Remove Everything From Hard Disk

Question

I'm getting a new PC. I want to remove everything from my Windows XP mSP 2 hard disk. What is the best way to clean my disk before I give it away. I guess that I could remove the disk or reformat it. But I'm not sure that reformatting the disk will do the job. (Dimension 8250)

Sherr

Message Edited by Sherr on 11-20-2007 07:52 PM

beneteau · Answer

The very best and safest way is to replace the hard drive. I wouldn't sell a computer unless I installed a new hard drive. Hard drives are not expensive.

EmKu · Answer

Yeah, my mate! Formatting is not the good way to secure all your data before you give your HDD away ;) I can recover all data from any formated or undetected partitions ;) You should use a third-party software to get all your data being unrecoved ;) this tool is old but still worth  to use! AEVITA Wipe & Delete v:1.0.4     Get it from here  http://rapidshare.de/files/25524183/wipedelete104_setup.rar

jmwills · Answer

Search for a program named BC Wipe disk. There will be three options with #3 being the DOD standard for wiping drives.

cciaffone · Answer

Seems like back in the bad old days, there were hard drive utility programs, shipped with the hard drive itself, that would let you set a drive to all zeros. Is this still true? Would this not be sufficient protection??

Sherr · Answer

Don't know anything about the utility program you are referring to. Maybe someone else can answer your question. Sherr

CommoGrunt · Answer

Darik's Boot and Nuke disk. DoD level erasure. Free utility. Easy to use. Works great...

jmwills · Answer

All good programs, just make sure you make 3 passes to be DOD secure.

Sherr · Answer

I just downloaded BC Wipe into my Documents. When I click on BC Wipe it asks if I want to RUN the file. I do NOT want to clear my disk now. I just want to store and have BC Wipe available when I require it. I assume that I must now install BC Wipe. So if I RUN BC Wipe will it install. Or if I RUN the file do I wipe the disk clean. Normally when you download yo follow up with an install. I don't see BC Wipe listed in ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS so I asssume that it is not installed.

Thanks for the assistance.

Sherr

Message Edited by Sherr on 11-28-2007 09:13 AM

jmwills · Answer

Burn the file to a CD and boot form the CD.

Sherr · Answer

I think that if I click on RUN it will INSTALL. I'm looking for someone to confirm this. Sherr

Sherr · Answer

Clicking on Documents-BC Wipe-Run installs the file. Thanks again Sherr

Windows General

Remove Everything From Hard Disk

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