Totally erase hd?

[digisatman]

Hi all,

Im selling my PC tomorrow with my HD in it (80gb). Wondering what the best way of totally clearing HD is. I know formatting still leaves data on HD. So whats the best solution that doesn't take that long?

thanks,

 

[rpstewart]

Fast solution? Sell the PC either without a disk or put a brand new one in.

Solution that works? DBAN, but it'll take overnight to wipe the drive.

 

[digisatman]

might try that solution, how many hours you think to clear a 80gb? I cant do it overnight, so trying to workout when the best time to do it is.

thanks!

 

[balls]

Dban will do the trick, as rps said. No way of saying how long it will take though

 

[BillytheImpaler]

DBAN renders the disk unreadable, except to those doing forensic-type analysis, in a few minutes. After an hour or so it's really good and wiped. The autonuke cycle lasts around 4 hours on an average older 7200 RPM disk.

 

[digisatman]

DBAN renders the disk unreadable, except to those doing forensic-type analysis, in a few minutes. After an hour or so it's really good and wiped. The autonuke cycle lasts around 4 hours on an average older 7200 RPM disk.

after the 4 hour one, i can still load xp again easily yeah?

 

[deuse]

Take one big screw driver and a hammer.
Proceed and make a least 3 holes in the platters.
Job done

thats is the only way.

 

[digisatman]

Take one big screw driver and a hammer.
Proceed and make a least 3 holes in the platters.
Job done

thats is the only way.

im selling HD with pc, customer isnt going to be very happy with a HD thats been attacked with a hammer.

 

[deuse]

im selling HD with pc, customer isnt going to be very happy with a HD thats been attacked with a hammer.

True lmao

But its also true that its the only way to distroy data on a HD.

 

[semi-pro waster]

True lmao

But its also true that its the only way to distroy data on a HD.

If you need data destroyed to that extent then you probably have bigger problems than anyone here can help with. If DBAN can do a wipe to US DoD standards (~7-8 wipes I think) then that should be enough to defeat most casual attempts at data recovery.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

after the 4 hour one, i can still load xp again easily yeah?

Yep, you'll create a new partition, format it, and install as usual.