Cleaning up a harddrive completely

Mojang · Feb 12, 2006, 05:52 PM

Hi!

I've read somewhere that even if you format a hard drive, there will be information left on it that can be restored. Therefore, people selling used hard drives may not be aware that the person buying it will be able to bring the old information "back to life". How do I clean up a hard drive so that it becomes totally empty? Is there certain software to do this?

/Mojang

Sandok · Feb 12, 2006, 05:55 PM

Yeah there are softwares though I forgot... The only real method is to chuck it in a car compressor...

niceguyrichy · Feb 12, 2006, 06:29 PM

when you delete something off your hdd all that happens is windows alocates the space as available, and until that space is used up whatever you 'deleted' is still on the drive.

so you could always format, reinstall and fill the drive up completely with meaningless crap which should overwrite everything else

or like sandok said, trash it

swimtech · Feb 12, 2006, 08:56 PM

The Gdisk utility, part of the Ghost software suite from Symantec, is an excellent utility for wiping a hard drive to DoD/NSA specs. You can also specify the number of passes it will make over the drive - I believe 7 is the number that conforms to DoD (Department of Defense) specs...

The_Neon_Cowboy · Feb 13, 2006, 01:10 AM

Nope DoD is only 3 , german and russion goast or gernman or gutnum
(*forgot the name atm) uses 7, I think is like gusenhimer ? i'm cant spell
it that does 35 pases....

DoD is weak by compairson, multiple passes of the same are WORTHLESS the
values need to alternate most common ares passes of 00 and then FF then
random, they name wipes use diffrent methods on each pass

If I rember correct up to 15 wipes your increseing secuirty but after 15 its kinda
of a waste...

Well you can secure erase a drive all you want it can be read with an electron
microscope. All you can do is do a secure wipe... the milltary when dealing with
drive that could of one held clasfied info doent even use any wipe. They either distroy the drive or run them through a degusser system...they uses DOD to delete files I'm talking when they sell off what is to be ex millatary hardware.

Tipstaff · Feb 13, 2006, 04:04 AM

CBL Data Shredder is one of the more "recognized" on the market.. plus it's free. You can tell it how many passes to use as well. It uses the Gutmann (I think this is the name you were looking for Neon) many-pass method which writes data with different patterns over and over again until the data is unrecoverable... supposedly.

I personally use this one, and one called DSX which I got a long time ago from the RCMP. I prefer CBL due to the fact that it does a much better job wiping a drive, but it does take longer to do so.

swimtech · Feb 13, 2006, 04:55 AM

Much thanks for that info, Tipstaff. The page for the download is very helpful in understanding the various methods/algorithms for wiping as well...

The_Neon_Cowboy · Feb 13, 2006, 07:44 PM

There is a utillity that I use but it's not free (well there is a free zero fill only version)
called kill disk

swimtech · Feb 13, 2006, 10:23 PM

Cool Neon, Killdisk is on the Ultimate Boot CD too!

Available here:

Ultimate Boot CD

Tons 'o other goodies too, and there is a sticky thread in the forums here about it and drive management.

Feb 12, 2006, 05:52 PM	#1
Mojang DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 17 Rep Power: 0	Cleaning up a harddrive completely Hi! I've read somewhere that even if you format a hard drive, there will be information left on it that can be restored. Therefore, people selling used hard drives may not be aware that the person buying it will be able to bring the old information "back to life". How do I clean up a hard drive so that it becomes totally empty? Is there certain software to do this? /Mojang

Feb 12, 2006, 08:56 PM	#4
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	The Gdisk utility, part of the Ghost software suite from Symantec, is an excellent utility for wiping a hard drive to DoD/NSA specs. You can also specify the number of passes it will make over the drive - I believe 7 is the number that conforms to DoD (Department of Defense) specs... __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Feb 13, 2006, 01:10 AM	#5
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	Nope DoD is only 3 , german and russion goast or gernman or gutnum (forgot the name atm) uses 7, I think is like gusenhimer ? i'm cant spell it that does 35 pases.... DoD is weak by compairson, multiple passes of the same are WORTHLESS the values need to alternate most common ares passes of 00 and then FF then random, they name wipes use diffrent methods on each pass If I rember correct up to 15 wipes your increseing secuirty but after 15 its kinda of a waste... Well you can secure erase a drive all you want it can be read with an electron microscope. All you can do is do a secure wipe... the milltary when dealing with drive that could of one held clasfied info doent even use any wipe. They either distroy the drive or run them through a degusser system...they uses DOD to delete files I'm talking when they sell off what is to be ex millatary hardware. __________________ Last edited by The_Neon_Cowboy; Feb 13, 2006 at 07:31 PM.*

Feb 13, 2006, 04:04 AM	#6
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	CBL Data Shredder is one of the more "recognized" on the market.. plus it's free. You can tell it how many passes to use as well. It uses the Gutmann (I think this is the name you were looking for Neon) many-pass method which writes data with different patterns over and over again until the data is unrecoverable... supposedly. I personally use this one, and one called DSX which I got a long time ago from the RCMP. I prefer CBL due to the fact that it does a much better job wiping a drive, but it does take longer to do so. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Feb 13, 2006, 04:55 AM	#7
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	Much thanks for that info, Tipstaff. The page for the download is very helpful in understanding the various methods/algorithms for wiping as well... __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Feb 12, 2006, 05:55 PM	#2
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	Yeah there are softwares though I forgot... The only real method is to chuck it in a car compressor...

Feb 12, 2006, 06:29 PM	#3
niceguyrichy hunter of tablets Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: spread all over my keyboard.. Posts: 6,870 Rep Power: 302 System Specs	when you delete something off your hdd all that happens is windows alocates the space as available, and until that space is used up whatever you 'deleted' is still on the drive. so you could always format, reinstall and fill the drive up completely with meaningless crap which should overwrite everything else or like sandok said, trash it

Feb 13, 2006, 07:44 PM	#8
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	There is a utillity that I use but it's not free (well there is a free zero fill only version) called kill disk __________________

Feb 13, 2006, 10:23 PM	#9
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	Cool Neon, Killdisk is on the Ultimate Boot CD too! Available here: Ultimate Boot CD Tons 'o other goodies too, and there is a sticky thread in the forums here about it and drive management. __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.