As explained in the documentation (https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Creating%20New%20Volumes#QuickFormat), quick format applies only when encryption partitions/devices and when checked VeraCrypt will not overwrite all disk sectors with random data. This means that when quick format is selected, original content of disk sector is still present and an attacker may be able to know the size of encrypted data.
Thus, quick format is less secure in the sens it can give information about the size of the encrypted data even though an attacker will not access the content itself. Depending on you security model, this may not be an issue (for example if the partition/drive already contains random data).
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Anonymous
-
2015-03-08
Mounir IDRASSI :But the entire disk is overwritten partitions and quick FORMART ???
filesystems NTFS,FAT type
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When you format a disk using Windows, you also have to option to choose between quick format and normal format.
Quick format will only reset the file system table to make the drive look empty and the content of the files is not touched.
Normal format will reset the file system table and it will also overwrite file content.
VeraCrypt is doing like Windows do. The difference is that VeraCrypt disables quick format by default whereas Windows enables quick format by default, and in case quick format is disabled VeraCrypt overwrite files with random data whereas Windows overwrite data with zeros.
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Anonymous
-
2015-03-08
Mounir IDRASSI: Normal format speed sh*t average time 10-15 hour USB external 1TB hdd
Current encrypt in place = average time 21hours
If do quick format , data secure??? every sector is encrypted???
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quick format doesn't apply to In-Place encryption.
In-Place encryption always takes a lot of time because we have to preserve existing data: firs the drive is shrunk to put all data at the begining of the drive (this can take many hours) and then the encryption starts by replacing every sector by its encrypted value.
As displayed in the warning before In-Place encryption, this can be a dangerous operation because any power loss can make data corrupted and that's why VeraCrypt display a big warning to tell the users this and asks the user to backup data.
Even if In-Place encryption is possible, it is always advisable to create a new encrypted partition and format it.
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Anonymous
-
2015-03-08
My question IS [ quick format ] is safe or NO??? !!! :D
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That's what I am explaining...in security there is no YES/NO...any answer depends on the context. You can not say for example that RSA or AES is secure without detailing the usage context.
I do a lot of effort to explain all the details in order for you to take the correct decision. But it appears that my explanations are not useful.
Anyway, if you are in doubt, it is better to avoid using quick format.
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Hello, if I understood right, if I have a brand new hard disk to format:
- if I want to create a "standard volume" it's better to use normal format;
- if I want to create an "hidden volume" it's better to use norma format for the first step (to create the volume for the decoy datas) but I can use quick format for the second step (for creating the hidden volume).
Thanks for the explanation :)
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Hi,
(translated by Google Translator)
I have a question, when I set the whole disk to slow formatting, while encrypting it, the next formatting while encrypting that disk can be fast? Is such random data mentioned in the manual?
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Quick Format
If unchecked, each sector of the new volume will be formatted. This means that the new volume will be entirely filled with random data. Quick format is much faster but may be less secure because until the whole volume has been filled with files, it may be possible to tell how much data it contains (if the space was not filled with random data beforehand).
Hi,
And I asked about these random data.
Can a properly encrypted whole drive be quickly formatted when
re-encrypting that drive? Is random data from the first encryption enough?
MOD Note: Removed over quoting.
Last edit: Enigma2Illusion 2021-11-19
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What's enough depends on what you are going to achieve. A fully encrypted drive looks like it's been filled with random data. At the end of the day, it's just pseudo random data. If you chose a strong password for the first encryption, it could be considered good. On the other hand, if you really want to be safe, you should not use quick format.
No one will be able to tell you if it's good one way or another. It depends on your personal sense for data privacy. If you want to make sure, the old data can not be retrieved, or if you want to create a hidden volume, you really should not use quick format.
Greets
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Quick Format???
Is safe or not i understand quick formating
As explained in the documentation (https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Creating%20New%20Volumes#QuickFormat), quick format applies only when encryption partitions/devices and when checked VeraCrypt will not overwrite all disk sectors with random data. This means that when quick format is selected, original content of disk sector is still present and an attacker may be able to know the size of encrypted data.
Thus, quick format is less secure in the sens it can give information about the size of the encrypted data even though an attacker will not access the content itself. Depending on you security model, this may not be an issue (for example if the partition/drive already contains random data).
Mounir IDRASSI :But the entire disk is overwritten partitions and quick FORMART ???
filesystems NTFS,FAT type
When you format a disk using Windows, you also have to option to choose between quick format and normal format.
Quick format will only reset the file system table to make the drive look empty and the content of the files is not touched.
Normal format will reset the file system table and it will also overwrite file content.
VeraCrypt is doing like Windows do. The difference is that VeraCrypt disables quick format by default whereas Windows enables quick format by default, and in case quick format is disabled VeraCrypt overwrite files with random data whereas Windows overwrite data with zeros.
Mounir IDRASSI: Normal format speed sh*t average time 10-15 hour USB external 1TB hdd
Current encrypt in place = average time 21hours
If do quick format , data secure??? every sector is encrypted???
quick format doesn't apply to In-Place encryption.
In-Place encryption always takes a lot of time because we have to preserve existing data: firs the drive is shrunk to put all data at the begining of the drive (this can take many hours) and then the encryption starts by replacing every sector by its encrypted value.
As displayed in the warning before In-Place encryption, this can be a dangerous operation because any power loss can make data corrupted and that's why VeraCrypt display a big warning to tell the users this and asks the user to backup data.
Even if In-Place encryption is possible, it is always advisable to create a new encrypted partition and format it.
My question IS [ quick format ] is safe or NO??? !!! :D
That's what I am explaining...in security there is no YES/NO...any answer depends on the context. You can not say for example that RSA or AES is secure without detailing the usage context.
I do a lot of effort to explain all the details in order for you to take the correct decision. But it appears that my explanations are not useful.
Anyway, if you are in doubt, it is better to avoid using quick format.
Hello, if I understood right, if I have a brand new hard disk to format:
- if I want to create a "standard volume" it's better to use normal format;
- if I want to create an "hidden volume" it's better to use norma format for the first step (to create the volume for the decoy datas) but I can use quick format for the second step (for creating the hidden volume).
Thanks for the explanation :)
Hi,
(translated by Google Translator)
I have a question, when I set the whole disk to slow formatting, while encrypting it, the next formatting while encrypting that disk can be fast? Is such random data mentioned in the manual?
https://veracrypt.fr/en/Creating%20New%20Volumes.html
Greets
Last edit: RealTehreal 2021-11-18
Hi,
And I asked about these random data.
Can a properly encrypted whole drive be quickly formatted when
re-encrypting that drive? Is random data from the first encryption enough?
MOD Note: Removed over quoting.
Last edit: Enigma2Illusion 2021-11-19
What's enough depends on what you are going to achieve. A fully encrypted drive looks like it's been filled with random data. At the end of the day, it's just pseudo random data. If you chose a strong password for the first encryption, it could be considered good. On the other hand, if you really want to be safe, you should not use quick format.
No one will be able to tell you if it's good one way or another. It depends on your personal sense for data privacy. If you want to make sure, the old data can not be retrieved, or if you want to create a hidden volume, you really should not use quick format.
Greets
Thank You
MOD Note: Removed over quoting.
Last edit: Enigma2Illusion 2021-11-19