Advertise With Us
For Questions, Enquiries, 
As convenient as online storage is, in many cases storing data on a flash drive or SD card is the best choice, and of course many mobile devices use SD cards to store much of their data. Sometimes you'll need to erase these cards, perhaps to use them in another device or simply to remove unwanted data. This can be especially important if you have sensitive business data on the card, such as customer contact information. It is possible to erase an SD card using a Mac; however, you may need to decide what format and possibly what security options you want.
Erasing Data
Typically when you erase data, it still does reside on the device, whether it's a computer, cell phone or SD card. That data is simply marked as deleted, and the device is free to write over it in the future. Until that happens, the data still exists, and someone could potentially "resurrect." Therefore, simply selecting files and folders on your SD card and pressing the "Delete" key is not the best way to delete data from a disk. Instead you can format the card, which marks all data as deleted, and it also has security options available for thorough data removal.
Typically when you erase data, it still does reside on the device, whether it's a computer, cell phone or SD card. That data is simply marked as deleted, and the device is free to write over it in the future. Until that happens, the data still exists, and someone could potentially "resurrect." Therefore, simply selecting files and folders on your SD card and pressing the "Delete" key is not the best way to delete data from a disk. Instead you can format the card, which marks all data as deleted, and it also has security options available for thorough data removal.
Disk Utility
In Mac OS X, the Disk Utility software helps you manage disks on your computer, whether they're internal hard drives, USB drives or SD cards. You find the Disk Utility by clicking "Applications" in the dock, and then clicking "Utilities," then "Disk Utility." You can use this utility to safely remove disks, burn DVDs and erasing entire disks. Formatting drives is also available in the Disk Utility, which marks all data on that drive as deleted and prepares the drive for future use. Normally formatting an SD card doesn't require much time, though if you want apply security options to the format, the process may extend.
In Mac OS X, the Disk Utility software helps you manage disks on your computer, whether they're internal hard drives, USB drives or SD cards. You find the Disk Utility by clicking "Applications" in the dock, and then clicking "Utilities," then "Disk Utility." You can use this utility to safely remove disks, burn DVDs and erasing entire disks. Formatting drives is also available in the Disk Utility, which marks all data on that drive as deleted and prepares the drive for future use. Normally formatting an SD card doesn't require much time, though if you want apply security options to the format, the process may extend.
Formatting
Within the Disk Utility, you can format your SD card by clicking it in the left-hand pane and then clicking the "Erase" tab. Within the "Format" menu, you can select a specific format, which controls how data is stored on the card. If you will only be using this card on Mac computers, you can use the "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" option. If you plan to use the card on other devices, such as smartphones or digital cameras, you should use the "MS-DOS (FAT)" option. Then you can type in a name in the "Name" text box if you would like to rename the disk. When you click the "Erase" button, the formatting begins.
Within the Disk Utility, you can format your SD card by clicking it in the left-hand pane and then clicking the "Erase" tab. Within the "Format" menu, you can select a specific format, which controls how data is stored on the card. If you will only be using this card on Mac computers, you can use the "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" option. If you plan to use the card on other devices, such as smartphones or digital cameras, you should use the "MS-DOS (FAT)" option. Then you can type in a name in the "Name" text box if you would like to rename the disk. When you click the "Erase" button, the formatting begins.
Security Options
You can also set up the Disk Utility format process to thoroughly remove data by clicking "Security Options" before you begin the format. Your choices are "Zero Out Data," "7-Pass Erase" and "35-Pass Erase." Each provides more thorough data removal but is also more time-consuming. Depending on the size of the SD card, formatting it with one of these security options available could require up to several hours. Normally you do not need to perform any of these because a basic format should be acceptable unless you must ensure the data is irrecoverable.
You can also set up the Disk Utility format process to thoroughly remove data by clicking "Security Options" before you begin the format. Your choices are "Zero Out Data," "7-Pass Erase" and "35-Pass Erase." Each provides more thorough data removal but is also more time-consuming. Depending on the size of the SD card, formatting it with one of these security options available could require up to several hours. Normally you do not need to perform any of these because a basic format should be acceptable unless you must ensure the data is irrecoverable.
Post a Comment