Wiping hard drive - advice please

RobTang

adriandilly wrote: »

Is it possible to use a program like Truecrypt to do say a 5 or 7 pass encryption of the drive, then delete the data. So even if data are recoverable, it's encrypted anyway?

In thory no, because you would have to at some point have en unencypted version on the HDD

I stress in theory, in practical terms casual recovery of old files never ever works (I have GBs of junk data to that effect) a single full pass with any wiper is sufficient

Linbox

DBAN will delete EVERY THING on multiple physical drives on the computer, even USB drives if they are connected at the time of running dban. Use with care.

Reinstall windows then use CCleaner to wipe free space as others have said.

If you haven't got a backup copy of the clean system, or unable to restore to factory settings. Delete all programs like FF/TB/Chrome etc all documents, all history type things, all programs that you've put on the machine basically.
Delete all restore points. No point selling it with old restore points that will basically allow them to restore back to you unclean state!

tombruton87

all data can be recovered nomatter what you do because everything leaves a trace!

if you write over a file once a specialist lab can probly recover that whole drive. The cost of that is around 20k

if you write over a file more 5 times any guess to recover that drive is just plucking a number out of the air.

again even if you shread the drive it can still be put back together and analysed. My guess for doing that is over 1 million if the drive has been wipped aswell

just use dban or a repsectable alternative and ul be good. that is unless you have developed some new technology that can do amazing things and is worth trillians to the world but you want to keep it under wraps.

In that case this is how id dispose of the drive first id wipe it with dban about ten times, then id run high powered magnets accross it, then I would shred it using a hard drive shredder, then id disolve it in acid and lastly go out in a boat and dump it in the atlantic ocean.

this is still theoritically recoverable

bazster

What utter nonsense.

veryintrigued

Thanks all so far again.

I used the f11 recovery tool and then ccleaner.

What i dont understand is what the difference is between the f11 recovery tool and dban. The HP literature states that the recovery tool ' completely erases hard drive contents and reformats the hard drive. All files you have created and any software installed on the computer will be permanently removed. The f11 recovery tool reinstalls the opertaing system and HP programs and drivers that were installed at the factory. Software not installed at the factory must be reinstalled.

bazster

I've never owned an HP, but I'd guess the difference is this:

The file system on a disk basically consists of a set of tables which point to where the files are on the disk. If you delete a file, the details of the file are removed from the tables such that the file appears to no longer exist, and the space it occupied appears to be free space. But, the file is still there until another file is written to the same space, and until then the original file can easily be recovered.

I'd guess that the HP utility simply erases the tables, thus making the entire disk (apart from the Windows files) appear to be free space, but it doesn't actually erase the files.

On the other hand, DBAN actually writes new, but random, data over the entire disk, thus overwriting any/all files which might still be hanging around after any deletion such as described above.

veryintrigued

bazster wrote: »

I've never owned an HP, but I'd guess the difference is this:

The file system on a disk basically consists of a set of tables which point to where the files are on the disk. If you delete a file, the details of the file are removed from the tables such that the file appears to no longer exist, and the space it occupied appears to be free space. But, the file is still there until another file is written to the same space, and until then the original file can easily be recovered.

I'd guess that the HP utility simply erases the tables, thus making the entire disk (apart from the Windows files) appear to be free space, but it doesn't actually erase the files.

On the other hand, DBAN actually writes new, but random, data over the entire disk, thus overwriting any/all files which might still be hanging around after any deletion such as described above.

So in effect it sounds as though the system restore coupled with the ccleaner = dban?

bazster

veryintrigued wrote: »

So in effect it sounds as though the system restore coupled with the ccleaner = dban?

Not quite. CC Cleaner will only have wiped the free space. If any of the "residual" files were overwritten with system files during the system restore they have effectively "only" been overwritten once, because CC Cleaner will not have touched them. Also, there will be bits and pieces of unused space hanging around among the system files which are not free space (e.g. file slacks, unused parts of the Windows page file) and you are putting your trust in CC Cleaner to have found and wiped them all.

No such problems with DBAN, it simply wipes the entire disk, hence the need to re-install Windows afterwards.

veryintrigued

bazster wrote: »

Not quite. CC Cleaner will only have wiped the free space. If any of the "residual" files were overwritten with system files during the system restore they have effectively "only" been overwritten once, because CC Cleaner will not have touched them. Also, there will be bits and pieces of unused space hanging around among the system files which are not free space (e.g. file slacks, unused parts of the Windows page file) and you are putting your trust in CC Cleaner to have found and wiped them all.

No such problems with DBAN, it simply wipes the entire disk, hence the need to re-install Windows afterwards.

Thanks for that - am keen to have Windows still available on the PC so I can hopefully get more from it.

Am I right in assuming that the DBAN will also delete the 'hidden partition' meaning that this restore of windows etc wont work?

closed

did you tick the wipe free space option of ccleaner and do it after the factory restore?

dban wipes the whole hard disk, so yes, the hidden partition will be gone if you use it.

Realistically the average new user won't be at all interested with trying to recover files from the previous user, and the only method available to ones that do is software, and that software is also available to you, for example recuva deep scan - so if you are worried use it yourself, and you will find nothing (if you ticked the wipe free space option in ccleaner, and did it for all drives/partitions)

As you have done a factory restore, it's likely that any files that changed since purchase are in the free space area, so will have been wiped as many times as you like, with ccleaner.

It doesn't matter if it has been overwritten once, or 35 times, software cannot magically get the hard disk heads to pickup a previous magnetic imprint.