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Thread ID: 84481 2007-11-07 06:02:00 How to secure erase my hard drive shomenno (7767) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
609143 2007-11-07 06:02:00 Hi

I am selling my old computer and need to secure erase all data on the hard drive. It has Windows XP on it so I can't use the DOS based program I used to use prior to having this computer.

Can anyone give me pointers how I can secure erase the hard drive?

Thanks, shomenno
shomenno (7767)
609144 2007-11-07 06:19:00 Have a look at this (http://dban.sourceforge.net/)free download, wipes the hard drive entirely.

Nothing is as sure as a hammer through the drive, and throwing the drive in the sea, but this way is as secure as you will need and a bit more environmentally friendly.
Ferg (2559)
609145 2007-11-07 06:19:00 I would wipe everything and reinstall XP. I doubt that you'd need to do more than a simple "0"s overwrite. PaulD (232)
609146 2007-11-07 08:03:00 The best tool for securely removing data from a hard drive is the GNU shred tool. This is what the DBAN disk uses but that disc makes it incredibly easy to use. The techniques used in that tool were invented by Peter Guttman, one of New Zealand's top academics in IT. TGoddard (7263)
609147 2007-11-07 11:08:00 funny thing but a program called

ERASER


does exactly what you want and it's free........google will find it...
drcspy (146)
609148 2007-11-07 11:26:00 ERASER will make nuke boot floppy. apsattv (7406)
609149 2007-11-07 19:34:00 have a read of the FAQ on data destruction....

pressf1.pcworld.co.nz

everyone has there own program to recomend but they will all remove the data in a way that will be fine for your needs.
robsonde (120)
609150 2007-11-07 20:44:00 Simple zero fill will be good enough, unless you're selling the PC to the FBI and they know you used to have illegal documents on there Agent_24 (57)
609151 2007-11-07 21:26:00 How to REALLY erase a hard drive
blogs.zdnet.com

I use Active Kill Disk to wipe any drives prior to selling.
Bantu (52)
609152 2007-11-08 00:48:00 I'd suggest paragon Disk Wiper 7.0 followed very closely by an acetylene torch. In conjunction you will get 100% security Espresso_Addict (8458)
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