"One thing about my really sensitive data. That is on an entirely separate HDD, which is plugged in only when I need something from those files, it's read-only, passworded, encrypted, scrambled, and just real damned hard to get to without the proper utility and multi character password."

Sounds about as good as it gets. The point about randomizing free space is also that some avenues of attack will use free to hide data(*). Wiping and randomizing free space uses the fact that the data is hidden from the OS- IE, looks like free space, and it just ploughs under the data.

"Ain't nowhere near any system that has any sort of net access."

Probably wise words.

" 30 passes. "

30? Damn- and I thought I was paranoid.

DL

*:Basically, its just the same trick as hiding a mountable partition inside the free space of an encrypted volume- IE, it just looks like noise.