:
|
| > Thanks for the comprehensive presentation of the options. What if
melting
| > the hard drive down is insufficient? Is there some service for launching
it
| > directly into the Sun?
|
|
| Yes there is, but you can't afford it. ;-)
What if he can and he does? If the data is that important, someone will
sabotage the flight, before it reaces the Sun and collect the hard disk ;-)
PS: this topic's became a good place to relax
I find it amusing!
|
| > | > > | > >>I understand that formatting a hard drive does not necessarily erase
all
| > >>previous data. I have heard that there are utilities that "truly"
erase an
| > >>entire hard drive... overwriting existing data with "X" and doing so
| > >>multiple times.
| > >>
| > >> My question:
| > >> Where can I get such a utility? What would I google? When I did a
search
| > >> all I got was commercial expensive stuff that seems overkill. Are
there
| > >> any free such utilities?
| > >>
| > >> Thanks.
| > >>
| > >
| > > How you erase a hard drive depends on who may attempt to gather data
from
| > > it in the future. A quick format will simply reset the file table. A
| > > full format will reset the file table and wipe the locations of any
file
| > > data. Generally this is good for most cases.
| > >
| > > Erasing a partition and creating a new one resets the mbr. Creating a
new
| > > partition wipes any previous file table information of previous file
| > > locations. The mbr is located in an area not accessible by a file
table
| > > as the mbr is not located in a partition, nor is it a file. This is
like
| > > a step up from a full format.
| > >
| > > A no cost software comes from the hard drive manufacturer. Somewhere
in
| > > that stuff is the ability to writes zeroes to the hard drive including
the
| > > entire area where the mbr resides. Along the way, it may map out any
bad
| > > areas that aren't holding data properly. The new file table won't use
| > > those mapped out areas for potential storage. Such software will also
| > > notify you if the hard drive is becoming unusable or is unusable.
| > > Obviously a bit more comprehensive and is free.
| > >
| > > If you choose to do so, use the pay for hard drive erasing software
for
| > > overwrites to meet your security requirements.
| > >
| > > A heavy magnet in the vicinity of the platters for a good amount of
time
| > > may remove any possbility of recovering any appreciable data.
Anything
| > > beyond that requires physically damaging the physical hard drive's
| > > platters. Beyond that, a furnace capable of melting/burning the hard
drive
| > > is required.
| > > Dave
| > >
| >
|
| --
| Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
| Please Reply to the Newsgroup
