Windows 10: Format /p option with DVD-RAM

Has anyone got experience of using the format command with the /p option?

/P:count Zero every sector on the volume. After that, the volume
will be overwritten "count" times using a different
random number each time. If "count" is zero, no additional
overwrites are made after zeroing every sector. This switch
is ignored when /Q is specified.

I found it always takes about an 1hour 5mins to carry out a full format on single sided 2.7GB DVD-RAM media using UDF 2.01 file format regardless of the number of passes specified. I have changed the number of passes to 1, 5, 10 or 20 but it always take about an hour to format the media. The behaviour is the same on Windows 7. At first I was thinking it should take longer if the number of passes was increased but now i'm not so sure. What do you think?

I have looked at other ways to securely delete DVD-RAM media but not found any decent options and the format method seemed like a good simple solution. DBAN and KillDisk don't work. Imgburn and other older programs don't help either. Any other ideas would be appreciated?

The goal is to securely delete DVD-RAM media but have the option to reuse them. I rather not destroy them as I want to save the world lol

:)

 

formatting dvd wondows 10

Hi John,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. Appreciate your interest in using Windows 10.

I would like to inform that only a Rewritable DVD can be formatted. To format a DVD/RW, follow the steps below:

• Insert the DVD/RW in the DVD drive.
• Open This PC (Windows key + E).
• Right click on the DVD drive and select Format.

Hope the information is helpful. Feel free to write to us for any other assistance with Windows, we’ll be glad to assist you.

 

Format Un-Writable DVD.

Hi Roger,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

To have better clarity on the issue, please answer the below-listed questions and get back to us.

1. Is your disc a Re-Writable DVD disc or a Writable disc?
2. What is the name of the disk?

A Re-Writable DVD disc is a compact disc that can be written, read arbitrarily many times, erased, and written again.

If you are using a Re-Writable disc, then follow the below steps to erase the contents of the disk completely.

Note: Erasing the contents of the disk will delete all the data that is present on the disk, so please backup the data before erasing the disk.

Make sure that your drive has the ability to write DVDs, otherwise, you won't be able to erase, reformat, or write new data the disc.

Step 1: Insert the DVD into your DVD drive and in the
Autoplay dialog box, click Burn files to disk using Windows Explorer. If you don't see the dialog box, click the
Start button, click This PC, and then double-click your DVD drive.

Step 2: In the Burn a Disk dialog, type a name for the disk and choose a format for the DVD. There are two different formatting options for rewritable DVDs.

• Click like a USB flash drive if you want to use the Live File System format. These discs can be played in computers, but not in most DVD players. Use this format if you want to back upfiles on your computer. Files will be burned to disc
  as you add them.
• Click with a CD/DVD player if you want to use the Mastered format. These discs can be played in CD/DVD players, as well as in computer DVD players. Use this format if you want to playmusic or video from your DVD. Files will be burned to
  disc all at once, when you're done adding them.

Step 4: Once you've selected your formatting method, the drive will prepare the disc. This may take a few moments. After it's finished, you'll be able to start adding files to the disc.

Give it a shot and let us know of any changes.

 

DVD Format Movie burning?

Needs to be encoded in MPEG-2 format to play on DVD players.