>but even a full format doesn't zero out the drive (unless you give format.exe the /p: argument). A "normal", "full" format will wipe the volume, the /P comman

>but even a full format doesn't zero out the drive (unless you give format.exe the /p: argument). A "normal", "full" format will wipe the volume, the /P command is implied unless /Q is specified (since Vista, but previous versions didn't have the /P at all), the /P:count parameter is to add (why?) to do it a number of times, using random characters: https://ss64.com/nt/format.html https://ss64.com/nt/format.html >/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. More clear here: https://www.lifewire.com/format-command-2618091 https://www.lifewire.com/format-command-2618091 >/p:count = This format command option writes zeros to every sector of the drive: once. If you specify a count, a different random number will be written to the entire drive that many times after the zero writing is complete. You can not use the /p option with the /q option. Beginning in Windows Vista, /p is assumed unless you use /q [KB941961].