Re: clearing hard drive

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: jeff (noone_at_nowhere.com)
Date: 02/06/05 

Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 16:38:21 -0600

This site has a bunch of freeware file deletion software. I recommend
ERASER. It has the 7 pass wipe mentioned earlier but also 35 pass and
customizable options as well. It will not only wipe out the unused file
areas but also cluster tips. I use it instead of recycle bin now for all
deleting, simply right click on any files or directory and it adds 'erase'
to your options. You can also set up regular maintenance wipes for any time
and day of the week.
http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/security/fwerase.html

"Ron Martell" <ron.martell@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:v66d01ld2p2r4b17cvomvl9iih0unjk5ch@4ax.com...
> DRojo <DRojo.1k0odm@pcbanter.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>Does anyone know how to completely clear a hard drive?
>
> Absolute security requirements generally specify that the hard drive
> has to be physically destroyed in order to prevent any possible
> recovery of the data.
>
> There are utilities that will perform multiple overwrites of your hard
> drive which provides a high, but not absolute, degree of protection
> against data recovery. A 7 pass solution (where the hard drive is
> completely rewritten with a random data pattern and then erased 7
> times) is the general standard but even then the original data might
> still be recoverable if it were important enough to warrant the
> expenditure.
>
> For general purposes simply deleting the existing hard drive
> partition, then creating a new one and formatting it will provide
> acceptable security. Use a Windows 98SE or WindowsMe Startup Disk
> (get one from www.bootdisk.com) and use FDISK to first delete the
> existing partition (non-DOS partition if it is NTFS) then create a new
> FAT32 partition if that is what you want and format it.
>
> Good luck
>
>
> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
> --
> Microsoft MVP
> On-Line Help Computer Service
> http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
>
> "The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

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