Quote:
Originally Posted by the_beast 
There is no benefit whatsoever in using DBAN or KillDisk to wipe a disk unless you intend to sell it or otherwise dispose of it whilst still in a working state.
If you know the disk is in good health (ie have very recently done a full error scan), do a quick format. If you haven't recently scanned the drive a full format is a good idea - the only difference is a full format scans the disk for errors after wiping the file allocation table. A quick format just wipes the file allocation table. Once you have done this Windows has no knowledge of the prior data - it is exactly as if the drive has been fully zeroed, but doesn't require the time or the wear and tear to do so.
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AFAIK a quick file format is not the same as zeroing a drive, or there would be no reason to use an external program to zero the drive.
You can easily recover files from a quick formatted disk, as none of the actual information on the drive has been erased. If you are worried about security, etc, wipe the drive with at least 3 passes of an algorithm or pseudorandom data.
You are right though, it is a waste of time and energy to zero the drive unless you plan on selling it.
A quick format should do the job.