In a Linux forensic write operation, using /dev/zero as the input device to /dev/hda results in what?

• A. Fill the disk with 4096 zeros
• B. Fill the disk with zeros
• C. Copy files from the master disk to the slave disk on the secondary IDE controller
• D. Low-level format

Answer: (B)

The input device /dev/zero provides an endless stream of zero bytes. When that stream is written to a disk device (for example, using a tool like dd), every sector on the drive is filled with zeros. The result is a disk that is completely zero-filled, with all previous data, partitions, and file structures overwritten. This is why it’s described as a zero-fill wipe, not a low-level format. The option suggesting only 4096 zeros would be incorrect because the entire disk is affected, not just a small fixed amount. The idea of copying files between disks isn’t what happens here; this operation overwrites the target disk with zeros.