Scrubbing Windows XP PC's

[KDawg44]

My company is getting rid of some older laptops and desktops. I need
to scrub these completely before they leave the office. I am going to
reinstall XP. Will this sufficiently remove the data or should I use
some kind of disk scrubber software, and if so, what?

Thanks.

Kevin

 

[Shenan Stanley]

My company is getting rid of some older laptops and desktops. I
need to scrub these completely before they leave the office. I am
going to reinstall XP. Will this sufficiently remove the data or
should I use some kind of disk scrubber software, and if so, what?

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

You can then install Windows XP back on it with confidence nothing else is
there. In my opinion (given these likely had OEM copies of Windows XP with
them) you should tape a copy of the CD and write the product key supplied
with the computer on the inside case cover in magic marker so whomever ends
up with it doesn't get screwed.

 

[KDawg44]

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

You can then install Windows XP back on it with confidence nothing else is
there. In my opinion (given these likely had OEM copies of Windows XP with
them) you should tape a copy of the CD and write the product key supplied
with the computer on the inside case cover in magic marker so whomever ends
up with it doesn't get screwed.

Yes, they have OEM Windows. So will the "hidden" manufacturer
partition be gone as well? When I reinstall, will this cause a
problem?

Thanks.

 

[Big Al]

My company is getting rid of some older laptops and desktops. I need
to scrub these completely before they leave the office. I am going to
reinstall XP. Will this sufficiently remove the data or should I use
some kind of disk scrubber software, and if so, what?

Thanks.

Kevin

Reloading XP will probably, and note that word, probably destroy most
data, but nothing except writing data to every sector of a HD will
prevent someone from finding some piece of data from the old install.

I've wondered about using those old degausser devices you used to use on
tapes. I still have one. To add to KDawg44's question, does anyone
know if these items will work? The drive is defective so I can't wipe
the drive with software.

PS. Google can give you a ton of suggestions if you enter 'wipe HD'

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Data can be recovered even after formatting a drive. If the hard drives
contained proprietary or confidential data then you should use the same
routine the goverment uses to scrub a drive. Windows does not itself
contain a such scrubber so consider a third-party program like Active Boot
Disk:
http://www.ntfs.com/boot-disk.htm.

Some other ideas are on places like Cnet:
http://www.cnet.com/4244-5_1-0.html?query=disk eraser.

Google on "disk erasers" for more ideas.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

My company is getting rid of some older laptops and desktops. I need
to scrub these completely before they leave the office. I am going to
reinstall XP. Will this sufficiently remove the data or should I use
some kind of disk scrubber software, and if so, what?

Thanks.

Kevin

No, reinstalling is not sufficient to *really* remove data. Anyone with
sufficient information, skills and gear can recover things you don't want
recovered.

I will say that you need to stop and consider whether these systems contain
any customer information or any business information that if released would
incur legal liabilty.

If they do, the 100% solution is to physically destroy the hard disks.
Take them out to a parking lot with a sledgehammer, and call it therapy.

If the platters are physically destroyed, there is zero chance of data
recovery, and zero chance of liability.

This of course means that all those systems now need new hard disks, so the
question concerns the confidentiality level of the data. If it's not a
huge issue, you can use many other means.

If they don't have this kind of data, you can be less thorough and use 3rd
party disk wipe tools, such as Acronis Drive Cleanser.

http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/drivecleanser/index.html

This is around $50 and you can wipe all the disks with it. You may find a
bundle that includes other useful tools, such as Disk Director and maybe
TrueImage, if you poke around the vendor's site for a few minutes.

Note that disk wipe routines can take some time to run. Use USB2 drive
cases or adapters to connect the drives to the system with the wipe utility;
this will be another $20 - $30 or so.

HTH
-pk

 

[Alan]

Webroot Window Washer has a 'System Eraser' option which claims to erase
everything. It doesn't cost much, is this effective?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Yes. The key to what you want is the phrase, "Securely removes files using
government standards." The standards are very stringent and involve many
and varied passes.

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

I've wondered about using those old degausser devices you used to
use on tapes. I still have one. To add to KDawg44's question,
does anyone know if these items will work?

It might. Don't do this to a working drive, as it will definitely be
destroyed. You will end up blasting away special tracks that let the drive
know where it is on the disk surface.

The best thing you can do when confronted with a nonworking drive that might
contain sensitive data is to take it apart and physically destroy it.

William

 

[Big Al]

Hi!


It might. Don't do this to a working drive, as it will definitely be
destroyed. You will end up blasting away special tracks that let the drive
know where it is on the disk surface.

The best thing you can do when confronted with a nonworking drive that might
contain sensitive data is to take it apart and physically destroy it.

William

Reading one of the other threads, someone suggested gettng your
frustration out with a large hanmer and the parking lot. I like that.
I opened the case out of curiosity, so a hammer will work well. I
will be useless by end of day.

Thanks.

 

[John]

The best thing you can do when confronted with a nonworking drive that
might contain sensitive data is to take it apart and physically destroy
it.

I ask someone at the office to rip all dead HDs apart. Take the disk
platters out and drill holes all over the platters (or just drill thru the
HDs without opening them. He seems to enjoy doing that. So far I've got
approximately 15 to 20 HDs full of holes.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

TYFC

Make that a "BABPH"

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Big Ass Ballpien Hammer, I assume, based on the context.

In anycase, Thank You For Clarifying.

 

[Michael Jennings]

Yes, they have OEM Windows. So will the "hidden" manufacturer
partition be gone as well? When I reinstall, will this cause a
problem?

The Darik's Boot and Nuke FAQ says that the HPA - Host Protected Area -
of the hard drive is not wiped. http://www.dban.org/faq/#hardware
Does the computer's BIOS have a toggle for hard drive HPA? If so,
use DBAN on that computer and find out if you can reinstall Windows.
If the problem you are concerned with is data theft, DBAN solves it.

If the problem you are concerned with is suitability for the next user,
you're on your own because OEMs don't all have the same system.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

My company is getting rid of some older laptops and desktops. I need
to scrub these completely before they leave the office. I am going to
reinstall XP. Will this sufficiently remove the data or should I use
some kind of disk scrubber software, and if so, what?

Thanks.

Kevin

To protect your company's information and data from any future users
of average skills, you should, at the very least, format the hard drive.
You can do this using the original Installation CD. Simply boot from
the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the opportunity to delete,
create, and format partitions as part of the installation process. (You
may need to re-arrange the order of boot devices in the PC's BIOS to
boot from the CD.) You can then reinstall WinXP and any applications
that are being teransfered with the computers.

If you wish to do a more thorough job of protecting your company's
data, WipeDrive
(http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php) 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

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[M.I.5¾]

To protect your company's information and data from any future users of
average skills, you should, at the very least, format the hard drive. You
can do this using the original Installation CD. Simply boot from the
WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the opportunity to delete,
create, and format partitions as part of the installation process. (You
may need to re-arrange the order of boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot
from the CD.) You can then reinstall WinXP and any applications that are
being teransfered with the computers.

Formatting the drive doesn't remove the data. It merely rewites the
directory and FAT structure. All anyone else has to do is unformat the
drive (a bit like undelete but on a grander scale) to recover everything
written on it.

I once inadvertently formatted my C: drive. I ran MS's UNFORMAT (came with
Windows 98 IIRC - removed subsequently). Following several messages about
things that were not found, there was a sense of relief when a box popped up
that said "Do you wish to unformat anyway?". It unformatted perfectly, the
only problem being that folders in the root directory had non descript names
like 'FOLDER001', 'FOLDER002' etc.

 

[Big Al]

Formatting the drive doesn't remove the data. It merely rewites the
directory and FAT structure. All anyone else has to do is unformat the
drive (a bit like undelete but on a grander scale) to recover everything
written on it.

I once inadvertently formatted my C: drive. I ran MS's UNFORMAT (came with
Windows 98 IIRC - removed subsequently). Following several messages about
things that were not found, there was a sense of relief when a box popped up
that said "Do you wish to unformat anyway?". It unformatted perfectly, the
only problem being that folders in the root directory had non descript names
like 'FOLDER001', 'FOLDER002' etc.

Well based on a thread above, I'm going to add that a sledge hammer to
the drive is not as good as one thinks. I have an inoperative drive
so I can't wash it software wise, and someone said hammer it.
Well they are (or this one was) better built than you can imagine. I
would up using a cold chisel to help break the case, and once I got the
spindle out, I could do no more than bend the heck out of it. Its
metal guys and not glass or plastic. So you scratch and bend the
surface enough I guess its secure. Granted its my home data and I
don't think there was much there anyway. It was a second drive anyway,
not the OS partition.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Formatting the drive doesn't remove the data. It merely rewites the
directory and FAT structure. All anyone else has to do is unformat the
drive (a bit like undelete but on a grander scale) to recover everything
written on it.

A good point, but that's why I specified "... users of *average*
skills." Most people are not aware that such a thing is possible or
that such products exist. However, I will amend future posts on the
subject to specify that one would first have deleted the existing
partition(s) and created new partition(s) before formatting.

I once inadvertently formatted my C: drive. I ran MS's UNFORMAT (came with
Windows 98 IIRC - removed subsequently). Following several messages about
things that were not found, there was a sense of relief when a box popped up
that said "Do you wish to unformat anyway?". It unformatted perfectly, the
only problem being that folders in the root directory had non descript names
like 'FOLDER001', 'FOLDER002' etc.

That would have had to have been a FAT32 partition. No one at all
concerned with security would be using anything other than NTFS on a
WinXP machine.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[M.I.5¾]

A good point, but that's why I specified "... users of *average* skills."
Most people are not aware that such a thing is possible or that such
products exist. However, I will amend future posts on the subject to
specify that one would first have deleted the existing partition(s) and
created new partition(s) before formatting.



That would have had to have been a FAT32 partition. No one at all
concerned with security would be using anything other than NTFS on a WinXP
machine.

It probably was. IIRC, it was a dual boot machine and the Win98 needed
access to the Win2000 partition. There are unformat utilities around for
NTFS as well, so the general point stands.