How totally "format" c:drive?

[George]

I have a PC I'd like to sell, but want to make sure no residual of my data
is on the c:drive. (It happens to be an older Win98 PC, but unsure if that
matters). Will putting the CD in and typing this completely erase all?:

c:\format C:

Or is there something else that needs to be done. Someone mentioned a total
wipe application...is that necessary, is it shareware, is there a mainstream
namebrand out there?

Thanks,
George

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Try DriveScubber for Free
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--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


|I have a PC I'd like to sell, but want to make sure no residual of my data
| is on the c:drive. (It happens to be an older Win98 PC, but unsure if that
| matters). Will putting the CD in and typing this completely erase all?:
|
| c:\format C:
|
| Or is there something else that needs to be done. Someone mentioned a total
| wipe application...is that necessary, is it shareware, is there a mainstream
| namebrand out there?
|
| Thanks,
| George

 

[Rich Barry]

George, a total wipe would further protect it but if there's any
sensitive info on it Recovery Outfits can still
get at it. Check here

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=Hard+Drive+Erasers&btnG=Google+Search

 

[Hiawatha Bray]

Formatting isn't nearly enough. You have to overwrite all the drive data
with random gibberish, preferably multiple times. This takes hours on a
large drive, but you can have the machine do it overnight or while you're at
work.

I use Eraser, a shareware program you can get at http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

I've also heard that Autoclave is a very good program for completely
annihilating all data on a drive--even the operating system. You put it on
a floppy and it uses a small version of Linux to boot the PC so you needn't
use any of the code on the hard drive. You just see a screen asking if you
want to destroy everything.

Autoclave was developed at the University of Washington and is free, at
http://staff.washington.edu/jdlarios/autoclave/

 

[C.Joseph Drayton]

Hi George,

I use Eraser v5.70 and it works great. It is a multi-pass erasing application that overwrites the whole disk. Theoretically with
a white-room and a muscular processor you could still pick up some echo's of the data on the drive, but you are talking about
NSA level forensics. I have been using this application for a couple of years now and recommend it to anyone getting rid of a
drive with confidential data on it. The program can be downloaded from ( http://tinyurl.com/2dayt ).

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

That which a man buys to cheaply . . .
He esteems to lightly

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

To protect your personal information and data from any future
users of average skills, you should, at the very least, format the
hard drive and reinstall only the OS and those applications whose
licenses you are selling along with the computer. If you wish to do a
more thorough job of protecting your personal data, WipeDrive 2.2.1
(http://www.accessdata.com/Product07_Overview.htm?ProductNum=07) meets
U.S. DoD standards for securely cleaning surplus unclassified hard
drives, and could be used before formatting and reinstalling the OS
and applications.


Bruce Chambers
--
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