Computer Geeks: Wipe Drive?

skydivr

skydivr

Jumps from perfectly good Airplanes
Donating Member
I've got some PC's that I need to get out of the network, some are almost 10 years old. And I've got some older than that which have been cannibilized for parts. I would like to wipe the hard drives before they leave the building (I'm going to give them to someone who dissasembles for parts).

Can someone please educate me on what DOS based program I can wipe a drive with, and to what level? I'm trying one now, but it ran all night and still isn't finished.

Thanks!
 
Well, since I don't have a multi-million dollar MRI machine at the moment....
 
Download a Hirens disk. There are a couple programs there. Data Shredder comes to mind.
About all I’ve used is the commercial WipeDrive by White Canyon that wipes to DOD specs.

What level?
There would be a couple things I would consider if they were mine. How sensitive is the data as I would do one of these? You have to take in account the drives are adding little to no value to the salvage
Low sensitivity, it likely would not do any good or cause any issues even if someone else got it as it. But I want to erase it anyhow: Just boot it on an old dos floppy, repartition it to 2 different size partitions than what it is now. Then format both. (fdisk and format commands) That will prevent MOST recovery operations that do not invest a ton of time to recover some of the data.
Medium sensitivity: Run a utility on it and wait. You want something that writes random or a set data (FF) to each sector and then repeats it again. Two passes should be plenty.

No way I want this to get out: Pull the drive and retain or physically destroy.
You may want to retain the drives as spares for your other systems anyhow! Working with old equipment can make a guy a packrat.
 
Skydivr/Ridge Runner..... }:-) Check this out. have not used it in a while but tons of good stuff I used over the years. You can make a boot CD/DVD or USB. Here is the review link and then just find a download for Ultimate Boot CD and go from there. Ultimate Boot CD - Overview
 
Professor said:
Download a Hirens disk. There are a couple programs there. Data Shredder comes to mind.
About all I’ve used is the commercial WipeDrive by White Canyon that wipes to DOD specs.

What level?
There would be a couple things I would consider if they were mine. How sensitive is the data as I would do one of these? You have to take in account the drives are adding little to no value to the salvage
Low sensitivity, it likely would not do any good or cause any issues even if someone else got it as it. But I want to erase it anyhow: Just boot it on an old dos floppy, repartition it to 2 different size partitions than what it is now. Then format both. (fdisk and format commands) That will prevent MOST recovery operations that do not invest a ton of time to recover some of the data.
Medium sensitivity: Run a utility on it and wait. You want something that writes random or a set data (FF) to each sector and then repeats it again. Two passes should be plenty.

No way I want this to get out: Pull the drive and retain or physically destroy.
You may want to retain the drives as spares for your other systems anyhow! Working with old equipment can make a guy a packrat.
Click to expand...

I actually have the Hiren's disk, and is what I'm using right now in DOS mode.

Frankly, I don't consider the data very senstive just trying to be sure. I'm on a five-pass overwrite at the moment (each pass takes HOURS). I'll bet a partition/format would be fine. Packrat too nice a term, Hoarder comes closer to mind when I think about it.
 
I have a pile of old drives. I have actually gone through them most now and scavenged anything I wanted from them and will either use them as target practice or something of similar value at some point. They are basically in one of those rubbermaid bins with a bunch of other old computer crap that I keep around for some unknown reason. The drives themselves probably have little to no value unless you have to rebuild another equally old system. Those old parts now can be a pain to find and/or $$$ if you find yourself in need.
 
sledge hammer works really well.

Or just look for a facility that securely destroys them.
 
skydivr said:
I actually have the Hiren's disk, and is what I'm using right now in DOS mode.

Frankly, I don't consider the data very senstive just trying to be sure. I'm on a five-pass overwrite at the moment (each pass takes HOURS). I'll bet a partition/format would be fine. Packrat too nice a term, Hoarder comes closer to mind when I think about it.
Click to expand...

If I had to make more than one overwrite pass, I'd use Omar's hammer method and have!


Partition and format (not quick format) one like I explained. Then try to recover data as a test. I think you will find it pretty difficult.

If you do a quick format on one, you will find all kinds of tools to recover data!
 
This is the old method my predecessor used. No longer approved.

We degauss most now. I need to take this mess in for degaussing.

image-2769011184.jpg
 
Explain deguass and where/how/who can do it. Does that permenantly trash the drive, or can it then later be reformatted?
 
omslaw said:
sledge hammer works really well.

Or just look for a facility that securely destroys them.
Click to expand...

Man, you took the words right out of my mouth.. A few whacks from a five pound sledge should do the trick and it is actually a military practice in certain cases to stick stuff in a canvas bag for a little sledge therapy.
 
skydivr said:
Explain deguass and where/how/who can do it. Does that permenantly trash the drive, or can it then later be reformatted?
Click to expand...

It exposes it to a strong electromagnetic field to erase the data. It is my understanding that the energy is high enough that it destroy the drives. We send them to another internal area that does it so I don't see the drive again to check.
 
I spent many hours in the maint dept drilling holes in the metal discs...if you punch a bunch of holes through them you are safe...at least to some destruction procedures.
 

Only way I approve of :laugh:


Disk drives are cheap now with the introduction of SSD. Destroy all HD and printer/ scanner HD's
 
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