Best way to wipe drive contents clean?

[ClubMed]

Im sending my hard disk back to be replaced tomorrow.

What the best way to delete the data on it?

Please give me a step by step explanation so I can print it out and follow the directions.

Because once I delet the contents I won't be able to get back on TechIMO for questions

Im a newbie in DOS commands and things like that, so give it to me in simple terms

Thanks!.

[Whir]

Get a really big magnet!! :P

Last I checked, format C: /u worked pretty good. But you could FDISK it also. Delete all the partitions and exit. Reboot the computer so the changes take affect. I'm sure the government has some cool stuff for getting data off an FDISKed drive, but I wouldn't worry too much about the hard drive people. :P

-Whir

[GroundZero3]

write zeros to it.

http://www.wdc.com/support/download/index.asp


get the Diagnostic program

JaYsin

[MDdan]

Humm...there are disk wiping utilities out there, but I can't say I've ever been that paranoid. I'd just format and fdisk it and not worry about it. A good wiping utility should overwrite the drive with ones and zeros, randomly, multiple times. Make sure it does the whole drive, not just parts. (some of those utilities work better than others)

[crystaldragon]

If you are really concerned about wiping the drive contents You need to do an over write type of erase. Here is a link to a free program that will definitely wipe everything.

JD

[MDdan]

Nice link Dragon, although I would point out one problem with that kind of utility. It runs within Windows, and will not be able to erase everything on the drive, their site mentions a few known problems.

Might be a good idea to boot off of a different drive, especially if you want to use that utility to wipe the drive (that way you could wipe the old swap file, which would not be possible if it was in use).

But I'm getting kinda silly here, cause either this utility or writing zeros to the drive would be sufficient for all but the most sophisticated recovery attacks.

Of the options listed, I'd probably just boot it off a floppy and use the write zeros program.

[crystaldragon]

MDdan

Oooops ....
I should have mentioned that about it running within windows. What I have used it most for is RMA'ing hard drives. By hooking up the one going back as a slave. That way I can run it and do a complete overwrite no prob.
JD

[Xeroid]

How about a DOS utility called Wipe. I'ts a hard drive zero fill program. Good for all kinds of stuff. I used it to remove a drive overlay program from a hard disk someone gave me the other day. It can be downloaded @ Bootdisk.com. Just look for the cleaner program that says Wipe/Zap (2 free downloads for the price of one) . Fits on a floppy disk.

Mike

[BBA]

Just low level format it. It's pretty much the only way to completely remove everything.

Doing wipe will write zero's, but a forensic exam can sometimes recover data that was overwritten based on minute magnetic resonances, or so they say.

A low level format pretty much takes it all out.

Quote:

Originally posted by BBA
Just low level format it. It's pretty much the only way to completely remove everything.

Doing wipe will write zero's, but a forensic exam can sometimes recover data that was overwritten based on minute magnetic resonances, or so they say.

A low level format pretty much takes it all out.

I'd have to agree with BBA that a low level format is best, but be careful if you are going to do it through the BIOS as it can screw things up sometimes. Use a floppy based program that can low level format. Many HDD manufacturers have tools you can load onto a boot floppy to use - I know Seagate, WD and Maxtor have them. Check on the HDD manufacturer's site. If your HDD manufacturer doesn't have one, use MaxtorBlast - I'm pretty sure that works with any brand HDD and includes a low level format option.

Good luck.