What is good (really good) data wipe software?

5 April 2011 | Mene

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Trying to find out which software is actually good data wipe software to clean up a hard drive for installation of new OS.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Thanks in advance.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Eraser.

[KoRn]

Will you be needing to use that drive again?

[theBuckwheat]

Hook it up to a linux box and run dd several times or run ‘wipe’. You can just boot linux from any one of several stand-alone packages such as Fedora-15-Alpha-i686-Live.

Of course the Great Google has all the examples and guides one could ever need on the above software.

[ThomasThomas]

If you are just install a new OS it is not necessary to wipe a disk.

[updatedscreenname]

Given the low cost on new drives
I would install on a new drive and
Use a drill on the old one

[al baby]

Big ass hammer then toss it in the fire place

[doc1019]

Are you looking for something to wipe out a particular program/programs or something to cleanse the entire drive? Makes a difference.

[Pelham]

http://www.dban.org/

[keat]

[USNBandit]

Concur. Just format the disk and do the new install. Most of those cleaner programs are for when you want to throw an old drive away and don’t want anything pulled off the drive.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Here's one from my alma mater. The page has links to the utility and documentation, including a paper on disk drive data sanitation. It runs the Secure Erase command (NIST 800-88) in the ATA ANSI standard, which is implemented in all PATA and SATA drives built since 2001. You might need to enable SATA compatibility mode in your BIOS first.

[FortWorthPatriot]

Used by the best IT Asset Disposition company in the U.S.:

http://www.blancco.com/en/

[calex59]

Back in the day there used to be a program called “government wipe” and it meant what it sounds like. I don’t know if it is still around or not, but it took everything off and made it impossible for anyone to recover the old data.

[FrogBurger]

I concur. Download DBAN (Dban.org), boot and your all your disks will get wiped irretrievably.

[Crapgame]

I always like >format c: [enter]

[wildbill]

I don’t know if it will run on OS after XP, but Sure Delete, a freeware program, had three methods of erasure by overwriting files. Quick wipe, Dept of Defense method, and the maximum overwrite (24 times).

It is easy to use and works.

[Prokopton]

CCleaner is free and it will wipe all the way to Gutman, if you think it needs it. That’s 35 passes. I think NSA, 7 passes, is sufficient.

[Robe]

10 years in tech support : Boot n nuke and it’s free

[PAMadMax]

Love that Darik’s Boot and Nuke! Even the name is good....