how should i wipe my hard drive

[dortmund371]

i have system mechanic 7 pro should i use its utility to wipe it or do it through windows and how do you do it through windows

 

[SomeJoe7777]

I've never used System Mechanic, so I can't comment on it. But Darik's Boot and Nuke and Active@ Killdisk both erase a drive completely.

The freeware version of Killdisk is limited to a one-pass overwrite with zeros. Darik's Boot and Nuke can do a DoD 5220-22.M overwrite (among others) which is more secure (the pay version of Killdisk can also do this).

Neither of these utilities works in Windows. They both boot from a DOS floppy, CD-ROM, or USB flash drive.

 

[babaghan]

A full format (not the quick format) through Windows should do nicely.

Vista 32bit | Core 2 Duo E6600 | BFG GeForce 8800 GTX | Patriot EP 2X1GB PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-9| 3ware 9650SE-4LPML RAID Controller with BBU | 150GB Raptor x2 RAID 0 - OS | 150GB Raptor x2 RAID 0 - Data | 150GB Raptor - Swap/Backup | SB X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series | Dell E207WFP & Samsung SyncMaster 213T | Asus Striker Extreme | PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW-SR | Silverstone Temjin TJ07 | Zalman CNPS9700 NT

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Nope, full format doesn't overwrite anything except the partition table, MBR, partition boot sector, and a few sectors of file system entries. All other data is still fully recoverable after a full format.

You must use one of the overwrite tools (there are others than the ones I mentioned above) to actually erase data.

 

[babaghan]

Ya learn something new everyday!

Vista 32bit | Core 2 Duo E6600 | BFG GeForce 8800 GTX | Patriot EP 2X1GB PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-9| 3ware 9650SE-4LPML RAID Controller with BBU | 150GB Raptor x2 RAID 0 - OS | 150GB Raptor x2 RAID 0 - Data | 150GB Raptor - Swap/Backup | SB X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series | Dell E207WFP & Samsung SyncMaster 213T | Asus Striker Extreme | PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW-SR | Silverstone Temjin TJ07 | Zalman CNPS9700 NT

 

[WizardOZ]

You need to use a wipe utility. Some are available as shareware or freeware on the Web. AFIK, Norton Utilities includes a wipe disc utility. You will need to run it at government security spec level to ensure that the drive is wiped completely. Note that it is necessary to run the utility 3 times to ensure complete overwrite of your existing data files with a random pattern of 1 and 0. There are 3 layers of writable media on a hard drive, and old data can be recovered from the lower layers even if there is "new" data on the surface layer.

Formatting the disk will NOT delete the data. Deleting the files, evenm if you turn off the Recycle bin will not remove the files.