What is the best way Cleaning a Partition?

Latest response

Hi All,

I have been trying to clean a USB cruiser drive using Acronis in the following manner:

Adding a new disk as a GPT format - then used the "Acronis DriveCleanser" tool using "fast" method.

The second step I took was Adding a new disk as MBR and so overwrite the previous partition's content and then I ran The "Acronis DriveCleanser" again for assurance.

However when I opened to see the partition via Gnome Gparted I noticed that there is an "Unknown " Partition sized 32 MIB flagged with "msftres"

I suspect the USB drive is infected from an unknown source. Could that be the case? Also what does that "msftres" flag means.

I wish to find the safest way to erase a partition using the proper tool.
Kindly see attached screenshot for reference.

Any assistance will be highly appreciated.
Regards,
Ofir

OS
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Responses

Christian Labisch's picture Guru 9710 points
13 August 2018 3:29 PM

Hi Ofir,

The flag msftres means "Microsoft reserved" - eventually this partition was created when you inserted the disk while using a newer Windows system such like Windows 10. The safest way to clean the USB drive is to create a new partition table and then create a new partition. I recommend to use GParted for this operation, back up the data you want to keep to another disk and restore it back once finished. By the way, I generally prefer to use open source tools like Clonezilla and GParted rather than proprietary Acronis tools ... :)

Regards,
Christian

OS Community Member 41 points
13 August 2018 4:03 PM

Hi Christian, Thanks for the prompt response.

Regarding the "Microsoft Reserved" flag I Think I understand. One detail I have failed to mention before is that I used Acronis on boot from a flash drive, meaning I didn't use Windows 10 at that time for the cleanup.

Is that normal That after I change the disk format to MBR the partition is clean however when I change it back to GPT the "msftres" flag shows up again as if the 32 MIB Partition restored itself? This concerns me As it appears both on SSD drives and usb flash drives I have cleaned as well.

I will be glad to hear your opinion on the matter.

Regards, Ofir

Christian Labisch's picture Guru 9710 points
13 August 2018 4:18 PM

Well Ofir, the problem is that when Microsoft (Windows) detects a GPT disk, it tends to add this
partition once you attach a GPT disk. To avoid that, either create a new MBR partition table, or
don't attach the disk to a Windows system, or don't use Windows systems (and Acronis) at all. :)

Regards,
Christian

OS Community Member 41 points
13 August 2018 4:41 PM

I see, in that case I will take that into account from here on. Thanks for providing me with a clear explanation Christian, it was very helpful ! :)

Regards, Ofir

Christian Labisch's picture Guru 9710 points
13 August 2018 4:47 PM

You're welcome Ofir, I'm glad that I could help you and that you appreciate the assistance. :)

Regards,
Christian

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