off topic question - need help though

  • Thread starter Thread starter moto
  • Start date Start date
Moto,

Any good shredder will do it.
I just went to www.download.com and looked for one.
I use one from O&O software-but it cost $$.
There are free ones on there too; though.

Jeff
 
Hi,

A zero-write tool from the drive manufacturer. Of course, these remove all
data from the drive. What exactly are you trying to do?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
i'm trying to permanantly destroy all data on one of my spare drives prior
to selling it to someone else
 
Why don't you just full reformat the drive. Unless you have something that
someone is willing to spend many hundreds of dollars to retrieve, or the FBI
is after you, that should do all you need.
 
do a double/triple format.
Hook the drive up, format it, when it is done, format again, then if you
want to be extra sure, format one more time. After that, there shouldn't be
anything left on it at all that can be recovered.

And it doesn't cost you anything but time.
 
Really though, how much is the used drive worth? If the data is that
sensitive, just destroy the drive... If it's part of a computer system
you're selling, just buy a new one for that, or find someone else's used
drive to pop in there. That would be my advice, if you're concerned at all
about the data getting out to someone else.

If that's not an option, do the format/fill thing a couple of times and call
it done.

Clint
 
moto said:
i'd rather be safe, there's a lot of financial info on this drive
Click to expand...

moto,

I'de recommend following two utilities.

First one ic CIPHER, builtin NTFS encryption utiltiy, that happens to have
secure wipe capabilities. You need to delete all data from the drive by
usual means though before using it. Better yet, format drive (to make sure
Recycle Bin and System Restore points under 'System Volume Information'
hidden folder are gone), then use CIPHER on it.
==================================
C:\>cipher /?
Displays or alters the encryption of directories [files] on NTFS partitions.
....
CIPHER /W:directory
....
/W Removes data from available unused disk space on the entire
volume. If this option is chosen, all other options are
ignored.
The directory specified can be anywhere in a local volume. If
it
is a mount point or points to a directory in another volume,
the
data on that volume will be removed.
....
==================================

Second one is SDELETE from Sysinternals, recently acquired by Microsoft. It
is specifically intended to securely delete data:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/SDelete.mspx
 
Formatting is insufficient for securely erasing data as it does not actually
rewrite/overwrite the data within the sectors. Many undelete utilities
freely available on the web can recover data from a formatted drive. A
zero-write utility is safer and easy to use.

By the by, nothing short of a sledgehammer is absolute in its ability to
wipe data from a drive. The right person with the right forensic tools can
recover data from drives that have been overwritten multiple times.
Expensive and time consuming it is, but it can be done.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Yup. My DBXpress program (www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/) will very nicely pull
all the email messages from OE off the drive after its been formatted
several times. People don't realize that formatting doesn't erase.

steve
 
depends on the format.
i wont insult your intelligence with the difference between a quick and
full format.
but suffice to say a SINGLE format wont remove the data from
data-recovery softwares' eyes.

US government erase is 3x format.
german government erase = is either 9 or 11x format (i forget which)

some1 mentioned a zero-write program from the HDD manufacture. run that
a few times.... some allow you to change the format type... either all
zeros, all 1's, or random type formats.

tim
 
Alexander Suhovey said:
I'de recommend following two utilities.

First one ic CIPHER, builtin NTFS encryption utiltiy, that happens to have
secure wipe capabilities. You need to delete all data from the drive by
usual means though before using it. Better yet, format drive (to make sure
Recycle Bin and System Restore points under 'System Volume Information'
hidden folder are gone), then use CIPHER on it.
Click to expand...


I would use a really, really hot fire both before and after a good
sledgehammer job.
 
Frank Saunders said:
I would use a really, really hot fire both before and after a good
sledgehammer job.
Click to expand...

Well, it always boils down to reducing the risk to the acceptable level.
DoD-compliant wiping does that for customer and business-level data for sure
IMO. Sdelete is DoD-compliant. Not sure about cipher but I remember reading
something about it too...

Now, let's see... You will need spend money for thermal and physical
destruction of HDD while you can use free software to wipe an information on
HDD and then profit from selling it.

If both solutions provide acceptable level of risk (though one may provide
significantly lower risk level than another), the answer is obvious.
 
Reformat.
Fill the drive with large video /music files.
Reformat
do the files again
reformat
 
A multiple format, removal of the partition, reinstating the partition,
reformatting, does not remove the data.

I had to write my own program to clear the drive of data.

steve
 
Right, data must be overwritten with new data multiple times, formatting
does not do that. The common formatting procedure is the high-level variety
where the boot sector is rewritten and file system established. It does not
erase existing data on the drive. Low-level formatting is not usually (and
should not be) done by the home user, it is done at the factory. The closest
a home user should come to this is a zero-write utility.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
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