Posted on 04/05/2011 7:34:35 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
I never realized that CCleaner could go all the way for that, and I’ve had it for awhile..
Sledge hammer and blow torch!
We use Wipedrive.
I used it this morning to prep a drive for upgrade from Vista to 7. I would have just installed over the top, but it kept on rebooting before the install started. I wiped it and it worked fine.
Hammer and a new hard drive work great too.
How old is that drive?
Maybe it’s time for a harddrive upgrade to go with that new OS?
I use Eraser and it’s free! I did pay them however for such a great product.
Eraser is an advanced security tool, which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard disk by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.
You can drag and drop files and folders to the on-demand eraser, use the convenient Explorer shell extension or use the integrated scheduler to program overwriting of unused disk space or, for example, browser cache files to happen regularly, at night, during your lunch break, at weekends or whenever you like.
The patterns used for overwriting are based on Peter Gutmann’s paper “Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory” and they are selected to effectively remove the magnetic remnants from the hard disk making it impossible to recover the data.
Other methods include the one defined in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual of the US Department of Defense and overwriting with pseudorandom data.
Hey!
We think alike.
LOL
I Luv it.
I could buy a new drive, install it and the OS in less time than it would take to clean a drive to the degree you’re talking about.
Wouldn’t cost more than dinner and drinks.
Expediency has a price, in this case it is pretty low.
LOL
Didn’t read the last couple of words in your post.
You don’t need a Prog. to wipe for a new install.
Just get out yer disks and a cup of coffee - reinstall.
The stuff I have read about recovering files means if you have something that can't get out, hammers, drills, and fire, are it, and then bury it under the back porch. They can read data that has been written over 20 times if they really want your ass. They will write what they want on the disk if they don't find what they want. Kinda like going to war with the government,...they have night vision, Specter gun ships at 20k ft, and drones that put ordinance in your bedroom window at 4am. It is folly to think we will take on the government with an AR15 and a .45. If someone wants what is on your drive, they will get it no matter what you do. They talk about ghost image reading 15-20 times on each bit to decide if it was a 1 or zero to reconstruct what was there. If you are a nobody, format C: works fine.
It is nice to see a truly logical post now and then. Thanks.
bookmark
Be warned...if the drive is an SD card or equivalent, it may not be possible to wipe data compehensively.
You don’t need to go crazy for this. If all you want is the old crap gone so you can install, quick format before install the OS is just dandy.
I didn't know that either. Looked it over and it was just fine for what I needed. lol. Thanks to all for the advice, both needed and um, the "troll" type stuff. lol.
Bottom line, you don’t need to wipe in order to install a new OS. You only need it if you plan to get rid of the drive.
Yes, even if there is nasty stuff on the drive.
“Bottom line, you don’t need to wipe in order to install a new OS. You only need it if you plan to get rid of the drive.”
Agree about installing or reinstalling an OS. However, if you plan to get rid of a drive, just take a hammer to it (beat the snot out of it). Physical destruction is the only method to 100% ensure a discarded drive can not be accessed.
Not exactly true. Wiping with zeroes fixes the problem. You should only destroy it if you cannot access the drive.
A 7.62mm FMJ round usually takes care of it.
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