Wipe HDD Completely Clean

[CWY]

IF I wanted to wipe my hard drive clean in a way that would make it impossible for any of the data to ever be recovered again - how would I go about it? In other words, I want to reset a hard drive back to the way it was before anything was loaded onto it. All zero's is what I want - Are their utility programs that will wipe a hdd down to zilch......running a debug script, then fdisk, and format won't eliminate all trace evidence of prior data will it? I suppose I should let you know that this is not something I'm wanting to do - it is a topic of discussion I'm involved in.....some people are claiming that a simple format c: /u will accomplish what I'm talking about, and I disagree with them.....any one know for sure?

 

[Rob Stow]

IF I wanted to wipe my hard drive clean in a way that would make it
impossible for any of the data to ever be recovered again - how would I
go about it? In other words, I want to reset a hard drive back to the
way it was before anything was loaded onto it. All zero's is what I
want - Are their utility programs that will wipe a hdd down to
zilch......running a debug script, then fdisk, and format won't
eliminate all trace evidence of prior data will it? I suppose I
should let you know that this is not something I'm wanting to do - it is
a topic of discussion I'm involved in.....some people are claiming that
a simple format c: /u will accomplish what I'm talking about, and I
disagree with them.....any one know for sure?

Very little data is written to a drive when it is formatted,
hence merely formatting a drive does not touch most of the data
that was on the drive and it can be easily recovered by a wide
variety of programs.

There are many apps out there that will truly delete everything
on a drive. A commonly used standard is to overwrite the whole
drive seven times - zero every bit, then fill every bit with
ones, then zero it again, and so on.

Overwriting every bit once with either zeroes, ones, or random
gibberish is good enough to protect old data from data recovery
tools that are strictly software based. Hardware based data
recovery like the FBI uses can read residual magnetic fields left
behind when a bit on the drive has been overwritten so it takes a
more intensive wiping effort to prevent that.

You should do a search for the US Dept of Defence standard
DOD 5220.22-M.

 

[Scott Harding]

Formatting is not enough. Debug is the only thing I have found and then a
format that will do the job. I'm sure that some data mining company could
probably still get some data off of there but I have done formatting in the
past and still seen old info on the drive. My rule of thumb is Debug then
format and I feel pretty good about it then.

 

[CWY]

I don't know Scott...... while I agree that running a DFFR (Debug, Fdisk, Format, Reinstall) will clean a HDD and prepare it for a reinstall, AND that procedure does a pretty darn good job of cleaning a HDD - I don't think running a Debug script, Fdisking and Formatting will wipe it completely clean to a point of making it impossible for someone with the right tools to pull the previous info back off the HDD......I used to think it would, but after some investigating and talking with some folks who I respect as knowing much more than I do - I've come to the conclusion that it takes quite a bit more to wipe a HDD completely clean to the point of making it impossible for someone with the know-how to pull the previous data off it - and not that I'm concerned, but agencies such as law enforcement and federal government is what I'm referring to.......I've been in an on-going debate over how people who have various illegal information on a computer, and who have formatted thinking they're going to get away with something are caught be law enforcement who are able to go in and pull the illegal info off the HDD even though it was formatted in an attempt to erase whatever info they wanted to get rid of......

I think Rob's right on the money : A commonly used standard is to overwrite the whole drive seven times - zero every bit, then fill every bit with ones, then zero it again, and so on. Overwriting every bit once with either zeroes, ones, or random gibberish is good enough to protect old data from data recovery tools that are strictly software based. Hardware based data recovery like the FBI uses can read residual magnetic fields left behind when a bit on the drive has been overwritten so it takes a more intensive wiping effort to prevent that.

Formatting is not enough. Debug is the only thing I have found and then a
format that will do the job. I'm sure that some data mining company could
probably still get some data off of there but I have done formatting in the
past and still seen old info on the drive. My rule of thumb is Debug then
format and I feel pretty good about it then.

 

[CWY]

Thanks Rob...I think it's not as easy as some might think.....I talked to a guy today who told me that he could accomplish what I'm talking about with the aid of a very large magnet......I don't know whether to buy that, or not....although, it might be possible.......back when I did tech support - I took a call one day from a pilot....he told me that while he was on a flight that a storm had come through the area where he lived....he lived in a TownHouse.....he told me that lightening had struck the satellite dish located at the corner of his TownHouse.....he told me that the brick on that corner of the building had become as brittle as glass.....he said the bricks would crumble with very little effort.....he told me that every electricial appliance including media and computer equipment was fried....AND, that every CD, and audio/video cassette in the place was erased........all I had to go on was what he told me, and since I was unable to actually see what he was telling me - then I was left with a little doubt as to the validity of his claim......BUT, I also know that anything is possible when it comes to nature and the results of nature......you think that's possible?

IF I wanted to wipe my hard drive clean in a way that would make it
impossible for any of the data to ever be recovered again - how would I
go about it? In other words, I want to reset a hard drive back to the
way it was before anything was loaded onto it. All zero's is what I
want - Are their utility programs that will wipe a hdd down to
zilch......running a debug script, then fdisk, and format won't
eliminate all trace evidence of prior data will it? I suppose I
should let you know that this is not something I'm wanting to do - it is
a topic of discussion I'm involved in.....some people are claiming that
a simple format c: /u will accomplish what I'm talking about, and I
disagree with them.....any one know for sure?

Very little data is written to a drive when it is formatted,
hence merely formatting a drive does not touch most of the data
that was on the drive and it can be easily recovered by a wide
variety of programs.

There are many apps out there that will truly delete everything
on a drive. A commonly used standard is to overwrite the whole
drive seven times - zero every bit, then fill every bit with
ones, then zero it again, and so on.

Overwriting every bit once with either zeroes, ones, or random
gibberish is good enough to protect old data from data recovery
tools that are strictly software based. Hardware based data
recovery like the FBI uses can read residual magnetic fields left
behind when a bit on the drive has been overwritten so it takes a
more intensive wiping effort to prevent that.

You should do a search for the US Dept of Defence standard
DOD 5220.22-M.

 

[Geoffw]

there are many utilities around that do this, they generally work by writing zeros to the disk then writing "1" s and they repeat the cycle a number of times.

Also the drive manufacturer generally provide a low level format utility.

It would have to be pretty sensitive material to require more then these

google search
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=completely+remove+all+data+from+hard+drive+shred&meta=


IF I wanted to wipe my hard drive clean in a way that would make it impossible for any of the data to ever be recovered again - how would I go about it? In other words, I want to reset a hard drive back to the way it was before anything was loaded onto it. All zero's is what I want - Are their utility programs that will wipe a hdd down to zilch......running a debug script, then fdisk, and format won't eliminate all trace evidence of prior data will it? I suppose I should let you know that this is not something I'm wanting to do - it is a topic of discussion I'm involved in.....some people are claiming that a simple format c: /u will accomplish what I'm talking about, and I disagree with them.....any one know for sure?

 

[Bob I]

The "pilot" was "full of it". Apparently not realizing that CD's are not
"magnetic media", he was heaping it on from the very start, including
the "glass bricks crumbling"!

 

[CWY]

LOL ..... thanks for clarifying...... seems I recall him constantly joking and laughing about everything he said...... one of those really obnoxious type of people who can get on your nerves real quick..... thinking back - I can't imagine someone like that at the controls of a passenger jet......that's scary to think about.
The "pilot" was "full of it". Apparently not realizing that CD's are not
"magnetic media", he was heaping it on from the very start, including
the "glass bricks crumbling"!

 

[Rob Stow]

Thanks Rob...I think it's not as easy as some might think.....I talked
to a guy today who told me that he could accomplish what I'm talking
about with the aid of a very large magnet......I don't know whether to
buy that, or not....although, it might be possible.......back when I did
tech support - I took a call one day from a pilot....he told me that
while he was on a flight that a storm had come through the area where he
lived....he lived in a TownHouse.....he told me that lightening had
struck the satellite dish located at the corner of his TownHouse.....he
told me that the brick on that corner of the building had become as
brittle as glass.....he said the bricks would crumble with very little
effort.....he told me that every electricial appliance including media
and computer equipment was fried....AND, that every CD, and audio/video
cassette in the place was erased........

ARF. The only way I can imagine a lightning strike affecting a
CD is if a lot of *heat* was generated. Enough heat to do bulk
"erasures" of CD's would leave a lot of highly visible signs -
such as scorched rugs, burning drapes, etc. Fire in other words.

 

[CWY]

Alright, this is what I come up with:

ABSOLUTE SHIELD FILE SHREDDER lets you permanently remove files and
folders from your system easily without the possibility of data recovery.
The tool is integrated with the Windows shell and you can directly start
shredding by right-clicking on the selected folders/files and selecting
"AbsoluteShield File Shredder" from the Windows explorer menu. The program
allows you to choose between a quick two-pass or the standard seven-pass
file wiping method. Download free at
http://www.sys-shield.com/fileshredder.htm .

 

[changjohnson]

The "pilot" was "full of it". Apparently not realizing that CD's are not
"magnetic media", he was heaping it on from the very start, including
the "glass bricks crumbling"!
CWY wrote:

Thanks

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