How to erase my hard drive completely

[neill]

if you are going to install a new hard drive dont just throw the old one in the bin

i used to work for a recycling company and nowadays all your rubbish is sorted through and sperated

there was a few guys from work that was allways looking for old computer parts to fix and rebuild old machines

old hard drives were quite common through the rubbish and the guys used to take them home and go through the old files

destroy your hard drive m8 if there is any banking info on there

 

 

Should that last sentance have had WANKING not banking in it?

[chaang]

Should that last sentance have had WANKING not banking in it?

 

How did u know it was LB Videos

[neill]

How did u know it was LB Videos

 

 

LoL, in all seriousness, my mother gave me an old computer from when she was a social worker with lots of personal stuff on there, being a bit of a technophobe and to be 100% certain i just threw the hard drive into a coal fire, that way you will never be in any doubt! the laptop will still have a sell on value and you can rest assured your data is safe, bit drastic but for the best me thinks.

[maswov]

BC Wipe. Load the CD start it up, it slicks the drive 7 times. We used that to declassify secret hard drives.

[Scumbag]

I have noticed a significant difference between formatting with XP and vista.

vista takes seconds.

not sure if it is related to drive type, but It cannot be setting all the bits to zero in several seconds.

All it is doing is re-writing the FAT table. Any files that have not been over-written by re-installing the OS and programs can still be recovered.

[Rockman]

if you do a full format then data is lost forever.

 

If you reload windows using the install disks, it asks if you wish to re-format first. Just say yes and re-format and load windows back onto the laptop. Everything should be gone that was on there before.

 

 

That is not entiredly true. I had accidently reformated and re-installed windows and was still able to recover my data. Mainly I wanted to recover 5 years worth of pictures. I used a file recovery program by quetek and was able to recover about 90 percent of my pictures. A simple re-format and fresh install is not sufficient..

[chaang]

This thread will not die

 

Eventually sold my laptop for 62 quid !! and the hd ( after multiple gutmann cleans ) for 32 quid.

 

Never mind. I am sure i will spend the money on something worthwhile ! Only 8 days to go !

[Rockman]

This thread will not die

 

Eventually sold my laptop for 62 quid !! and the hd ( after multiple gutmann cleans ) for 32 quid.

 

Never mind. I am sure i will spend the money on something worthwhile ! Only 8 days to go !

 

 

 

Sorry new guy here..

[chaang]

Sorry new guy here..

 

Dont apologise You corrected the previous post - and quite rightly too.

 

I ran the software that was suggested in this thread. It overwrites all the info multiple times. I am sure some geek can still access the info if they really want to. But they wont be getting anything of real value. Hopefully

[funzy]

I am sure some geek can still access the info if they really want to. But they wont be getting anything of real value. Hopefully

 

you can check it by yourself

 

PC Inspector File Recovery http://download.cnet.com/PC-Inspector-File-Recovery/3000-2248_4-10118663.html

 

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[El Cata]

I recently had a bad HD crash on my C drive. I tried to recover the files by plugging the HD into another computer, but it said that the partition was not formatted. I installed windows on the D drive partition (same HD) & used a program called GetDataBack. I had to do a (quick) format of the C drive to access it. The program recovered 99% of files on the drive, including permanently deleted files & even Excel / Word recovery files.

 

Apparently the software that the government has can recover any file even if the HD has been formatted multiple times. Scary stuff!

 

Peace.

[gogo dog]

Apparently the software that the government has can recover any file even if the HD has been formatted multiple times. Scary stuff!

 

have a look at the Eraser program I recommended. I can overwrite the entire disc many times so that it can't be read.

[chaang]

have a look at the Eraser program I recommended. I can overwrite the entire disc many times so that it can't be read.

 

Thats the one i used. Thanks for the heads up.

[ZGreyFox]

You can completely wipe your HD by repartitioning it and reinstalling a clean OS.

[munky73770]

^lol wat

 

I will go into the MBR and recover your old partition within a few minutes. Not to mention I could carve unallocated for all your other files.

 

Eraser is good program as is bcwipe... Do a 7x low level format (00 hex wipe), you will be good to go.

 

 

(I know this is an old post, but cant help myself)

[Sexyfarangman]

If you are seriously concerned about any sensitive material on your HD, then consider drilling open your hard disk, grinding down the platters, and melting all of the parts in a furnace. Because somebody with a lot of time, money, and brains can always recover your data, at least part of it.

 

This is very good advice. You won't get much for your laptop, and whatever you do get won't be enough for the loss of your peace of mind. Just destroy the thing.

[writer]

you can never totally delete all information on any hard drive is retrievable

[jojomecanic]

Funny. This thread is still coming back...

 

Ok guys, here is a good tutorial to erase the hard drive completly.

 

 

 

Edit : other methods here

 

 

 

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Edited December 16, 2010 by jojomecanic

[fontok]

you can never totally delete all information on any hard drive is retrievable

No longer true, these days. The latest version of Ccleaner, as recommended by Bangkok Posts data section, will do sp.

 

This version has a multi level eraser function, one pass, two passes, and others, up to US/DOD standard of erasure.

 

The program is free, so try it out yourself. It is available from Download.Com

[dimmie]

Hi,

 

to erase your hard drive completely you will need a "low level format tool".

 

The process is as follows:

1. Download DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke). DBAN is free Open Source Software (and can be found here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/)

2. Reboot your computer with DBAN's boot CD.

3. Run the steps in the youtube video (The tool is going to fill the physical space on your hard drive where your files are saved with zeros or random data. Afterwards, you can recreate the partition and store new files without any problems)

 

Hope it helps...

[jamilv]

Look up "file shredder" on google, I use that when I format, I delete all important files with that, then format so even if they use a software to recover old files, the shredded files cannot be recovered.

[tourasia]

To tell the truth guys, if data is being sought the last place any professional would look is the file folder. All data is copied into the registry files and indexed. If you are worried about your wife seeing your TGF you should be fine unless she is a Cyber Genius but if you are worried about government agencies seeing what you have hidden away you probably need to get caught.

[xerive]

someone on the comments said this is good as well

 

 

 

But the best system wipe I have used is Kill Disk, at Killdisk.com. This is a stepped down Govt HD wiper. It writes "0's" through the HD. Totally wipes it out, and This is a Shareware/Freeware Program so its definetly worth the money.

 

 

to be safe run it several times aswell. You can I believe go as far back as 7 data wipes sometimes on HD disks. Maybe even more.

[GorGuy RIP]

This thread will not die

 

Eventually sold my laptop for 62 quid !! and the hd ( after multiple gutmann cleans ) for 32 quid.

 

Never mind. I am sure i will spend the money on something worthwhile ! Only 8 days to go !

 

I am glad you got the result you wanted.

 

For me, I will do the hammer on the hard drive option, as I know too many guys who work in the data recovery industry.

[xerive]

a microwave is usually a very good technique.

 

downside - it will fuck up your microwave aswell