How to completely wipe a HDD?

DBAN works great if youre getting rid of HDD and want to wipe data, but for merely a windows reinstall and youre gonna reuse HDD yourself you can just install over it, the windows process will wipe everything off there anyway
 
95thrifles said:
DBAN works great if youre getting rid of HDD and want to wipe data, but for merely a windows reinstall and youre gonna reuse HDD yourself you can just install over it, the windows process will wipe everything off there anyway
Click to expand...

Ahh he wants to just reinstall windows?

I would use DBAN anyway... windows format leaves loads behind if the sectors are untouched after the install stuff can be recovered. Depending on how sensitive your machine is I would run DBAN then reboot and put your windows disk in to reinstall.
 
Boot into Command prompt.
Type diskpart
Type list disk
type select then the number of whatever disk was listed as your OS drive, eg. select disk 0
Type clean

Voila an empty disk.
 
For a clean windows install just boot from the windows disk and use the options for deleting any existing partitions on the HDD, then make a new one, format and install.
 
rexehuk said:
Ahh he wants to just reinstall windows?

I would use DBAN anyway... windows format leaves loads behind if the sectors are untouched after the install stuff can be recovered. Depending on how sensitive your machine is I would run DBAN then reboot and put your windows disk in to reinstall.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is why I didn't want to write over it, plus there is other stuff I want to wipe

Mak3R said:
Boot into Command prompt.
Type diskpart
Type list disk
type select then the number of whatever disk was listed as your OS drive, eg. select disk 0
Type clean

Voila an empty disk.
Click to expand...

As you can probably tell i'm not all that quick when it comes to pc's, how do i boot into command prompt?
 
If you blow away the partitions on a rebuild as suggested above, then it gets rid of all data and you will have a like new hard disk.

If you took your hard disk to a lab or used some advanced disk software, you would be able to recover files that were on there before even after a format. But if you have nothing dodgy / illegal on your disk (which I am going to assume is the case) then just a normal Windows rebuild is all you need.
 
Divide by Zero said:
If you blow away the partitions on a rebuild as suggested above, then it gets rid of all data and you will have a like new hard disk.

If you took your hard disk to a lab or used some advanced disk software, you would be able to recover files that were on there before even after a format. But if you have nothing dodgy / illegal on your disk (which I am going to assume is the case) then just a normal Windows rebuild is all you need.
Click to expand...

So just boot from the win7 disk, reinstall and everything will be as new?
 
Am I right in saying that there is always traces of files left after a normal windows reinstall? I thought that software like kill disk (might have name wrong) completely clean the drive from anything left on it.

Otherwise if you don't use software like this you might need to format and reinstall many times to ensure a clean drive.
 
Even if you remove delete the partition, all the 1's and 0's still exist and a forensic examination of the disk will reveal data.
The only sure way is to use a utility to write all 1's or all 0's over the disk surface which can take a substantial amount of time.
Deletion of files only changes the file extension, removes from file table and windows cannot see it. This why undelete utilities can recover files unless thay are overwritten.

andy.

PS ellingham, using the new bracket on the thermalright took about 1/2 hour to replace.
 
nkata said:
Even if you remove delete the partition, all the 1's and 0's still exist and a forensic examination of the disk will reveal data.
The only sure way is to use a utility to write all 1's or all 0's over the disk surface which can take a substantial amount of time.
Deletion of files only changes the file extension, removes from file table and windows cannot see it. This why undelete utilities can recover files unless thay are overwritten.

andy.

PS ellingham, using the new bracket on the thermalright took about 1/2 hour to replace.
Click to expand...

thanks for letting me know, I will look into getting one.
So should I run some disk cleaning software or just reinstall?
 
Reinstall, but delete the existing partition and create a new one during the process.

This should cover most eventualities.

andy.
 
I find Zero Filling a drive best, But it takes an age, Removes everything though! with no chance of recovery

However if its just a case of wiping for a reinstall, as said, Format. Gives you the option when you boot from your windows disk
 
It's not really clear what you are trying to achieve. Are you just wanting to remove everything on the drive to the extent that when you install your new windows and open explorer there is nothing shown but the fresh windows install and loads of blank space?

In which case using the windows disk options to delete existing partitions, make a new one, then install as above will work fine.

Or are you talking about removing sensitive data to such a level that even police/criminals/data recovery software etc etc can't possibly recover it at a later date (which technically is possible to some extent even if you 'delete' it in the 'normal' way)?

This level of cleaning is what some of the other folks are getting at. Is that what you need?
 
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