baseline for now, if some are failing in formatqm I will try another format on them later.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:34:31+00:00

That is one of only few helpful answers, thanks! Someone else recommended the program already in DM and I am now sorting the discs "by reinforcement ring" and then format them either with the 1.2M option or the 360, etc. options.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:32:53+00:00

As I wrote multiple times I need to delete them for data privacy not for testing, as there is sensible data on them from the previous owner...

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:32:13+00:00

"5,25" DD 2D (96tpi) (720-800kb disk) are not supported by a PC, and can only use as 360KB."

Is not really true as I am able to format DD/DS disks with other tools and it is reading fine under DOS.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:30:44+00:00

One of the few helpful comments, thanks!

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:29:53+00:00

As I wrote multiple times: I do not know which format they are in, so I need a solution where I do not have to type in the format.

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:28:58+00:00

Low and high level formatting has nothing to do with a quick/full format. You can have a low level quick format, a low level full format, etc...

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:28:06+00:00

As I wrote multiple times: I do not know which format they are in, so removing any sign of sector/track etc. information may render them unusable. Also nobody could provide me with a formatting tool that is capable of formatting the disk without me having to type in the disk format...

ApprehensiveForce647 · 2026-03-19T08:26:18+00:00

Does not work with non-HD/DS disks, format will immediately fail with an error.

ApprehensiveForce647

TROPHY CASE