wiping a hard drive on a laptop

me ^ | 4-15-11 | wobbly bob

[WOBBLY BOB]

I have a friend willing to GIVE me a free laptop but wants assurances it will be thouroughly wiped 1st.

since I have no deniro , is there an easy , free , portable way I can take something to his locale to do this there and in person so he can see that it's done?

(not a computer guru so a step by step printable guide would be best)

thanks in advance to all . my previous FRiends have been quite helpful in computer matters.

[katana]

[WOBBLY BOB]

you’re axin’ above my pay grade.

hopefully you get your answer.

[Charlemagne on the Fox]

Actually, I have installed several new laptop hard drives in less than ten minutes. You can find instructions for your model on the internet.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Make sure you can reinstall the operating system after you reformat it. You might need to create recovery CDROM before you start. (Some OEMs used to leave it up to you create the operating system recovery CDs/DVDs.) Hopefully he’ll have the recovery DVD, but read the owners manual, just in case.

If you format the HD and don’t have recovery DVDs you’ll have to buy Windows SW new. It might be cheaper just to take it to Best Buy and have the Geek Squad erase it for you. Alternatively, the OEM may sell the replacement recovery DVDs.

[WOBBLY BOB]

lol.

One of my top 5 fave actors.

[floozy22]

Some of these are free utilities, though #10 has the best idea. If you can swing a new hard drive it's worth it.

http://www.freebyte.com/filediskutils/#dataremoval

http://www.diskwipe.org/

http://www.active-disk-wiper.com/downloadfree.htm

[TomGuy]

Glary Utilities (freeware version) has a wipe/file shredder feature under the ‘Privacy & Security’ tab.

http://www.glarysoft.com

[Ouderkirk]

most laptops have a slide in drive bay. unscrew the little screw slide the old one out, slide the new one in.

Make sure you know which type EIDE or SATA3.

Bought 320 Gig for less than $50

Question is, are you going to install Linux or Windows?

Ubuntu (Linux) is excellent and free. Windows 7 pro is about $150

[jurroppi1]

Find out what brand the hard drive is and go to the manufacturer’s web site. They should have a freely available tool for performing a low level format. That is a bit-by-bit erasure and 0 wipe of the drive. The drive must then be partitioned and formatted. Performing those steps would erase the drive so well that all but the most savvy computer geek in the NSA or some other area like that would be at a loss to find anything of use on it afterward. Otherwise there are several tools you can download like live CDs (I believe BartPE includes several LLF utilities). Most manufacturer’s LLF utilities will include a partitioning and formatting tool as well as the LLF tool and are generally bootable images (iso files you can burn to a CD or DVD with readily available freeware like IMGBurn).

[Durus]

Delete the files that need to be deleted and use a app that overwrites the now “empty” areas. Someone else said a format, which would also include loading a new OS. Only the files that are overwritten by the OS are actually deleted. Someone with enough resources for forensic data recovery will be able to get back almost everything that was ever written to that hard drive, especially newer hard drives. There have even been cases where they have gotten back data from hard drive platters that had been physically removed and smashed. The only way to really make sure the data is gone is to burn the platters. No one is getting back data from a burned off substrate.

[jcsjcm]

I agree with those that state purchase a new hard drive and let him keep/destroy his hard drive. It is fairly simple to replace one.

Just make sure he provides you with the operating system so you can re-install the software!

[WOBBLY BOB]

hmmm...I’m used to using Windows, so will probably stick with that.

I don’t even know the make/model of it yet. Just know it works and is maybe 3 years old...newer than mine.

Is Newegg a pretty good place to buy?

[Rebelbase]

What ever happened to good old wipedisk from the DOS days?

[paterfamilias]

there is a freeware/shareware program called CC Cleaner that will do a high-level scrub of the drive (though not to NSA standards), and after you re-install Windows and add your own programs and data, it should be secure.

You can download the program here:

www.piriform.com/ccleaner

NB: I have no association with the software developer but I do use the program on my computers.

[Norman Conquest]

Before you wipe it, make sure you have the CD to reinstall your operating system (or install a new one).

Also, a program like Driver Magician (http://www.drivermagician.com/) can archive all your device drivers to a CD or USB stick, letting you restore them after you’ve wiped the OS and reinstalled. (If your machine contains any components NOT covered by your OS’s default driver library, or if your OS install can’t recognize some component, this can save you a lot of guess-and-error after a reinstall.)

The Belarc Advisor (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html) is also useful to generate an inventory of all your hardware. Print out the list before wiping and it will guide you in putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

[jurroppi1]

Here's a link with a little info: Low level format utilities for the hard disk

[Rebelbase]

http://www.glaryutilities.com/ has a good erase feature.

[Arthalion]

Another vote for DBAN. Download the ISO, burn it to CD, and boot the computer from it. If you run the standard DoD wipe, the data will be GONE. Even the CIA/FBI/NSA can’t recover it (this is the same wipe the military uses when disposing of old hardware). It’s one of the few options that civilians have for full drive wipes that actually works, and may be the only one that’s free.

Be aware that DBAN is sloooow though. I’ve used it many times when disposing of old hardware, and it seems to run about 5-10 minutes per gigabyte. Wiping a modern, high capacity drive can take DAYS. I usually just stick the computer in a corner, fire it up with DBAN, and check it every few hours to see if it’s done.

[jurroppi1]

And another link talking about "Zero-Fill": How Do I Low-Level Format a Seagate SATA or ATA (IDE) Hard Drive? [203931]

[Jonty30]

Get a rare earth magnet and run it over the hard drive for a few minutes.

I guarentee there will be nothing left on that drive.