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January 29th, 2003, 11:38 AM
#1
Must Erase EVERYTHING from Hard Drive
As part of a fundraiser for my church, I take donated computers and sell them on Ebay. So far, I have always formatted the hard drives, and then installed the operating system again. I know that it is technically still possible to restore data from the portion of the hard drive that the new operating system did not write over, but I was not too woried about it.
Today, someone called and said they wanted assurance that I would write ones to every byte of space on the drive to ensure that data would never be able to be restored. I am not aware of any switch that can be added to Format at a command prompt to do this, so I guess I need a utility. Any suggestions? I plan on looking on Download.com but I am not even sure what key words to search on.
Thanks.
"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." -- Marla Jones
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January 29th, 2003, 11:48 AM
#2
you can go to the site of the hard drive manufacturer and download utilities that will zero fill the drive. to be ABSOLUTELY sure the data cannot be recovered you need to do it SEVEN times. this info comes from a cop friend of mine that does data forensics on hard drives. i would imagine tho that twice would do it in most cases. most users don't have access to the kind of software the cops use to recover data.
you can also go HERE and scroll all the way down to Cleaners for a couple of freeware zero fill utilities.
Last edited by geeksRus; January 29th, 2003 at 11:55 AM.
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January 29th, 2003, 01:42 PM
#3
Originally posted by geeksRus
you can go to the site of the hard drive manufacturer and download utilities that will zero fill the drive. to be ABSOLUTELY sure the data cannot be recovered you need to do it SEVEN times. this info comes from a cop friend of mine that does data forensics on hard drives. i would imagine tho that twice would do it in most cases. most users don't have access to the kind of software the cops use to recover data.
you can also go HERE and scroll all the way down to Cleaners for a couple of freeware zero fill utilities.
Thanks for the information. I wonder why seven times to be absolutely sure?
"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." -- Marla Jones
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January 29th, 2003, 01:46 PM
#4
i haven't delved into data recovery far enough to know why multiple zero fills are needed. maybe someone else here may know. i would like to know also. i have been told that even with a zero fill the data can be recovered if the method used is sophisticated enough. anyone here want to comment?
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January 29th, 2003, 02:14 PM
#5
Driver Terrier
Some zero fillers allow you to set the pattern of data that is written. If you vary this each pass the data underneath becomes less readable... having said that, I do know someone who is just finishing college in computer forensics, what the real data recover boys can get back is frightening.
Never, ever approach a computer saying or even thinking "I will just do this quickly."
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January 29th, 2003, 02:40 PM
#6
Registered User
The software used is reputed amongst other things to read between tracks thus picking up any residue left from old stored data.
Small powerpoint article here if you wish a quick read.
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February 1st, 2003, 04:47 AM
#7
Give Bart's Disktool a try. It will fit on a floppy, does drives over 8 gig and will also test the drive for problems. Use the full erase option in the test choice area to wipe the whole drive. No real need to do it over and over as the expensive data recovery methods won't be used without someone footing a very big bill for it - no need to worry about that happening to John Doe for now, unless you are actually a spook taking money from the other side and are eminately going to be captured.
Bart's Utilities page
http://www.nu2.nu/utils/
Bart's DiskTool wiper download link
http://www.nu2.nu/nu2files/diskto12.zip
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February 1st, 2003, 11:25 PM
#8
Registered User
Why hasn't anyone suggested a hammer? 
Cheers,
The Computer Valet
Mike Whalen
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February 1st, 2003, 11:29 PM
#9
Originally posted by The Computer Valet
Why hasn't anyone suggested a hammer?
Actually around here they have suggested a screw through the drive. I have dealt with many donated computers and have never really had a problem telling people doing the donating to keep or destroy their drives and the donatees that they need a drive. Hell for the price they are going for most will go for it.
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February 2nd, 2003, 01:03 PM
#10
Registered User
For drive confidentiality, what I always did before was a low level format, followed by standard fdisk, format, and windows installation... that would put it beyond the recovery of anybody in my neck of the woods. But I believe Noo is right,big gov't and techie corps and 1337 data recoverers could even recover a certain amount of stuff from that.
Flash! Don't heckle the supervillain!
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February 3rd, 2003, 12:33 AM
#11
Registered User
I have been using the pro edition for over two years now. I highly recomend it to anyone who is serios about earsing data from a hard drive:
Cyberscrub
Meets and exceeds the U.S. Department of Defense standards for the permanent erasure of digital information (U.S. DOD 5220.22)
Settings can be set to simple one time sweep or government standards or anywhere in between.
Also lets you control cookies and much more.
Best of all you can try it free (fully functional) for 15 days.
Last edited by Poseidon; February 3rd, 2003 at 12:46 AM.
The early bird may get the worm; but the second mouse gets the cheese!
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