Erasing and zeroing-out a volume
 

I have three partitions (volumes) on an external HDD. One of the volumes is named "Work". I'd like to clear Work to zeroes, then install the OS from my DVD's to Work. I don't want to disturb the other two partitions. I'm afraid if I use Disk Utility, with the Zero Out Data option, to erase Work, that the definition of Work will also be erased; that is, Work will no longer exist. Then, how do I redefine/reestablish Work on that disk?

I have observed that when SuperDuper is performing an erase-then-copy operation, the destination volume icon disappears from my desktop (during the erase I guess), then reappears a second later with the original volume name. So it seems like the volume can indeed be redefined.

You can't zero out just a single partition, ReddSmith: Disk Utility zeros the entire drive or nothing, as far as I know.

Disk Utility says I can erase and zero just a volume
 

The dialog wording says "Erasing a selected volume erases that volume only, leaving other volumes on the disk unchanged." And the Secure Erase Options dialog says "Use these options to specify how to erase your disk or volume..."
Let's assume I can zero-out only my volume named "Work". (If it erases the entire disk, well, I'll certainly find that out!)

My issue is, if "Work" then no longer exists, how do I redefine/reestablish "Work" as the third volume on that disk, occupying the newly-zeroed space?

That sounds like something they've changed, then: if so, it should erase it and then remount, just like we do...

So, the volume should be remounted for me?
 

The last time I tried something similar was with the Disk Utility Restore function. I specified the "Erase Destination" option for the target volume named "Backup". "Backup" was erased as promised...in fact, it was replaced by a volume named "Macintosh HD", the source of the restore function. "Backup" no longer existed. That's what I don't want to happen here, to have "Work" disappear and be replaced by some other name. That's also why I wondered if SuperDuper has to do something extra to retain the original volume name, over and above what Disk Utility and the OS do for the erase operation.

We simply use Disk Utility to erase the volume. The name is provided when you do the erase...