How do I wipe my hard drive?

[smokey982]

I have a cheap laptop that I bought a couple years ago on black Friday for a great deal. I've only used it sparingly because it was only bought as a backup to my main computer. But I understand why it was cheap, because it is SLOW! So I'm ready to sell this thing but I would like to clean it up like it was when I bought it. So, how hard will this be for someone that only uses a computer to surf the web and check emails? I hate to invest any more money in it by taking it to a computer store and having it done.

 

[RandallA]

At work we are required to use this utility, D-Ban to wipe out hard drives. It's free.

Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing

 

[riffjim4069]

Several good free wipe utilities out there like Eraser: Eraser | Download Eraser software for free at SourceForge.net

 

[harshness]

I've used DBAN successfully many times.

The issue is how you go about restoring the machine to showroom after you've nuked it. Most computers have come with a restore partition and the drive wipers toss that baby along with the bathwater.

It may still be possible to create or obtain a set of restore CDs. If it isn't, you don't want to whack it or you'll spend more than the machine is worth to restore it to a functional state.

You might check and see if there is a Linux distro that will install easily.

 

[smokey982]

So I would basically need a restore disc for any of the above?

 

[dfergie]

It should give the option to make restore or recovery discs, then you could wipe...

 

[harshness]

It should give the option to make restore or recovery discs, then you could wipe...

That depends entirely on the manufacturer and product line. Many of the older machines were set up so you had to obtain/use a set provided by the company. Some of the newer ones only allow you to make one backup set and the partition is useless thereafter.

 

[Bongu]

I've used DBAN successfully many times.

The issue is how you go about restoring the machine to showroom after you've nuked it. Most computers have come with a restore partition and the drive wipers toss that baby along with the bathwater.

It may still be possible to create or obtain a set of restore CDs. If it isn't, you don't want to whack it or you'll spend more than the machine is worth to restore it to a functional state.

You might check and see if there is a Linux distro that will install easily.

I have used some of the Restore CD/DVD sets that some MFRs allow you to make and the set actually repartitioned and set up the restore partition again after a wipe. YMMV, but this has worked well for me.

 

[Frank Jr.]

Here is a dumb question? Other than wiping the entire drive, can you not delete all the personal information leaving the operating system intact and use CCleaner to wipe the so called free space? Wouldn't that write over everything that was deleted?

For an article from Piriform, click here.​

 

[smokey982]

Here is a dumb question? Other than wiping the entire drive, can you not delete all the personal information leaving the operating system intact and use ccleaner to wipe the so called free space? Wouldn't that write over everything that was deleted?

That is really what I would like to do. I've never really put an sensitive information on there anyway. It was just used for email and web surfing. I do have it set up for three different user log-ins (wife, daughter, and myself). I would like to clean those up and have one generic log-in if possible.

 

[John Kotches]

Old school... Boot a linux distro and run this ;-)

for loop in 1 2 3 4 5
do

dd if=/dev/zero of= disk-block-dev bs=1m

dd if=/dev/random of=disk-block-dev bs=1m

done

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[harshness]

Other than wiping the entire drive, can you not delete all the personal information leaving the operating system intact and use CCleaner to wipe the so called free space?

There is arguably no way to programmatically locate all "personal information". The registry almost always contains something that could be useful to the wrong person. Programs like CrapCleaner hit all the high points but they often can't catch the obscure uses of the registry or encoded data hidden here and there by various programs including software registration codes and the like.

 

[TheForce]

I am currently in the process of selling a used package of equipment that is operational and needs to stay that way for the sale. I have deleted all my personal media and data files from the C drive and replaced the D drive with a clean one. What I planned to do is fill the C drive to within a few Mb of capacity using large video files. Then delete them. Then do it again with a bunch of additional image files ( small size ) Then I plan to go in and verify the sectors are all scrambled with video data as opposed to the original personal data I want completely cleaned off. I will use a software called file scavenger that can read a defunct drive and reconstruct the corrupted files, even when partially present. I will search for file remnants that may be sensitive. It will tell me what remains on the drive. Hopefully, the only thing left will what I intend to remain.

Can any of you see anything wrong with this procedure? Other than it is a manual process.

 

[harshness]

There's usually a lot of stuff stuck in the registry that never goes away (in case you re-install the software).

 

[TheForce]

I know it takes awhile but using regedit you can manually remove those references but I have also had excellent resuults using Advanced registry optimizer which hunts down and finds registry references to unininstalled software.

 

[Ilya]

What I would personally do if I were to sell my computer, I would erase the entire partition using one of the secure-erase utilities out there, then I would reformat the partition and do a fresh Windows install using the factory-install disks originally provided with the computer, or using the recovery partition if it is present. This is the most reliable way, and in many cases it is actually the fastest way, at least from the point of view of my personal time spent on the entire process (the process may take many hours, but most of the steps would not require my presence).

For some recommendations about secure erase utilities check out this link:

Best Free Secure Erase Utility

 

[harshness]

I know it takes awhile but using regedit you can manually remove those references but I have also had excellent resuults using Advanced registry optimizer which hunts down and finds registry references to unininstalled software.

If it doesn't specifically mention a title and version, I wouldn't bet on it. A coworker of mine just had his AOL account compromised by a machine he donated to his church.

 

[TheForce]

Thing is the only confidential stuff on that computer are video project files for my advertising clients. I don't know what harm could be done. I trust the guy I'm selling to but you never know who he might sell the computer to down the road. The computer that I would never sell and the HD gets used for my M4 target practice is the one I'm on now. The good thing about my using dedicated computers is that I'm not worried about personal stuff on the video editing machines. Still, I want to get the C drive as clean as possible. But, considering the nature of the obsolete, yet usable software on it, I can't reformat the drive and reinstall everything. It has to be sold operational for the project. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Looks like it is a risk reward decision.