Which software program can I use to erase the hard drive on my PC before donating it to charity? | ExpatWoman.com
 

Which software program can I use to erase the hard drive on my PC before donating it to charity?

257
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 July 2011 - 01:22
As I said the program DH recommended is not a single pass wipe it is a multi pass wipe which is military grade certified. Also DH says police here do not destroy the disks they reuse them (he works with them on daily basis). Yes, I was agreeing with you - I just saw that someone earlier in the thread had said it was as easy as reformatting. Here the RCMP will reuse disks if they can - but older and nearly useless disks get the torch! <em>edited by Gummy on 21/07/2011</em>
67
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 July 2011 - 01:12
There is a difference between a simple reformat/reinstall of windows and using an actual single pass wipe program. A reformat won't write everything over with 0s. You can download (for free) many different single pass wipe programs that will do it somewhat simply. With the police force here, the standard procedure is to blowtorch harddrives. edited by Gummy on 21/07/2011 As I said the program DH recommended is not a single pass wipe it is a multi pass wipe which is military grade certified. Also DH says police here do not destroy the disks they reuse them (he works with them on daily basis).
257
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 July 2011 - 00:41
There is a difference between a simple reformat/reinstall of windows and using an actual single pass wipe program. A reformat won't write everything over with 0s. You can download (for free) many different single pass wipe programs that will do it somewhat simply. With the police force here, the standard procedure is to blowtorch harddrives. <em>edited by Gummy on 21/07/2011</em>
67
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 July 2011 - 00:03
@shineynewpony once I have used Darek's boot and nuke, is the harddrive still good to be used for new data from the new user ? can i use it on a laptop and hand it down to be used again without replacing the harddrive? DH says yes - it is basically a clean hard drive. Just bang in a windows cd (if that is what you want) and install as normal. Doesnt damage the hard drive just "cleans" it. He does this all the time for systems used by military and government. <em>edited by Shinynewpony on 21/07/2011</em>
69
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 23:07
so would a tower type computer be useful to anybody? I've had mine sitting there taking up space = can't bring myself to putting it in the bin but no use to me either now. and of course there's the wiping of data issue that you mentioned. So If I wipe it to whom should I offer it afterwards? it's a 10 year old dell <em>edited by Lulla on 20/07/2011</em>
67
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 22:52
But if I could recover files from a formatted usb flashdrive, what would be the difference to a formatted hard disk drive? The software mentioned does not just format it fills the disk with 1's and 0's overwriting anything that was there before. It also does this multiple times. Yes if you just format it only rewrites the disk table and does not really delete the data (same for usb and for disks). That is why you should never sell a computer that has not been correctly wiped. <em>edited by Shinynewpony on 20/07/2011</em>
72
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 22:47
DH uses http://www.dban.org/ on the corporate systems he works on (and he works on very sensitive data). Does something called a multi wipe and write. Just burn to a cd or put on a usb and follow the menu. Tanx for that usefull link
72
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 22:46
@edna.welthorpe tanx for that input. I might still pay a few dollars to let a program do the job properly for fear of not doing enough.
67
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 22:41
DH uses http://www.dban.org/ on the corporate systems he works on (and he works on very sensitive data). Does something called a multi wipe and write. Just burn to a cd or put on a usb and follow the menu.
516
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 22:38
take the hard-drive out and smash it up. There will always be some trace of the files you delete, even if you format it (you may not be able to access them, but a specialist could) This is a very hoary old urban myth. It's completely unnecessary to have to physically destroy a hard drive. A single full-drive format is enough. Of course, that doesn't stop companies trying to play on uninformed people's fears by selling them software that will reformat their drive multiple times, something anyone can do themselves just by typing "format" multiple times. The whole idea that useful data could be recovered from a hard drive that had been wiped was only ever a speculation by a computer research scientist. It's never been proven to be possible. A company even offered a cash prize as part of the Great Zero Challenge, an open invitation to the entire computer industry to demonstrate that they could recover even a single filename from a hard drive that had been completely overwritten with zeroes (which is all a full format does). Nobody ever took them up on it, not even professional data recovery specialists.
351
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 22:23
Darik's Boot & Nuke was recommended on here before. You'll have to google it!
1861
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 21:27
take the hard-drive out and smash it up. There will always be some trace of the files you delete, even if you format it (you may not be able to access them, but a specialist could)
72
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 20 July 2011 - 20:57
Any suggestions? Tanx
 
 

ON EXPATWOMAN TODAY